An actor’s life isn’t the easiest. Sure, if you’re an A-lister, you might have the world at your feet and perhaps more money than you know what to do with. But for the most part, you still need to audition, compete with thousands of other actors, and sometimes not get the best pay.
But just imagine this: not only are you a struggling actor going to countless auditions, but you also have to compete with your own twin brother. And on top of that, directors keep being torn over which of the two they want to hire for a part, so they flip a coin. Yes, that’s the reality for Aaron and Shawn Ashmore, who, throughout their careers, have been mistaken for one another countless times.
Aaron and Shawn Ashmore are one of the many Hollywood twins who have been mistaken for one another their entire lives
But due to their uncanny resemblance and low-profile lives, the two managed to fly under the radar regarding their twin status
The names may not be as recognizable as you think, but their faces probably are. Aaron and Shawn Ashmore are two actors from British Columbia, both born on October 7, 1979. They’re identical twins and have been working in Hollywood since they were children. Initially, the two starred in commercials after their mother was approached by a talent agent, but it wasn’t long before they made the jump to the big and small screens.
If you take a look at Aaron’s face, you might recognize him from titles like the superhero series Smallville or the 2009 sci-fi hit show Warehouse 13. And if you look at Shawn’s face, you might confuse him with his brother, but you likely know him from X-Men, where he played Iceman, or even from the hit show The Boys, where the actor took on the role of Lamplighter.
Nonetheless, while they may have tried to stick to different career paths, casting directors would often pit them against one another
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The duo would often go on commercial auditions together as kids, and have shared that directors would often flip coins to decide who would get the role
While they now have different accolades under their belts and their various roles make it easier to tell the two apart, that wasn’t always the case. Shawn actually spoke to Us Weekly, where he admitted that casting directors often didn’t know which brother to hire for their early commercials. “When we were doing commercials, they would call us back in after we both auditioned,” he said.
“And said, ‘We love you guys both. And so it’s fair, we’re gonna flip a coin so that you guys can see it’s not preferential treatment.’” And apparently, this didn’t just happen once. According to the 46-year-old actor, it actually happened “four or five times.” So not only were they competing with each other, but this might have directly affected their psyche.
Despite this, the two managed to pursue different career paths that allowed them to be successful in their own way
X-Men: The Last Stand / Marvel Studios
But according to experts, this type of experience can harbor resentment and frustration
According to twin psychologist Dr. Barbara Klein, adult twins are not usually internally jealous of one another, but they are constantly being compared externally. By using a coin flip, the directors were perhaps unknowingly reducing their individual hard work and distinct identities to pure chance, which could have fueled frustration and even resentment between the brothers.
This may also have contributed to their pursuing different career paths. Experts have noted that, despite being extremely cooperative, many twins will choose to create some distance from their siblings and establish their own identities. In this case, Shawn leaned more toward film, with roles like Iceman in X-Men, while Aaron opted to build a presence in television dramas and sci-fi.
Still, it’s no wonder that people often thought they were the same person — they are identical twins, after all. And we’ve seen this happen time and time again throughout the years, from Disney’s most iconic twins, Dylan and Cole Sprouse, to perhaps the most well-known twins in Hollywood, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
But aside from being twins, they have something else in common: they started working at a young age, which we know can be difficult. Notably, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have spoken about how they felt like “performers” for much of their acting careers. Instead of playing and enjoying their childhood, the twins said they were focused on work. So, did you know they were different people at all, Pandas? Let us know below!
Surprisingly, to this day, people still admit they had no idea they were twins
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