Lindsay Lohan Dishes On How She Pulled Off Playing Twins In ‘Parent Trap’ Reunion

Lindsay Lohan nailed her performance as twins in “Parent Trap” so effortlessly that even her co-stars wondered if she was two people. In the cast’s first reunion since the movie’s 1998 release, they recalled some of the tricks it took to pull it off.

The virtual special ― a celebration of the Nancy Meyers remake’s 22nd anniversary ― was released on Katie Couric’s Instagram on Monday to support José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen, which is aiding COVID-19 relief efforts. 

“I remember testing when we had to do the nail polish to see how long the blue hard candy nail polish would take to put on and take off,” Lohan said, as a clip of her 11-year-old self as Hallie Parker in the iconic summer camp poker scene flashed across the screen. “And I would just run, sit there, change everything, and ‘then start talking like this,’” she added in a British accent.

Lohan, now 34, said putting on her wig made her feel entirely different, which helped her sink into her other role as Annie James. 

“And I feel like almost people treated me differently when I was Annie. Because Annie was so much nicer, and I feel like Hallie was kinda like me,” she said.

Her parents’ separation, which was happening around the time of filming, helped her to understand her characters, Lohan shared.

“Without this movie, without this, I wouldn’t have gotten that acting bug,” she added. ”‘The Parent Trap’ ― it’s beautiful, it’s timeless and it’s special.”

Lohan soared to stardom after her performances as twins Hallie Parker and Annie James, who were separated as babies, then met at summer camp more than a decade later. After getting off to a rocky start, the two girls uncover some unsettling similarities and finally realize they’re twins. They hatch an elaborate intercontinental plan to switch places and get their divorced parents back together.

Meyers, who wrote and directed the film, said it was a challenging feat to pull off in 1998. She shouted out Lohan’s look-alike body double Erin Mackey, who she said was present every day of the shoot. 

Mackey, who was roughly the same height and sported the red hair to match, helped Meyers’ vision come to life with the help of the far-less-advanced CGI of the day.

“If you turn just a little bit too much, you could see that it wasn’t Lindsay, but it was ultimately a fun experience and experiment. It worked, and even if you look at it now, it looks pretty good,” she said.

The special also featured key cast members Dennis Quade (Nick Parker), Elaine Hendrix (Meredith Blake), Lisa Ann Walter (Chessy), Simon Kunz (Martin) and Meyers’ co-writer and producer, Charles Shyer.

Grab some peanut butter and Oreos and settle in for a heavy dose of nostalgia ― watch the reunion below.