MovieChat Forums > The Returned (2015) Discussion > Camille And Lena - Twins?

Camille And Lena - Twins?

posted 10 years ago by gerrywachovsky
29 replies | jump to latest

Hey all. There is something I've been trying to figure out here for a while now and it is pissing me off enough to post about it so here goes. Camille and Lena are supposed to be twins, correct? At first I thought "ok, they're not identical twins" for obvious reasons since neither one of them looks like the other. Then I got confused because sometimes people in the show say that they can't tell the two apart, even though they look completely different. Now I'm super confused because in tonight's episode, "Claire", in the flashback after Camille and Lena's mom comes back from whoring around, they are watching "Twilight" with the dad and they look identical! What the hell? Please, someone, clear this up for me.

[–] HypnocraticGoat 10 years ago

Lena has aged since the bus accident. Camille hasn't.

[–] gerrywachovsky 10 years ago

Ohhh. Duh. I'm stupid haha. Thanks for the explanation.

Still, they sure went through a lot of changes to their facial structure in five years or so. Just saying, lol...I know, it's a television show, it doesn't have to add up completely.

[–] soundwave32785 10 years ago

I think all things considered that picked a good match to play them.

[–] AlexAtkinUK 10 years ago

I agree. They did the best they could, not sure how anyone could expect better.

Its not about it being a TV show, they wouldn't do any better in movies either. Even if they digitally aged her face and stuck it on another actress, it would just look fake instead.

Far better they pick a good actress who looks similar, which they did.

[–] bdickus 8 years ago

Sorry..but how did you miss that?

[–] Movie_map 10 years ago

They're identical twins, only now Lena is 4 years older than Camille and looks like Camille would have looked had she not been killed. Presumably in 4 years Camille will look like Lena does now.

[–] Whowasthat1 10 years ago

Unless of course, the returned don't age.

[–] shopaholic818 10 years ago

I don't know why they don't just have the twins look alike. It had only been 4 years, you don't change that much.

[–] dundundunn 10 years ago

It made sense in the original, I suppose. The scene where the two first met and started screaming was chilling to the bone, because you could see that they were alike and yet so different. The American one is clearly not going for that effect (and it plans on having a longer run, I'm sure) so I don't get why they didn't make some different casting decisions. :-)

I've got a remote and I'm not afraid to use it.

[–] Will1988 10 years ago

Yep. Or get an older and younger sibling that look very much a like.

[–] Zamot 10 years ago

Yes, they're supposed to be identical twins but it makes no sense and it confuses the audience. They should have hired identical twins as actresses and had different hair/makeup on one of them. I guess they hired an older actress to play Lena because she's aged four years since the accident, but so what? People's appearance don't change that much in four years, she would still have the same facial features. I guess we as audience are just supposed to suspend our disbelief but I can't let this one go. I like this show but this is the dumbest thing about it.

This is my signature. Do not confuse it with the post.

[–] gerrywachovsky 10 years ago

I agree totally. Bad casting decision, although I do really like the actress who plays Camille.

[–] PillowRock 10 years ago

A) People do change quite a bit in years when they are growing that much. Yes, it is uncommon for girls to grow that much after they are 16, but it is not unheard of. Some people do have relatively late growth spurts. Hiring a Lena that is noticeably taller than their Camille actually bought them some plausibility for the change in appearance.

B) Hiring identical twins would have been much more confusing. You *should* be able to tell the difference between the 16 year old and the 20 year old, with no exceptions. If they were still identical, *that* would cause confusion. Changes of hairstyle and the like wouldn't do it, especially since Camille was guaranteed to try to make herself fit in with her old friends.

C) The whole idea of casting twin assumes that they could find a pair of identical twins the right age that fit in with the adults cast as their parents AND that can act well enough. That's not a realistic expectation.

D) For people who have been watching right along, I don't think that it should be confusing. They've made the fact that are identical twins very clear a few times, most notably right at the very beginning well before we ever see the older Lena. For people just catching a random episode without knowing what's going on in the series, whether Lena & Camille are twins would be the least of their problems with confusion about how things fit together and what the deal is with the people who never sleep and are always hungry (especially the little kid who occasionally induces hallucinations in others)

[–] Zamot 10 years ago

People do change quite a bit in years when they are growing that much.

Not in the face, not this much.

Hiring a Lena that is noticeably taller than their Camille actually bought them some plausibility for the change in appearance.

However, the fact that a pair of identical twins look ridiculously different from one another takes the plausability right away.

You *should* be able to tell the difference between the 16 year old and the 20 year old, with no exceptions.

I don't buy that. A lot of teen characters on TV shows are played by 20 year olds.

Changes of hairstyle and the like wouldn't do it, especially since Camille was guaranteed to try to make herself fit in with her old friends.

Let's say during those four years Lena dyed her hair black and cut it shorter. Viewers would have no problem telling them apart.

The whole idea of casting twin assumes that they could find a pair of identical twins the right age that fit in with the adults cast as their parents AND that can act well enough. That's not a realistic expectation.

I don't know much about casting, that could be true. This would be the only reason I can find acceptable.

For people who have been watching right along, I don't think that it should be confusing.

It seemed to be confusing for the OP but I don't know how much he/she had been watching. You're right though, the confusion is not the main issue here.

Good for you that you can buy it though, I will probably be more or less annoyed by it throughout the series, but it's not going to change so I'll quit whining.

This is my signature. Do not confuse it with the post.

[–] gerrywachovsky 10 years ago

I was the original poster and I have been watching this show since the beginning. I have seen every episode, not just a handful of random ones. Good show, but this will bother me for the course of it. But when you're talking about a show by the creators of "LOST", I'm lucky that this is the only thing that is bugging me thus far. The constantly eating bit is starting to bug me too, but it hasn't reached a fever pitch yet.

[–] superlisaj 10 years ago

The girl is 16 though. Not 14 or 12. I can't think of a single friend that had a sudden growth spurt at age 16, nor look so changed that much from her twin. I am sure it is possible, but I think it would be rare. I mean I looked the same from 15 to 25 or so. I buy it in the show since there is a possibility some girls have a foot growth spurt. I just think it is very rare.

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[–] teddy21 9 years ago

The girl is 16 though. Not 14 or 12. I can't think of a single friend that had a sudden growth spurt at age 16

Just because you haven't met anyone doesn't make it impossible. I was 5'2"when I was 16 by the time I was 19 I was 5'8". I'm pretty sure people coming back from the dead should be the real questionable issue not that someone grew a few inches in 4-5 years.

[–] jmaybay 9 years ago

I agree with everything you just said. I just started the first episode on netflix and I figured it out right away because the two actresses do look similar and they said it had been four years and YES some people do age that quickly in four years. Especially if you're into drugs or alcohol or whatever. Not saying either of them are on such. But even without. Everyone ages differently.

I just don't understand why this is the one HUGE thing that everyone is stuck on. It wasn't a bad casting call it was a great one. Shrug whatevs.

I wonder if theyll read this & say that awkward moment when I wasted my life readin a signature. :\

[–] nascar48 10 years ago

I am so glad someone brought this up, thought I was going crazy. I didn't know they were twins, don't know how I missed that part. There are scenes I feel like I'm looking at the same person. When they were watching tv I kept looking at that scene and pausing to see the difference. Makes sense now that Lena looks different in the present since she aged.

[–] silvertron 10 years ago

I thought the show made it pretty clear numerous times they were identical twins. But not in the very beginning. That was supposed to be a twist at the end of the first episode.

I also think the actresses do look fairly alike.

And once you see the flashbacks with Lena at 16 played by the same actress who plays Camille, wasn't it obvious they were identical twins?

[–] lazarillo 10 years ago

It worked in the original because the younger girl LOOKED 15. This girl looks 20. Females grow between 15 and 20, but not really between 20 and 25 (they definitely don't get taller).

I SUSPECT they needed an older actress because of the (fully clothed) sex scene in the first episode. It's a well-known fact that underage girls in America are all virgins and don't even know what sex IS, unlike those shameless teenage hussies in France.

"Let be be finale of seem/ The only emperor is the Emperor of Ice Cream"

[–] nikkiten1979 10 years ago

The twins in the American version, let's be real, were miscast. In the French version they look a lot alike and their height difference isn't as drastic I think. French Lena still looks like she's in her late teens and Camille looks like she's in her very early to mid teens. In the American version Lena looks over 21 and Camille looks about 17 - they also don't look like they used to be identical with their facial bone structure being so different.

can't outrun your own shadow

[–] melsishunney 9 years ago

I disagree - I think they look related for sure.
I thought it was one of the better family casting choices i've seen on tv. That said, I haven't seen the french version so i have nothing else to compare this too.

[–] tjc_2005 9 years ago

Also they can't act for toffee.

[–] Danzence 9 years ago

One is older than the other.

[–] 9 years ago

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