History Creator / MaryKateAndAshleyOlsen

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (born June 13, 1986, in Sherman Oaks, California) are twin American actors.

* Two younger sisters, Creator/{{Elizabeth|Olsen}} (best known for playing ComicBook/ScarletWitch) and Taylor, the latter of whom is the other of their two half-siblings.

They became famous for playing Michelle Tanner in ''Series/FullHouse''. They parlayed that fame into a highly lucrative series of straight-to-[[UsefulNotes/{{VCR}} VHS]] movies, leading them to become the top-earning stars under the age of 21 from the early 90's to the mid-2000s. They stopped acting as a duo in 2004, after the financial disappointment of ''Film/NewYorkMinute'', but continued to profit handsomely from royalties, earning $40 million in 2006 even though they hadn't acted in anything. In 2007 Forbes ranked the twins as the eleventh-richest women in entertainment, with an estimated net worth of $100 million. Their success has led to [[Music/TheVeronicas a]] [[Series/SisterSister number]] [[Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody of]] attempts to heavily promote other young twin actor pairs.

* DolledUpInstallment: The UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor game based on the franchise was originally developed as a ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' title, only for ''South Park'' creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker to put a halt to the release due to concerns about the game's mature subject matter being inappropriate on a device played mostly by children. Crawfish Interactive retooled what they have done so far into ''[[WesternAnimation/MayaTheBee Maya the Bee & Her Friends]]'' which was based on the German cartoon franchise, which in turn was reskinned and modified as ''Mary-Kate & Ashley: Get a Clue!''

They became famous for playing Michelle Tanner in ''Series/FullHouse''. They parlayed that fame into a highly lucrative series of straight-to-[[UsefulNotes/{{VCR}} VHS]] movies, leading them to become the top-earning stars under the age of 21 from the early 90's to the mid-2000s. They stopped acting as a duo in 2004, after the financial disappointment of ''Film/NewYorkMinute'', but continued to profit handsomely from royalties, earning $40 million in 2006 even though they hadn't acted in anything. In 2007 Forbes ranked the twins as the eleventh-richest women in entertainment, with an estimated net worth of $100 million. Their success has led to [[Series/TheVeronicas a]] [[Series/SisterSister number]] [[Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody of]] attempts to heavily promote other young twin actor pairs.

* StarDerailingRole: ''Film/NewYorkMinute'' was the twins' only theatrical release. It flopped at the Box Office and was savaged by critics, marking the end of their prominence. Their business Dualstar is doing well, however, and Mary Kate has continued with acting (albeit mostly for indie films) in addition to fashion.

* ''The Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley'', a plethora of mystery works for children (literature and videos)

** Ashley has a BeautyMark on her right cheek, while Mary-Kate has one on her upper lip, just under her nose.

* RunawayBride: Their father in ''It Takes Two''. He was marrying the RichBitch, so it's okay!

* WitnessProtection: Teh main plot in ''Film/OurLipsAreSealed'' (the movie where the twins go to Australia)--Abby and Maddie Parker (played by Ashley and Mary-Kate, respectively) witness a jewel heist and testify against the person who did it in court. Rightfully worried that the criminals will come after them, the twins and their parents are put into the FBI's Witness Protection Program and are (eventually) placed in Sydney, Australia.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (born June 13, 1986 in Sherman Oaks, California) are twin American actors.

They became famous for playing Michelle Tanner in ''Series/FullHouse''. They parlayed that fame into a highly lucrative series of straight-to-[[UsefulNotes/{{VCR}} VHS]] movies, leading them to become the top earning stars under the age of 21 from the early 90's to the mid 2000s. They stopped acting as a duo in 2004, after the financial disappointment of ''Film/NewYorkMinute'', but continued to profit handsomely from royalties, earning $40 million in 2006 even though they hadn't acted in anything. In 2007 Forbes ranked the twins as the eleventh-richest women in entertainment, with an estimated net worth of $100 million. Their success has led to [[Series/TheVeronicas a]] [[Series/SisterSister number]] [[Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody of]] attempts to heavily promote other young twin actor pairs.

Their later teen years were common fodder for tabloid news. As adults, their focus shifted from acting to fashion, and they've used their considerable personal wealth to produce numerous clothing lines. In Fall 2008, the girls wrote a book called ''Influence'' as "a tribute to designers, artists and other industry creative individuals who inspired them." Mary Kate continues to act occasionally in movies and TV shows, while Ashley has forgone acting entirely to focus on their fashion business.

A little known fact about Mary-Kate and Ashley is that they're technically fraternal (non-identical) twins--although they definitely look enough alike where they could easily pass for being identical twins. Mary-Kate and Ashley also have four other siblings outside of each other, two of whom are half-siblings through their dad's second marriage (the twins' parents got divorced in 1995):

!!Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have appeared on these works:

* ''Series/FullHouse'' (not [[MakingUseOfTheTwin (usually)]] on screen at the same time)
** They were credited as "Mary Kate Ashley Olsen", leading many to believe that Michelle was played by one actor. Only in the last season they are credited as [[AndStarring "and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as Michelle"]].

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (guest hosted, at expense of their senior prom, in 2004)

** In an episode of ''Series/TwoOfAKind'' Mary Kate says of poker "I thought a full house beat everything".
** In ''Film/NewYorkMinute'', Roxie finds a bootleg DVD of ''Holiday In The Sun'', one of their DTV-movies.
** They've played sisters called Chloe and Riley in the DTV-movie ''Winning London'' and the sitcom ''Series/SoLittleTime''; the song "So Little Time" was first used as a soundtrack in ''Winning London'', before becoming the theme song of the sitcom. However, in ''Winning London'', Mary-Kate plays Chloe while Ashley plays Riley--in ''So Little Time'', it's the other way around. And aside from the names, Chloe and Riley Lawrence from ''Winning London'' are very different characters from Chloe and Riley Carlson of ''Series/SoLittleTime''.
* ActorInspiredElement: Michelle's ambidexterous because Ashley's right-handed while Mary-Kate's left-handed.

* DinnerOrderFlub: An interesting variation happens in ''Passport to Paris'' (the movie where they go to France). One of the twins is taking French at their school back in America, and while out at a restaurant in Paris, she accidentally orders ''fish'' ("'''p'''oissons") when she was actually trying to order ''drinks'' ("'''b'''oissons"). Though she said "deux boissons" (two drinks), and the waitress only brought one fish, so she could have been trolling.

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: In many of their movies and TV-shows, the twins were typecast as this--Ashley typically portrayed the mature/responsible twin while Mary-Kate was usually the wild twin (''Series/TwoOfAKind'', ''Film/{{It Takes Two|1995}}'', ''The Challenge'', ''Film/NewYorkMinute''). One of the only times they switched it up was in ''Winning London'' (the movie where they go to England), where Mary-Kate played Chloe (a serious and competitive overachiever) while Ashley played Riley (Chloe's laidback, fun-loving twin sister).

* KidsPlayMatchmaker: A rip-off of ''Film/{{The Parent Trap|1961}}'' called ''Film/{{It Takes Two|1995}}''.

* PolarOppositeTwins: Combined with FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling and/or TomboyAndGirlyGirl, the twins played this up in most of their shows and TV-movies. There are only a few aversions, like the movies ''Passport to Paris'' and ''Film/OurLipsAreSealed'', where the twins act the same way, and there's no notable differences between their personalities.

* StarDerailingRole: ''Film/NewYorkMinute'' was the twins' only theatrical release. It flopped at the Box Office and was savaged by critics, marking the end of their prominence. Their business Dualstar is doing well however, and Mary Kate has continued with acting (albeit mostly for indie films) in addition to fashion.
* StrictlyFormula: A lot of the criticism for their DTV-movies that they starred as teenagers (like ''Passport to Paris'', ''Film/OurLipsAreSealed'', ''Winning London'', ''Holiday in the Sun'' and ''When in Rome'') is the plot--to go into greater detail:
** A pair of teenaged twin sisters go to some foreign country (like France, Australia, England, the Bahamas and Italy, respectively, for the movies mentioned above) and spend most of the movie shopping in and exploring said country while hooking up with a pair of hot guys--and in quite a few of the movies, there's also a subplot involving the twins helping to solve a mystery and/or stop a robbery.

** The "hooking up with two hot guys" is lampshaded at the end of ''The Challenge'' (the last DTV-movie that they made and, overall, the second-to-last movie that the twins did together). In a short scene at the end of the movie, some of the twins' boyfriends from past movies and TV-shows they had done come in and start arguing over who they loved more. While the boys are all arguing, the twins leave and end the movie with a really sweet line: "Boys may come and go, but we'll always have each other--and that's ''not'' just in the movies."

** ''Film/{{It Takes Two|1995}}'': Mary-Kate is Amanda Lemmon, an orphan who plays street ball and resents having to act lady-like to get adopted while Alyssa Callaway (played by Ashley) is like a little princess, coming home from her boarding school's piano recital competition, expecting to meet her wealthy father at the airport but it's the butler instead.

* TomboyAngst: In ''Switching Goals'', athletic tomboy Sam (played by Mary-Kate) admits she's tired of her YouGoGirl reputation and that she would give away all her sports trophies to become a popular DudeMagnet like her girly sister Emma. Conversely, Emma (played by Ashley) would like to be good at sports like Sam. In fact, in this movie, the twins basically have an AdaptationalAngstUpgrade of their respective roles in ''Series/TwoOfAKind''.

** They nearly starred as CreepyTwins on an episode of ''Series/TheXFiles''. Due to strict child labour laws, they were replaced with the Krievins twins instead.

* WitnessProtection: This is main plot in ''Film/OurLipsAreSealed'' (the movie where the twins go to Australia)--Abby and Maddie Parker (played by Ashley and Mary-Kate, respectively) witness a jewel heist and testify against the person who did it in court. Rightfully worried that the criminals will come after them, the twins and their parents are put into the FBI's Witness Protection Program and are (eventually) placed in Sydney, Australia.

** They've played sisters called Chloe and Riley in the DTV-movie ''Winning London'' and the sitcom ''Series/SoLittleTime''. Except that, in the former, Mary-Kate played Chloe while Ashley played Riley--in the latter, it's the other way around.

* Two younger sisters named Creator/{{Elizabeth|Olsen}} (who's an actress as well) and Taylor, the latter of whom is the other of their two half-siblings.

** They were credited as "Mary Kate Ashley Olsen", leading many to believe that the little girl was played by one actor. Only in the last season they are credited as [[AndStarring "and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as Michelle"]].

* DinnerOrderFlub: An interesting variation happens in ''Passport to Paris'' (the movie where they go to France). One of the twins is taking French at their school back in America, and while out at a restaurant in Paris, she accidentally orders ''fish'' ("'''p'''oissons") when she was actually trying to order ''drinks'' ("'''b'''oissons").

* Two younger sisters named Creator/{{Elizabeth|Olsen}} (who's an actor as well) and Taylor, the latter of whom is the other of their two half-siblings.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (born June 13, 1986 in Sherman Oaks, California) are twin American actresses.

* Two younger sisters named Creator/{{Elizabeth|Olsen}} (who's an actress as well) and Taylor, the latter of whom is the other of their two half-siblings.

** They were credited as "Mary Kate Ashley Olsen", leading many to believe that the little girl was played by one actress. Only in the last season they are credited as [[AndStarring "and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as Michelle"]].

** The "hooking up with two hot guys" is lampshaded at the end ''The Challenge'' (the last DTV-movie that they made and, overall, the second-to-last movie that the twins did together). In a short scene at the end of the movie, some of the twins' boyfriends from past movies and TV-shows they had done come in and start arguing over who they loved more. While the boys are all arguing, the twins leave and end the movie with a really sweet line: "Boys may come and go, but we'll always have each other--and that's ''not'' just in the movies."

** They've played sisters called Chloe and Riley in the DTV-movie ''Winning London'' and the sitcom ''Series/SoLittleTime''. Except that, in the former, Mary-Kate played while Ashley played Riley--in the latter, it's the other way around.

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: In many of their movies and TV-shows, the twins were typecast as this--Ashley typically portrayed the mature/responsible twin while Mary-Kate was usually the wild twin (''Series/TwoOfAKind'', ''Film/ItTakesTwo'', ''The Challenge'', ''Film/NewYorkMinute''). One of the only times they switched it up was in ''Winning London'' (the movie where they go to England), where Mary-Kate played Chloe (a serious and competitive overachiever) while Ashley played Riley (Chloe's laidback, fun-loving twin sister).

* KidsPlayMatchmaker: A rip-off of ''Film/{{The Parent Trap|1961}}'' called ''Film/ItTakesTwo''.

* MissingMom: The shows ''Series/FullHouse'' and ''Series/TwoOfAKind'' as well as the movies ''Film/ItTakesTwo'' and ''Film/BillboardDad'' have the Olsen Twins playing the daughter(s) of a widowed father.

** ''Film/ItTakesTwo'': Mary-Kate is Amanda Lemmon, an orphan who plays street ball and resents having to act lady-like to get adopted while Alyssa Callaway (played by Ashley) is like a little princess, coming home from her boarding school's piano recital competition, expecting to meet her wealthy father at the airport but it's the butler instead.

* TwinSwitch: Part of the main plot in ''Film/ItTakesTwo'' and ''Switching Goals''.

A little known fact about Mary-Kate and Ashley is that they're technically fraternal (non-identical) twins--although they definitely look enough alike where they could easily pass for being identical twins. Mary-Kate and Ashley also have four other siblings outside of each other (two of whom are half-siblings from their dad's second marriage, as the twins' parents got divorced in 1995, when they were around 9):

* AlphaBitch: Jennifer in ''Series/TwoOfAKind'', though later becomes a LovableAlphaBitch. A few characters of their movies also fit this, like Victoria from ''Our Lips Are Sealed'' (the movie where they go to Australia), who's a very stereotypical one.

* PolarOppositeTwins: Combined with FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling and/or TomboyAndGirlyGirl, the twins played this up in most of their shows and TV-movies. There are only a few aversions, like the movies ''Passport to Paris'' and ''Our Lips Are Sealed'', where the twins act the same way, and there's no notable differences between their personalities.

* StrictlyFormula: A lot of the criticism for their DTV-movies that they starred as teenagers (like ''Passport to Paris'', ''Our Lips are Sealed'', ''Winning London'', ''Holiday in the Sun'' and ''When in Rome'') is the plot--to go into greater detail:

* WitnessProtection: This is main plot in ''Our Lips Are Sealed'' (the movie where the twins go to Australia)--Abby and Maddie Parker (played by Ashley and Mary-Kate, respectively) witness a jewel heist and testify against the person who did it in court. Rightfully worried that the criminals will come after them, the twins and their parents are put into the FBI's Witness Protection Program and are (eventually) placed in Sydney, Australia.

A little known fact about Mary-Kate and Ashley is that, biologically-speaking, they're technically fraternal twins and not identical twins--although they definitely look enough alike where they could pass for being identical twins. Mary-Kate and Ashley also have four other siblings outside of each other (two of whom are half-siblings from their dad's second marriage, as the twins' parents got divorced in 1995):

** In ''Film/NewYorkMinute'', Roxie finds a bootleg DVD of ''Holiday In The Sun'', one of their TV movies.
** They've played sisters called Chloe and Riley in the TV movie ''Winning London'' and the sitcom ''Series/SoLittleTime''. Except that in the former Chloe is played by Mary Kate and Riley by Ashley, in the latter it's the other way around.

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: In many of the movies and TV-shows, the twins were typecast as this--Ashley typically portrayed the mature/responsible twin while Mary-Kate was usually the wild twin (''Series/TwoOfAKind'', ''Film/ItTakesTwo'', ''The Challenge'', ''Film/NewYorkMinute''). One of the only times they switched it up was in ''Winning London'' (the movie where they go to England), where Mary-Kate played Chloe (a serious and competitive overachiever) while Ashley played Riley (Chloe's laidback, fun-loving twin sister).

** A pair of teenage twin sisters go to some foreign country (like France, Australia, England, the Bahamas and Italy, respectively, for the movies mentioned above) and spend most of the movie shopping in and exploring said country while hooking up with a pair of hot guys--and in quite a few of the movies, there's also a subplot involving the twins helping to solve a mystery and/or stop a robbery.

** The "hooking up with two hot guys" is lampshaded at the end ''The Challenge'' (the last DTV-movie that they made and, overall, the second-to-last movie that they did together). In a short scene at the end of the movie, some of the twins' boyfriend from past movies and TV-shows they had done come in and start arguing over who they loved more. While the boys are all arguing, the twins leave and end the movie with a really sweet line: "Boys may come and go, but we'll always have each other--and that's ''not'' just in the movies."

* WitnessProtection: This is main plot in ''Our Lips Are Sealed'' (the movie where the twins go to Australia)--Abby and Maddie Parker (played by Ashley and Mary-Kate, respectively) witness a jewel heist and testify against the person who did it in court. Rightfully worried that the criminals will come after them, the twins and their parents are put in the FBI's Witness Protection Program and are (eventually) placed in Sydney, Australia.

* ActorInspiredElement: Michelle uses both hands to write because Ashley is right-handed, and Mary Kate is left.
* AlphaBitch: Jennifer in ''Series/TwoOfAKind'', though later becomes a LovableAlphaBitch. A few characters of their movies also fit this, like Victoria from ''Our Lips Are Sealed'' who is a very stereotypical one.

* DinnerOrderFlub: An interesting variation happens in ''Passport to Paris''. One of the twins is taking French at their school back in America, and while out at a restaurant in Paris, she accidentally orders ''fish'' ("'''p'''oissons") when she was actually trying to order ''drinks'' ("'''b'''oissons").

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: In many of the movies and TV-shows, the twins were typecast as this--Ashley typically portrayed the mature/responsible twin while Mary-Kate was usually the wild twin (''Series/TwoOfAKind'', ''Film/ItTakesTwo'', ''The Challenge'', ''Film/NewYorkMinute''). One of the only times they switched it up was in ''Winning London'' (the DTV-movie where they go to England), where Mary-Kate played Chloe (a serious and competitive overachiever) while Ashley played Riley (Chloe's laidback, fun-loving twin sister).

* GranolaGirl: Mary-Kate's character, Shane, in ''The Challenge'' (the DTV-movie where the twins go to Mexico).

* PlayingAgainstType: As mentioned above, Ashley usually played the responsible twin to Mary-Kate's foolish twin--but, also as mentioned above, one of the only times this was switched up was in ''Winning London'', as Mary-Kate plays Chloe, the serious and competitive overachiever, while Ashley plays her laidback and fun-loving sister Riley.
* PolarOppositeTwins: Combined with FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling and/or TomboyAndGirlyGirl, the twins played this up in most of their shows and TV-movies. There are only a few aversions, like the movies ''Passport to Paris'' and ''Our Lips Are Sealed'', where the twins act the same way, and there's no notable difference between their personalities.

* StarDerailingRole: ''Film/NewYorkMinute'' was the twins' only theatrical release. It flopped at the Box Office and was savaged by critics, marking the end of their prominence. Their business Dualstar is doing well however, and Mary Kate has continued with acting (albeit mostly for indie films).