Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz plays twins Dr. Elliot Mantle and Dr. Beverly Mantle in Prime Video’s Dead Ringers, a reimagining of David Cronenberg’s 1988 thriller. The just-released trailer for the limited series introduces Elliot and Beverly and sets up the world in which the twins exist.
Prime Video recently hosted a press conference with series star and executive producer Rachel Weisz and creator, writer, showrunner, and executive producer Alice Birch (Normal People) in support of the trailer’s release. During the press conference, Birch and Weisz discussed updating David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers which starred Jeremy Irons in dual roles. They also talked about the logistics of filming Weisz as twins and developing two incredibly complex characters.
On the Plot of Dead Ringers:
Alice Birch: “It’s a reworking of David Cronenberg’s iconic film. It’s a twisted, darkly comedic thriller about these two dangerously co-dependent twins who are obsessed with each other.”
Rachel Weisz: “They’re both obstetricians and gynecologists, and they’re very brilliant in their field. They’re professionally at the top of their game.”
On the Decision to Switch the Main Characters from Male to Female:
Alice Birch: “It felt like it would just be really interesting to tell this story with two women at the center of it. But I don’t know that Rachel and I ever had conversations where we said, ‘Okay, well, now that they’re women, how does that change it?’
It, of course, changes everything – but it also changes nothing. That’s what I think. We wanted it to be as fun and as wild as the film and let the series go in its own direction. And then setting it against a medical background that particularly focused on obstetrics and gynecology – that felt really right for the storytelling.
It felt like that could have this tone that we wanted could really sit in that space in a really interesting way.”
On What Viewers Can Expect:
Alice Birch: “I think we wanted each episode to be quite different and we wanted the show to begin in a very grounded place in a place that we really recognize. Like, it’s two doctors are walking in and out of a hospital in Manhattan. We want it to feel like today and that they’re meeting real women with these real kinds of issues. And by the end, we’re in a more heightened, more operatic place.”
Rachel Weisz: “It’s a pretty wild ride at times. There’s a lot of mischief. It’s quite, yeah, deliciously mischievous at times. Emotional. Moving. And there is some humor, also. Some darkly, darkly humorous [moments].”
On Shooting Scenes with Rachel Weisz as Twins:
Alice Birch: “We learned a lot of things very quickly. And it really was a whole incredible team effort. Like everybody sort of became like this machine that everybody…you know, hair and makeup, like camera…all the crew knew how to do. […] When there’s a twin shot, when we have the twins together in the same frame, we would shoot an A side which was usually Elliot. She usually dictated the rhythm of the scene. And then changeover her costume and Rachel, you know, and then we would go and shoot the B side.
So, it was very technical but also like had to involve as much space as possible for Rachel’s process, you know, what she was sort of amazing at, about coming and switching so quickly.”
Rachel Weisz: “There wasn’t time to take time between characters. I was very lucky because Alice’s writing is so psychologically layered and profound that each character was completely distinct.
They were just two totally separate people on the page before I even got into hair, makeup, costume, and the way in which they might look different. They were written on the page as totally distinct characters.
So, I had Alice’s words to embody and it’s very extraordinary writing. Beverly is altruistic, thoughtful, careful, kind, has a complicated relationship to pleasure, really wants to change the way that all women birth irrespective of their economic background, you know, their wealth.
And Elliot’s very, very different. She loves Beverly, so she’ll go along with her dream to change the way that women birth, but she’s not altruistic. She is into science, and she wants to really change the world through scientific research and discovery, and she’s pushing the boundaries of what’s ethical and what isn’t. And, yeah, she’d like some prizes, I think.”
On the Challenges of Playing Two Complex Characters:
Rachel Weisz: “This was without a doubt the biggest challenge of my acting life. No question about that. But, also, the most joyous in many ways. It was hard work.
But as Alice mentioned, it was a whole crew kind of moving as one organism. It wasn’t just me. It was the effects, motion control, hair, makeup, the set dresses, props. I mean, everybody was shifting from one character to the next.
I didn’t shoot Beverly for one day and then Elliot for another day. It was within one scene. […] We would shoot one half and then shoot the other half. And we were moving as a living unit on the set. So, yeah, it was thrilling. I mean, exciting as maybe learning to walk a tightrope, which I definitely can’t do. But, you know, we all learned together. It was thrilling.”
On the Key Differences Between Elliot and Beverly:
Alice Birch: “I think Elliot is the most efficient pleasure-seeker. Like, she wants something, she gets it. It hits the spot. Then she wants something else, then she goes and gets it. And I think that’s sort of extraordinary. You know, I’m envious of that, for sure.
I think Beverly, you know, I think she’s incredibly empathetic and really genuinely cares.”
Rachel Weisz: “Elliot’s appetite for pleasure and her mischievous kind of humor was definitely fun to embody. She likes to eat a lot. I mean, she has an appetite; she has a kind of sexual appetite, a career appetite, and just a good ole appetite for food. [Laughing] She likes to eat a lot, so I enjoyed that.
And then Beverly is, as Alice said, just full of empathy and puts herself in the shoes of the other. And yes, she feels very deeply. Yeah, they were both just so beautifully written and so complicated.”
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The Dead Ringers Plot, Courtesy of Prime Video:
A modern take on David Cronenberg’s 1988 thriller starring Jeremy Irons, Dead Ringers features Rachel Weisz playing the double-lead roles of Elliot and Beverly Mantle, twins who share everything: drugs, lovers, and an unapologetic desire to do whatever it takes – including pushing the boundaries of medical ethics – in an effort to challenge antiquated practices and bring women’s health care to the forefront.
All six episodes will be released on Prime Video on April 21, 2023.
