Actors You Didn't Know Had An Identical Twin

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The entertainment industry is a welcoming place for twins, including identical ones, many who have shared success together and on their own. Some have last names so famous that they are brands unto themselves.

Mary-Kate and Ashley are simply known as the Olsen twins, and need no further introduction. Fans of "Sister, Sister" knew that Tia and Tamera Mowry share DNA. "Zack & Cody" led a "Suite Life," but so did their real life players, Dylan and Cole Sprouse. Jeremy and Jason London were fixtures in '90s movies, and the Ashmore boys, Shawn and Aaron, have made their mother proud two times over.

But there are famous actors out there who haven't made a habit of starring opposite their siblings. Ones that you may not know have an identical twin. Some work with them in the industry — even stealing parts — while others keep the connection on the down-low. In some cases, mistaken identity is common — which can be comical, stressful, and in one case tore two twins apart. Read on for all the doubly-interesting details.

While Rami Malek hit the big time with TV's "Mr. Robot" and as Freddie Mercury in the biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" (and soon as the villain in the next James Bond installment, "No Time To Die"), his younger identical twin brother (by 4 minutes) Sami has been handing out grades, and will soon enter his 18th year as a teacher in Los Angeles. 

Sami currently teaches ESL at a middle school. The only time Sami gets into character and costume is to protest and demand changes for schools. He's very passionate about his vocation, in fighting for both teachers and students alike.

The closest Sami gets to the limelight is to celebrate his brother's success, particularly at the 2019 Academy Awards when Rami took home the Best Actor statuette. "My boy had it in the bag. He killed it," Sami said. Rami joked that the newer attention from women has helped his brother to get some of his "'Mr. Robot' shrapnel."

When he appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Rami told a switcheroo story where he came to Sami's aid when he needed to do a Greek monologue in order to complete his college degree at UCLA. Sami's teacher was floored by the performance, asking Rami (but unaware it was him): "Where in the hell did you come up with that?" to which he replied, "Ah, it's just a hobby."

As Harriet Norton told the Louisville Courier-Journal in 1971 about her famous sister: "We used to say we'd both be in the theater, me on Broadway and her in the operating theater. But she's the one who got into show business." 

In case you haven't figured it out yet, Norton's twin sister was Ann B. Davis, the lovable and ever-dependable housekeeper Alice on "The Brady Bunch."

Ann found early success on "The Bob Cummings Show" in the role of Schultzy, which won her back-to-back Emmy awards in 1958 and 1959. After the second win, Harriet wired her sister the message, "One of us was bound to have twins." Harriet was given the chance to join Ann in a Schultzy "double" episode, but couldn't handle the lines, so the idea was scrapped all together. That probably explains why Harriet wasn't enlisted to play Alice's identical cousin "Sergeant Emma" on the "Brady Bunch" episode of the same name, where Ann ended up doing double role duty. The two did share a revealing appearance on television, however, in a 1958 episode of "I've Got a Secret."

Harriet was a homemaker, and after her children left the nest, she worked in public relations at a publishing company. When she first settled into her New Jersey home, Harriet's "first phone call was to the Leonia Players Guild," where she would go on to star in many local productions. In 1993, Ann came to town to help raise funds for the Guild.

"People are always asking us what it's like to be twins, and we are always answering that we don't know what it's like not to be," Harriet said.

Ann died in 2014, at age 88. She never married and is survived by Harriet, who currently resides in Tucson, Arizona.

"People don't believe me when I say I'm her twin," Leslie Hamilton Freas told New Jersey's Courier-Post in 1991. "They either think I'm impersonating Linda Hamilton, or I am her." 

Before Linda Hamilton was trying to escape from "The Terminator," she was performing in community children's theater back in Salisbury, Maryland, alongside her younger sister Leslie, who was born 6 minutes after she was. Linda recalled in 1987: " We would be cast in the same role and work alternate performances. It was a real gimmick."

While the older sister made the jump to Hollywood, Leslie was "the practical one. She's got the kids and a nice house in the suburbs," Linda said. Leslie "thought of all those struggling actors. I wanted more guarantees. I'm not the risk-taker Linda is." She followed her passion, and in her grandmother's footsteps as a nurse and caretaker.

However, Leslie does have one credit to her credit, and it's in one of the greatest action films of all time. She played a cyborg version of Sarah Connor in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," and was paid $1,000; presumably, her sister made a few dollars more. 

Being on set gave Linda's little sister "a glimpse of how tough it can be to do this stuff," but also a taste of the fun too, even fooling Arnold Schwarzenegger into thinking she was Linda. One film was enough for Leslie, however. 

After vowing to never return to the franchise, Linda changed her tune and suited up as Sarah Connor in 2019's "Terminator: Dark Fate." Leslie passed away in 2020 at age 63.

In 2007, Jon Heder told Elle magazine that his relationship with twin Daniel is like a marriage. "My brother and I think alike, know everything about one another, and when we get together, we block everything else out. Nothing exists in our world except for us." 

The Heder boys were "always into art," and followed their brother Doug to BYU to study animation, a "more of a tangible skill I could take out of college," Jon had said. Jon found everlasting fame playing the title role in 2004's "Napoleon Dynamite," then went on to star in such films as "Blades of Glory" and "The Benchwarmers."

Daniel is a visual artist who has worked on such big films as Marvel's "The Avengers" and the "X-Men" series. He worked on 2006's "Monster House,"' where his brother Jon provided a voice over. The two have acted together in a few short films, and Daniel got Jon in a 2005 "Punk'd" episode. Along with brother Doug, they formed Greasy Productions and have several projects in the works — including, naturally, some animated ones.

As for being twins outside of work? Jon told LDS Living in 2012 that in the sixth grade they had switched classrooms for a day — which backfired when Daniel took a pop quiz he obviously wasn't prepared for. "But what did it matter to him?" Jon said. "It was my records the poor scores were put onto." 

In public, fans often assume that Daniel is Jon. Fearful of disappointing them, in 2008 Jon told W magazine that "Most of the time he just pretends he's me."

As firefighter Caroline Paul detailed in her 2015 book "Almost Her: The Strange Dilemma of Being Nearly Famous," looking exactly like one of the lead characters in a massively-successful, massively-cheesy worldwide phenomenon can be pretty strange. "The possibility of an identical twin never crossed anyone's mind. It was easier to believe that the 'Baywatch' star had decided to swaddle herself in a turnout coat and helmet, grab that ax and jump on a fire engine for the day," 

Caroline's older twin sister (by 2 minutes) is actress Alexandra Paul, and although they both report liking chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, they have traveled very different paths in life. 

Alexandra made a splash on TV as Stephanie Holden for 5 seasons of "Baywatch," and appeared in films like "Christine," "8 Million Ways to Die," and "Dragnet." Caroline didn't star in anything, but did work on "Christine" as Alexandra's stand-in on set, confusing director John Carpenter in the process.

Caroline is a San Francisco firefighter-turned-activist, as well as a New York Times bestselling author. In addition to the aforementioned "Almost Her," she's written inspirational books for young girls. She officiated Alexandra's wedding to Ian Murray back in 2000, but as an openly gay person, had to wait herself until it was legal to marry. She eventually did tie the knot with her longtime love, Wendy MacNaughton.

Alexandra told the Ohio News-Journal in 1999 how deep her bond runs with Caroline: "I'll always have her, even if everything else goes badly. It's like having your left arm or something. She means everything to me."

Nicholas Brendon had dreams of playing for the Dodgers, but an arm injury took him off the baseball diamond and onto a TV set. Younger brother Kelly (by 3 minutes) had similar ambitions for a career in acting, but knowing that they'd be competing for similar roles, decided to work behind the scenes as a set decorator. Nicholas found early success playing the role that would ultimately define his life: Xander Harris on the hit series "Buffy The Vampire Slayer."

When Kelly finally jumped into the same profession, he landed a part on the show in the episode "The Replacement" as a Xander double. The brothers appeared together again in four episodes of "Hollywood Squares," as well as in the 2013 horror film "Coherence."

In 1999, Nicholas told Teen People that the duo have a very special relationship: "There's this unexplained twin phenomenon that even we can't understand." 

They have so much in common, in fact, that they've been known to spontaneously belt out the same song at the exact same time, and have even had similar recurring dreams.

Being identical was particularly rough going on the Laurance (née Dyckoff) brothers, who both decided to become actors at the same time. 

"If you have to pick a business not to go into with an identical twin, this is it. We didn't talk for a long time," said Matthew, best known for cleaning teeth as David Silver's dad Mel on "Beverly Hills, 90210," Born four minutes earlier, Mitchell (Peter Kimelman on "Not Necessarily the News") had mutual feelings, saying "At times I hate the fact that Matthew's here. We have moments of closeness and a lot of times of conflict."

The two were able to get past their differences and collaborated several times, including for a margarine commercial, a pair of "Cop Rock" episodes, and popping up on "The Commish." On "Saturday Night Live," Matthew was a featured player in Season 6, while Mitchell held various roles, eventually becoming an associate director. In the memorable "Outer Limits" episode "In Another Life," Mitchell played a man trapped in an alternate reality, surrounded by MANY different versions of himself, which were played by both he and Matthew. When Mitchell needed to leave the soap opera "Santa Barbara" for the show "Reasonable Doubts," his brother replaced him on the show.

The two have since moved away from collecting IMDb links to focus more on their love of a different kind of links: golf. Matthew hosts the "Backspin Golf" radio show and podcast for ESPN, while Mitchell is a Team Partner at GolfTripX.com and Co-Host/Co-Producer of "Talking GolfGetaways with Mitch & Darin" podcast.