Playing Doubles

Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen

Arguably the most iconic and well-known twins in pop culture, Mary-Kate and Ashley are some of the wealthiest women in the media and fashion industry. Getting their start in television at only 9 months old, the twins played Michelle Tanner in the show Full House from 1987 until 1995. Labor laws required child actors to have significantly less hours on set than their adult counter parts, creating a need for twins in the entertainment industry. The sisters played doubles of one another as Michelle, and very well as many fans did not ever notice the fact that 2 they both played her. Just before the end of Full House Mary-Kate and Ashley began to book roles where they got to be independent characters, but as twins. They remained in the entertainment industry with various acting roles until 2004 where they both decided to take a break that turned into retirement. The sisters had multiple fashion lines with different companies while acting, but post acting they pivoted and focused on fashion and are highly commended and ethical designers.

Their time as Michelle Tanner very much solidified their identities together, which they reinforced by taking on this very reserved and quiet public presence. Even today, the society views them as a sort of odd “telepathic twin” look, who only speak to each other or their minds. In a sense, society views them as the stereotypical twins that media often portrays. I can’t blame them as they did play a double of each other for the first 8 years of their lives, it’d be hard not to become the same person. They hadn’t really had a chance to have separate identities in life and I don’t think that bothered them. For instance, they could’ve had separate fashion companies but chose to continue to work together and have a shared one.

Mary-Kate and Ashley are one of the most iconic sets of twins in media and also had a large impact on society’s view of twins. Playing one character in Full House together merged their identities as children, and that continued partially by choice and partially by force of the industry. Their personalties and preference towards each other made it easy for society to see them as portraying typical twin behavior and as just generally odd twins. Because of that, I do think they had a negative impact in society’s view. Typically twins in the industry at some point or another, want to make a name for themself and separate their identity from being just a twin; they did not. Instead of dispelling typical twin stereotypes they support them.