Trivia / The Parent Trap (1998)

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• Actor-Inspired Element: While filming the scene where Elizabeth and Hallie have tea, Natasha Richardson suggested that they also share a cake, to imply that Elizabeth didn't pick up Annie herself because she was busy baking dessert.
• Blooper: When the twins introduce themselves to Meredith and she screams while looking back and forth at them, Meredith's actress briefly looks above one of the twins' head instead of at her face, giving away that she looked at only air.
• Breakthrough Hit: Nancy Meyers made her directorial debut with this, putting her on the map as a director (she had been a producer and script doctor beforehand). This led to other high profile films such as What Women Want, Something's Gotta Give, The Holiday etc.
• …But I Play One on TV: This movie has convinced a fair amount of people, mainly children, that Lindsay Lohan actually has a twin. Jamie Lee Curtis admits to this as well - asking which twin Lindsay played when she heard they'd be working together on Freaky Friday (2003).
• California Doubling: Pretty much everything not involving the Parker or James residences were not shot on location. Camp Walden is said to be "way at the other end of the country" compared to California, and Hallie has to take a plane to get home. The scenes there were shot in California, along with the other California scenes. More mildly, the fictional Stafford hotel in San Francisco was actually in Pasadena. While it’s not mentioned where the camping trip is, its filmed at Lake Arrowhead, in San Bernardino County, which is quite aways from Napa and with so many closer options its unlikely they went there.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Simon Kunz was auditioning for the tiny role of the wedding dress photographer (in the scene where Hallie-as-Annie accompanies Elizabeth to a shoot). They liked his audition so much, they offered him the larger role of Martin the butler.
• Colbert Bump: The scene where Hallie and Annie put peanut butter on Oreos. This led to people putting peanut butter on ACTUAL Oreos, which in turn caused Nabisco to release Peanut Butter Oreos.
• Creator Couple: Nancy Meyers and producer Charles Shyer were married at the time of the film's production.
• Dark Horse Casting: Several established or experienced child actresses (namely Mara Wilson, Scarlett Johansson and Michelle Trachtenberg) were passed over for the dual roles of Annie and Hallie. Lindsay Lohan had only done commercials and a minor role on Another World, and claims The Parent Trap was her first film audition.
• Dawson Casting:
  • The beginning of the movie helps measure Nick's age as 35 or 36. Dennis Quaid was 44 at the time, and actually ten years older than Natasha Richardson. That means he's playing 24 in the Distant Prologue too.
  • Averted by Lindsay Lohan, who was exactly the same age as Annie and Hallie. Also averted with Elaine Hendrix, who was approximately one year older than Meredith's 26.
• Defictionalization: Hallie's plush rabbit, Cuppy, inspired an actual Disney Store-exclusive plush.
• Deleted Role:
  • A subversion: In Kat Graham's film debut, she plays one of Annie's friends and can be seen in the fencing scene, but all her lines were cut.
  • Jeanette Charles had her scene as Elizabeth II deleted (see below).
• Deleted Scene: A rather longer one after Hallie arrives in London, bordering on Big-Lipped Alligator Moment. She and Martin pass by Buckingham Palace and Hallie insists on being allowed to go and see it. Predictably she tries to make the guard laugh - and then meets the Queen. Although Nancy Meyers went to a lot of work to get the scene shot, it was cut for pacing problems.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Lindsay Lohan got her ears pierced for the role. But averted for Annie's haircut, as she just wore extensions for the pre-haircut scenes.
• Fake Brit: Linsday Lohan as the British twin Annie. Hallie is an in-universe example as she tries to impersonate Annie.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: In the beginning of the movie, you can see from the marriage license that the parents were married on January 8th 1986. Nick's occupation is listed as 'Viticulturist', while Elizabeth's is 'Artist'. It also tells us the ages of the parents - Nick is 24 and Elizabeth is 23.
• Missing Trailer Scene: The trailer shows cut footage of the twins wishing on a star from two different countries.
• Playing Against Type: Natasha Richardson at the time was known mainly for playing Ice Queen characters. This ends up being the role a good amount of people would associate her with.
• Playing Their Own Twin: Lindsay Lohan plays both twins.
• Predecessor Casting Gag: A rare villainous version. Meredith, the Gold Digger fiancé to the twins' father, invites her parents to the hotel they're all staying at. Meredith's mother "Vicki" is played by Joanna Barnes, who played Vicky, the Gold Digger fiancé to the twins' father in the original 1961 version.
• Production Posse: Nancy Meyers and Alan Silvestri previously worked on the 1991 remake of Father of the Bride, which was produced by Disney's Touchstone Pictures division.
• Real-Life Relative:
  • The boy who shows up at the all-girls' camp is Lindsay Lohan's brother Michael. Additionally, her mother (Dina Lohan) and the rest of her siblings are extras in the scene where Hallie meets Martin at the airport.
  • Nancy Meyers's daughters (after whom the girls in the movie are named) also cameo. Hallie is the girl at the camp asking where the Navajo bunk is (and her character is called Lindsay). Annie is the girl who brings the parents a first aid kit after Nick has fallen into the pool.
• Reality Subtext: Elizabeth lives on Pembroke Lane. Natasha Richardson's father had once lived on that street.
• Romance on the Set: Simon Kunz (Martin, the James' butler) and Lisa Ann Walter (Chessy, the Parkers' housekeeper) started dating in real life after this film.
• Shout-Out: According to an interview with Elaine Hendrix, she wore a bracelet with a dangling charm in this movie as a nod to her character in the original, who wore the same sort of jewel.
• Star-Making Role: For Lindsay Lohan, though she starred in two TV movies before following it up with her next movie Freaky Friday.
• What Could Have Been:
  • An early draft of the script gave the twins an unusual connection - a sort of electric shock that occurred when the twins touched each other. Disturbingly, the first time this was to happen would have been when the two 11 year-old twins were showering, and one of them dropped the soap.
  • Another planned scene was for the ear piercing to go longer - where Hallie would faint, Annie would gently slap her awake and say she's not going around with just one pierced ear, and Hallie would faint trying to pierce the second ear too.
  • Another planned scene had Elizabeth going into more facts about how she and Nick broke up - "I tried living in California, he tried living in London..." while she and Hallie are walking through London.
  • The movie ended with a final scene where the twins would bicker about where everyone is going to live now - cutting to an outside shot of Chessie and Martin kissing and Sammy the dog barking at a poodle next door.
  • Mara Wilson auditioned to play both twins, but she was deemed too young for the dual role.
  • Scarlett Johansson also auditioned, but she did not get the part.
  • Another actress in consideration was Michelle Trachtenberg - and she even has the same birthday as the twins in the movie (October 11).
  • Jena Malone claims she turned down the dual roles "like three times".

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