By Michaela Gordoni
Everyone knows Hayley Mills from the original 1961 Disney movie, THE PARENT TRAP, but she didn’t portray two roles all alone — she had help from “the other twin,” Susan Henning.
“On this 64th anniversary of THE PARENT TRAP let’s celebrate the ‘other twin,’ who is none other than Susan Henning,” Keeping Walt Disney’s Instagram wrote alongside a video on June 21. “She played Hayley Mills double in the film and according to Hayley, she was a delight to have on set and they were the best of friends, often eating huge Bob’s Big Boy hamburgers together during lunch breaks.”
The girls were close on set, and Mills later said she was jealous of Henning because she dated Elvis Presley.
“Although she was uncredited in the film, Walt Disney presented Susan with a ‘Duckster’ for ‘Best Unseen Performance by an Actress.’ She still has it!!”
In the video, Henning recalled how she had to act carefully alongside Mills.
“With split screen…they’d give us a landmark. So even if it was Hayley, and they were doing one for both of her, I would still be doing the other side that she could relate to…We knew we could only go so far in our boundary,” Henning said.
“We would rehearse the scenes together and then we would switch places and play opposite parts,” Mills told Vulture. “Occasionally, if you know what you’re looking for when you watch the film, you can see the side of her cheek and it is not me.”
Mills told TODAY in 2021 that Henning was a “wonderful actress.”
Related: ‘A Family Coming Back Together’: Two Daughters’ Real-Life PARENT TRAP
“She was really really good about it,” she said. “She never she never complained. And then she went on to become a dancer, and dated Elvis Presley. So she got one over me in the end.”
“And I really enjoyed putting a cream pie in Susan Henning’s face,” she added. “And then of course, we had to switch roles. And I got the cream pie in my face. Instant karma.”
Both women are proud to have been in the family movie.
Mills recalled having “lots of fun” with Henning and admired that she was always a “good sport.”
THE PARENT TRAP had its 64th anniversary on June 21.
Mills said she developed a relationship with Walt Disney, who would often come and visit the movie’s set.
“He loved movies, he loved actors. He loved the whole process of moviemaking…And he was always really encouraging…And he’d go around and tell everybody ‘good job!’ Very encouraging to people,” Mills recalled.
THE PARENT TRAP was the highest-grossing movie of 1961, and Mills and Henning are right to be proud of it.
Read Next: Original PARENT TRAP Star Takes a Trip Down Memory Lane
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