When the remake of The Parent Trap first came out 22 years ago, it set a trap on our hearts: We must continue to watch this classic film ’til the day we die.
It’s just so nostalgic and heartwarming. Not to mention, it’s got Lindsay Lohan in her prime.
To make this favorite pastime of ours a little more fun, come learn 10+ random facts that you didn’t know about The Parent Trap .
1. A lot of major actresses auditioned for the roles of Hallie and Annie:
This included Scarlett Johansson, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jena Malone, and Mara Wilson.
Jena Malone was even offered the part , but she turned it down not once, not twice, but three times!
2. Elaine Hendrix, who played Meredith Blake, was called in last-minute to audition:
We can’t imagine anyone else in the role!
“I was living in West Hollywood and I was asked to drive over to Burbank and so I did,” she told Bustle .
“And I read, and the next thing I know I’m being asked to come in on a Saturday to read with Dennis.”
When she auditioned, Walter said that it “could’ve been a scene” from the movie.
That’s because she breezed into the room looking like a million bucks. This caused Dennis Quaid to mouth the words, “Are you kidding?”
3. Hallie and Annie were named after the children of director Nancy Meyers and producer Charles Shyer:
The girls even had cameos in the film!
Annie played a towel girl who gave Elizabeth a first-aid kit at the Stafford Hotel and Hallie was in a scene at Camp Walden.
4. Those split-screen scenes took a lot of work:
Lohan had to wear an earpiece so that someone could feed her the other twin’s lines.
A body double, played by Erin Mackey, was also used to give Lindsay a reference point.
That’s not all.
Each scene had to be filmed twice since the movie didn’t have the same technology we have today.
This meant that Lindsay would film one part with a stand-in and then do the same thing with the other twin.
5. *Vampire Diaries* star Kat Graham is in the film:
It was actually her first movie! She played Jackie, one of Annie’s friends at the camp.
While her dialogue was ultimately cut, she did get to keep a souvenir: her Camp Walden tee, which she beaded.
6. Nancy Meyers forgot writing about the Oreo and peanut butter scene:
This was a pivotal scene that helped the girls bond when they were locked away together in the cabin.
“I think it was just something weird that both girls would like,” Meyers told Hello Giggles .
7. Lindsay’s mom and siblings were extras in the film:
You’ll spy her mom and siblings as extras in the scene where Hallie arrived at a London airport.
Lindsay’s oldest brother also played the boy who hilariously attended the all-girls camp by accident.
8. Natasha Richardson was a class act in the movie *and* off-screen.
If you remember, the actress — and late wife to Liam Neeson — tragically passed away in a skiing accident in 2009.
Many remember her fondly, including her Parent Trap costars .
Lisa Ann Walter (Chessy) and Elaine Hendrix told *Today*:
“If you walked by her trailer, she would swing the door open, and if it was in the evening, she’d have a glass of wine and say, you know, ‘Come in for a gossip,’ and she’d get you to come into her trailer and hang out… She was the sweetest, kindest person.”
9. That infamous lizard scene involved three different lizards:
One was real, one was a toy, and one was computer-generated.
Hendrix told Bustle that she would not reveal which was which so as not to destroy the movie magic.
“While we were filming it I was sworn to secrecy… I just tell people,’Listen, it’s movie magic.'”
She continued: “There’s a real one, a fake one, and a computer one in there. Go back and watch and see what you can figure out.”
10. Vera Wang actually designed the wedding dresses that were seen at Elizabeth’s store in London:
This was a perfect fit since Vera Wang is the queen of wedding dresses.
So it’s no wonder that they were absolutely stunning. She’s a magician!
11. Joanna Barnes, who played Vicki, was in the original *Parent Trap* movie:
How cool!
She played Vicky Robinson, the evil girlfriend. This makes it all the more ironic that she played the mother of the evil girlfriend in the remake.
12. Simon Kunz (who played Martin) and Lindsay came up with Annie and Martin’s signature handshake themselves.
It took them two to three hours to create and memorize the entire routine!
Kunz even told Bustle that he still knows it today.
13. The very first actress that auditioned was Mischa Barton:
“The very first young actress I auditioned was Mischa Barton,” casting director Ilene Starger revealed to Bustle .
But she didn’t fit what Ilene was looking for, nor did the many other girls who auditioned.
Everything changed, however, when Ilene met Lindsay.
“She was smart, real, fresh, and utterly charming… she was just an ebullient young girl who brought the sun with her.”
She tested alongside other actresses for the role but was always the clear front runner.
14. Walter had twin girls three years after filming the movie:
This is super freaky. They even shared the same birthday as the twins.
Walter revealed to Today that, after she had her twins, she told Nancy Meyers “that she [had] put a weird woo-joo on me.”
15. Originally, Simon Kunz auditioned for a role with only one line.
He auditioned to be the wedding photographer but the casting directors ended up loving him so much that they cast him for a bigger role!
Quite frankly, I’m glad they did.
16. Real chocolate was used to dump on Marva Sr. and Marva Jr. as they entered the cabin.
This was revealed in a behind-the-scenes documentary .
Maggie Wheeler (Marva Jr.) actually told Bustle how difficult it was to get the chocolate off!
“Oh my god, we had so much fun. We shot the [cabin prank war] scene in two locations, at the camp and on a soundstage… and the hilarious thing about it was the drive in the little golf cart from the set, the cabin to the showers.”
“It was an open air golf cart, so with the air blowing on us, the chocolate hardened and so by the time we got to the showers, we were like chocolate bunnies… We had to move our limbs and crack the chocolate off.”
17. A needle was carefully placed in Lohan’s hair to ensure the popping of the baloon.
This was also revealed in the behind-the-scenes documtary .
I don’t know that I would trust anyone to put a needle on my head!
18. When Hallie meets Meredith outside the elevator, she sings a very special song.
She is caught singing “Let’s Get Together,” which is from the original Parent Trap movie.
It’s a small detail people might not have caught!
19. The scene where Chessy finds out she is talking to Annie took 73 takes.
“We did that scene over a couple days and 73 takes, I think… about halfway through all those takes, people were giving me different directions and Charles started to have other ideas and started to ask Nancy to ask me to do different things,” Lisa Ann Walter told Bustle .
“I started to question what I was doing and thought, ‘Oh, my god. I’m [expletive] this up. Maybe I’m doing the wrong thing and maybe I suck, maybe I’m a terrible actress, maybe I’m just awful.’ And I was sitting in a chair trying to get back to that beat and do my work and [Dennis] came over and he put his hands down on either side of me.”
“He put his forehead against mine, and he said, ‘I think the work you’re doing is magnificent.’ And I burst into tears. It’s just little things like that — it’s how many years later, and I’ll never forget how that made me feel.”
20. Walter also told *Bustle* that she had a crush on Dennis Quaid.
“My whole life, I adored Dennis Quaid — like, from The Big Easy . Not just adored, had a stupid, ridiculous crush on. I didn’t know how I was going to get through an audition and not be shaking… [but he was] super charming. Put me at ease.”
Do you know of any random and interesting facts about *The Parent Trap*?
Or were you pleasantly surprised by all the facts we presented you with?
Either way, let us know down below in the comment section! We would love to hear from you!
