In not just one person, a few words about twins in movies.
Let's start with the first question - why bother actors for something like this. The answer is simple. Sometimes it simply requires a story based on facts - as in the case of a film with Tom Hardy or ”Social Network”. But not only for that matter - regardless of whether you want to use the idea of identical twins in a comedy (classic play in the case of comedy errors) or in a dramatic way (very often twins in the films are different or are somehow dangerous - after all it's strange that two people look exactly the same) the idea is tempting for creators. People are fascinated by the phenomenon of the existence of twins - it is thought that this is due to the fact that we are so used to our singularity that the view of people who are double arouses our fascination. Plus, of course, we've all heard about these amazing stories in which twins sense each other's troubles, have their own language or, for example, choose extremely similar to each other's spouses. In other words - like everything rare in nature, rare twins are fortified with the right number of legends or superstitions, and yet - they work wonderfully in the story lines. In the end, is something more surprising than the moment when the second identical person comes into the room and it turns out that she was the murderer all the time while the suspect was innocent. You can hear the deep exhale of a satisfied author of criminal stories.
Now the question is how to do it? There are several ways. First of all, the oldest one used even in times when computer games were not possible because there was no computer. The so-called Split Screen it means that we take two negatives and stick together. Of course, today gluing two negatives together does not mean physical scissors - after all, everything is done in a computer, but it does not require such an advanced technique. However, this does not change the fact that this is best done if we are dealing with a picture that is very symmetrical. Please note that one of the most classic shots for films where one person is playing twins is a face-to-face conversation where we see two people at once. Often the whole frame seems even a bit too symmetrical - then it is best seen that we are actually dealing with a situation where the actor or actress plays in the air and the second part of the negative is pasted into the empty space. The frame is symmetrical because there must be enough space in it to fit both characters and we also have a cutting line that should not go through any of the characters. Of course, today, when we have digital copies and all the marvels of technology, we can make the place gluing the frame absolutely unobtrusive to the point that even the simple deletion of the line where the division was made is not easy.
Split Screen is the easiest way. It is also often accompanied by a method of making dialogues so that we can see only one person at a time. This is best seen in the series and as example I use ”Friends” here. When Pheobe talks with her sister Ursula, we always have a few shots where we can see them both at once, but we see Pheobe more often from behind Ursula's arm or Ursula from behind the shoulder of Pehobe. This is a fairly popular way to make dialogues when the actor or actress is playing twins. Thanks to this, you can reduce the number of shots in which you use special effects and a person playing two characters has an easier task. It is enough to find a similar person (or even not one - it is enough for the same height and body shape) to change it and thanks to that we have a lot of shots in which we theoretically have two people and in fact we have only one. Anyway, movies really get so caught up in such shots even if we have two people who do not play twins. In addition, in the case of all kinds of hugs, handshakes or even fights, you can always rely on the montage. Seriously it's amazing what can be done with a good montage. Anyway, let's be the best example of the fact that it's hardly ever noticed that in some movie scene plays stuntman, and almost every movie has such scenes for bunches (I do not want to spoil the fun but watching horse riding scenes is actually playing an eternal game ”actor or stuntman”, with the current actor insurance conditions it is almost always a stuntman).
The other thing is that special effects have changed everything. As you probably know in ”Social Network”, Hammer played twins - the producers initially wanted to find real brothers to play a role but it turned out that finding two grown, handsome twins which able to play is a bit harder than it may seem. In many scenes, so a method was used that was not possible in times before special effects - a second actor similar to Hammer was hired and then Hammer's face was digitally pasted in place of his face. Besides, let's not hide the modern methods of filming have changed a lot. The presence of the green screen meant that today it is not difficult to show one actor in one scene in a dozen or so versions (for example Harry Potter where Daniel Radcliffe performed in one scene several times) and there is no problem to stick the whole thing together. Which does not change the fact that because filming a double film (first the actor plays one person and then the other) takes a long time to use all the possibilities mentioned here, so as to ultimately create on the screen the perfect illusion that we are dealing with two people instead of one. There is, of course, another interesting way - you can make a movie in which we have twins who never divide the scene - like "There Will Be Blood" where Paul Dano played twins brothers who do not appear in any scene together. At the very end, I should mention one method, which is both simple and terribly difficult. How much you want to have twins in the story, you can find actors who have identical brothers or sisters and hire both to play. Not that it did not happen (Fred and Georg in Harry Potter played real brothers) but I must admit that it's easier to generate a twin computer than to find such an acting duo. Especially that although quite a few actors have twin siblings, it does not mean that the brother or sister always want to play in the movies. They usually has their profession. Although there were cases of using brothers or sisters as so-called stand in, that is, the person who is needed to film someone from behind the back or in scenes where we can see maybe not the face but the figure. However, these are not very frequent cases.
Okay, but that's not all we're interested in. There is also the question of how it looks in film practice. First of all - what is often striking when we look at film twins or twins is the fact that filmmakers love to play with the motif of identical twins but, in total, looking completely different. It seems that it is not only about fun but also - if not primarily about the emphasis that we are dealing with two characters. Considering how often viewers are wrong watching movies where two people look more or less the same it is not hard to wonder that the filmmakers are afraid of the confusion of viewers who will completely get lost in the movie having two identical characters. One of the easiest ways to differentiate twins is to change the actor's hairstyle. Edward Norton, playing twins in one edition, had short and nicely combed hair in the other his hair was long (which is connected with the fact that he plays two completely different heroes in total). There is really something that can be called a bad twin haircut - it usually means that one of the twins has more slicked hair than the other (the most obvious use of this trail which comes to my mind is "Double Impact” with Van Damme) - seriously, it is one of the most clear signs allowing to distinguish a good twin from bad.
Now let's get to what we should think about the most. I have written earlier that the motif of the twins is strangely fascinating for us. Above all, there is a motive of changing identity. Interestingly, this is a motif that appears in films that are completely similar to each other. In "Parent's Trap" we are dealing with twins who realized that they are raised separately by father and mother so they decide to exchange identities to first get to know each other's parents and second - to merge the family. This is a lovely comedy where the only thing that slightly destroys the whole story is the idea that the parents could really share their children in such a heartless way. However, it is better not to think about it too long because the comedy will stop playing. But the motive of substituting one twin in place of another can also be extremely disturbing. As in the Cronenberg movie - "Dead Ringer" where Jeremy Irons plays two brothers gynecologists - who, though different in character, share women. In the case of Cronenberg's films, playing with identity is definitely more complicated than just pretending to be the same person or your brother. The core of the film is to show the audience that none of the brothers is independent and both have become so accustomed to being together that they are unable to function as independent individuals. Anyway, playing this role, Jeremy Irons admitted that he really understood his role only when he stopped distributing his characters' wardrobe and did not watch so much to remember which brother he was at the moment - he acted rightly because this is one of his most disturbing but praised roles.
Another thing is that showing the twins on the screen that are very different from each other can be really funny, as in a quite successful (at least in the acting) black comedy "Leaves of Grass" where we have a compulsory combination of two theoretically identical but completely different heroes. A classic and always funny theme of the comedy of errors comes to this. Of course, the more such film twins differ from each other - even in comedy, the more we have the opportunity to reflect on what actually determines our uniqueness. In the case when we are alone and unique, we can always say that despite various influences, we are the best version of ourselves. In the case of film twins, we always have a question which is a better version, whether it is correct and in which case something went wrong. And although he is perfectly aware that every individual - even having twin siblings is unique - we are not talking about a certain way of using the motif in popular culture (though not only).
For viewer is fascinated by how actors are able to play two or more characters in one film. It's fascinating to watch a person play a completely different person on the screen. The other thing is to watch as two people in a single movie. The aforementioned Jeremy Irons said that when he created his very different twins in terms of character, he was looking for various energy points for them. Although it sounds a bit like looking for a different aura, but it makes sense. Actors often talk about looking for a certain center of gravity of the character, who decides how the hero will move, hold and present on the screen. Small changes and shifts in such a "center of gravity" can cause that although the actor plays a character that looks the same, at the screen it will look very different to us. It must be admitted that the character's differences of character help a lot in such a game - because the actor has a place to catch and resist the uniqueness of his character. Another thing is that actors playing in films twins are often make mistakes. Although it must be borne in mind that Lindsay Lohan, when playing in "Parent's Trap", was only eleven years old, it seems that her statement that they happened a days on the set when she was talking about the issues not this twin well reflects a state of confusion which sometimes gets actors playing twins . An interesting way to play the twin had Nicholas Cage (who sold the idea to Sarah Paulson who had an incredibly difficult task to play Sjamni twins). Well, playing twins in ”Adaptation” Cage come to the set in the morning and record both sides of their conversation with themselves. Then when he had to play one of them he played with the earpiece in his ear where he heard his own answers to the dialogue lines. Thanks to this scenes in which he had to talk with himself were much easier. Sarah Paulson claims that this is the best existing advice about playing twins because it allows not only naturally to give up the pace of conversation but also to match the look on your face. It is also worth taking a look at the movie "Legend" where Tom Hardy plays the role of two gangster brothers. It's very clear in it how much an actor can do with mimicry. The viewer immediately sees that the brothers, though identical, differ a bit in how they look - thanks to the diverse mimicry of the actor. Of course, such an acting challenge is difficult but it is also satisfying and above all - giving the actor an opportunity to show off his acting scale. It is hardly surprising that not one actor is tempted to such a production.
No matter if for laughter or out of necessity or as part of an artistic design, the twins in the films always ask the recipient why the director did it, but above all how he did it. Perhaps not everyone is tormented by such questions, but I have discovered a long time ago that if there is something in the film that requires a lot of technical effort, the question why the director decided to do so gives surprisingly interesting answers. The other thing is that I narrowed my post and I did not write to you about the films in which we are dealing with identical characters but not related (Jake Gyllenhaal played in the movie ”Enemy” where he did meet himself but did not literally play twins) or with a whole group of characters played by the same actor. Nevertheless, everything comes down to the fact that once you've got through philosophical reflections, questions about plot issues and scenario design, at the very end you will have the same fun as always - looking for perfectly symmetrical frames and asking yourself exactly where the cut is going.