Why The Characters In Us Look So Familiar

Lupita Nyong'o is among the most pedigreed members of the Us cast — after modest beginnings as a production assistant, she earned a master's degree in drama from Yale University (one of the most competitive and elite acting degrees in the country), and booked her first major film role shortly after graduation. Nyong'o's work in Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave netted the young talent her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, which made her a breakout star pretty much immediately. After big moves like joining the Star Wars universe, Nyong'o joined the cast of Black Panther, a Marvel juggernaut that crushed box office records and won multiple Oscars. As Nakia, a Wakandan spy who was also a love interest for King T'challa (Chadwick Boseman), Nyong'o proved that she could headline a blockbuster as well as perform in a prestige drama, making her mark as one of the most versatile stars around.

Along with most of the main cast of Us, Nyong'o plays two distinct parts — Adelaide, the matriarch of the Wilson family, who find themselves stalked by terrifying, murderous doppelgängers, alongside Red, the only speaking double and member of "the Tethered" who looks exactly like Adelaide. Nyong'o has already won stellar reviews for her performance, and some believe this film could propel her to her second Oscar nomination thanks to the literal duality of her performance.

Tim Heidecker's name might not be instantly recognizable, but once you pair him with his comedy partner Eric Wareheim, it might jog your memory — the duo's show, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, ran on Adult Swim from 2007 to 2010. A native of Philadelphia, Heidecker and Wareheim (who would go on to appear in a large supporting role in Aziz Ansari's acclaimed series Master of None) continued working with Adult Swim for a number of years while simultaneously pursuing other projects, including performing original music, appearing in a number of sketch comedy series, and even doing a commercial series for Absolut Vodka. Heidecker has appeared in a few films, including Bridesmaids (in a nearly non-speaking role as Maya Rudolph's groom) and Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp (in a small part as a whale boat captain), typically sought for the offbeat, irreverent sense of humor that informs nearly all of his work with Wareheim and other comedic collaborators.

Heidecker's character in Us, Josh Tyler, is still somewhat of an enigma, but fans already know that he and his wife are friends with the Wilsons and are fairly affluent, with Gabe trying to compete with the Tylers' lifestyle (in particular, the size of their boat). At the very least, audiences can be sure that Heidecker will bring a few laughs to the film's otherwise terrifying proceedings.

As the Wilson children Zora and Jason, Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex must play against two Yale graduates (Nyong'o and Duke), portray their own evil doppelgängers, and help carry most of the film in starring roles — quite the Herculean task for two young performers. Joseph, who plays the older sister, has primarily worked on the stage, appearing in School of Rock on Broadway and on television as Little Inez in 2016's Hairspray Live!. Us marks her first feature film credit, for which she has already been praised (particularly for a scene during which she must defend her family). Alex, the younger sibling, has appeared on television shows like Jim Carrey's Kidding as well as several episodes of the YouTube series Mani, and is also earning his first film credit playing both Jason and his double.

As two young actors starring in a gory and deeply frightening film, the two seem to be maintaining a healthy sense of humor, helping kids their age figure out the "right age" to see Us, and thanks to positive early reviews, it looks like these two have quite the future ahead of them.

Despite her young age and relatively small resume, Kara Hayward has already made an impressive entry into arthouse films — at just 14, she landed a starring role in Wes Anderson's whimsical Moonrise Kingdom, alongside huge names like Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, and more as well as fellow newcomer Jared Gilman, who played opposite Hayward. As Suzy Bishop, a strange and slightly aggressive young girl who becomes pen pals with an odd young boy named Sam Shakusky, Hayward easily adopted the deadpan, quirky humor typical of Anderson's films, even basing her audition and subsequent performance on Gwyneth Paltrow's in one of Anderson's previous movies, The Royal Tenenbaums. Both she and Gilman received plenty of praise for their breakout performances, in which they both held their own against Oscar-winning actors, many of whom were frequent Anderson collaborators.

Her role in Us still remains somewhat of a mystery — credited as "Nancy," it seems fairly certain that Hayward will also portray her own double — but with a background as a leading Anderson player and an apparent wisdom beyond her years, it feels as if Hayward is a perfect casting choice for a film like Us.

They're still teens, but twins Cali & Noelle Sheldon have a handful of acting credits to their name, although one is likely better known. As infants, the twins appeared on Friends as Emma, Rachel and Ross' baby, for a total of eight episodes. Emma's birth was a larger plot point that created initial turmoil between the on-again, off-again couple and eventually helped bring them back together, with Rachel calling off a move to Paris to stay with Ross as the show ends.

At 16, the twins were cast in Us as Gwen and Maggie Tyler, Josh (Tim Heidecker) and Kitty's (Elisabeth Moss) twin daughters, and though they haven't been seen in any trailers, their casting brings up a lot of questions. With the theme of doppelgängers and doubles and the presence of "the Tethered," casting a pair of identical twins adds an extra layer of mystery to the film, especially considering that the actresses, like all other cast members, will be playing their own doubles. With two identical girls playing their own identical doubles, Peele is likely trying to create even more terrifying confusion, giving even more depth to this already frightening film.