Dead Ringers is a new six-part series on Prime Video based on the dark and deeply disturbing cult movie of the same name, which was released in 1988 and starred Jeremy Irons in the duel role of corrupt twin gynaecologists. This time The Mummy star Rachel Weisz plays the rule-breaking twins, Elliot and Beverly Mantle, as the famous film is given a fresh, modern twist.
"I’m a huge fan of the original Cronenberg movie,’ says Rachel, who’s starred in Black Widow (2021) and The Favourite (2018) and is married to James Bond star Daniel Craig. "From the first moment I saw it, I could never forget it. I’ve been obsessed with Dead Ringers for most of my life."
"This was without a doubt the biggest challenge of my acting life. But it wasn't just me shifting between the characters — there were the effects, motion control, hair, makeup, the set, dresses and props. It was hard work but exciting, like learning to walk a tightrope, which I definitely can’t do! But we all figured it out together. It was thrilling."
Weisz, who also serves as executive producer on the show created and written by Alice Birch, who's been behind Normal People, Succession and The Wonder, the series shows the unapologetic doctors willing to do whatever it takes to shine a light on the shocking state of women’s healthcare.
So here’s everything you need to know about the all-new Amazon Prime Video series Dead Ringers…
Dead Ringers release date
Dead Ringers launches worldwide on Amazon Prime Video on Friday April 21. It's a six-part series with all six episodes dropping as a box set.
Is there a trailer of Prime Video's Dead Ringers?
Yes Prime Video has now released an official trailer and a teaser trailer for Dead Ringers. Take a look at both below.
Dead Ringers plot
In this Prime Video version of Dead Ringers Rachel Weisz plays twins Elliot and Beverly Mantle, who share everything from drugs to lovers. Both are equally determined to do whatever it takes to challenge antiquated medical practices and bring women’s healthcare to the forefront of people’s minds – even if that means pushing the ethical boundaries of medical science.
Along with their lofty career goals, the twins share almost everything in life – patients, a home and even love interests – yet they couldn’t be more different: Elliot is the outspoken, thrill-seeking, drug-using sister; while sensible, reserved Beverly is quietly trying for a baby herself. But when Beverly falls for her patient, an up-and-coming actress called Genevieve (The Umbrella Academy’s Britne Oldford), jealousy, distrust and danger soon infiltrate the Mantle twins’ uncomfortably close relationship.
Dead Ringers cast — Rachel Weisz on playing twins Elliot and Beverly Mantle
Rachel Weisz plays twins Elliot and Beverly Mantle, who are both physicians. She says she was first intrigued when she first saw David Cronenberg’s 1988 film Dead Ringers as a teenager. “I was really into the ‘psychosexual-thriller’ tone and Jeremy Irons was sensational. I was also obsessed with [his co-star] Genevieve Bujold’s performance. All the characters are damaged— very damaged. The movie is unforgettable.
“I thought it’d be fascinating to see all the lead characters as women. It felt like an exciting idea for long-form storytelling in television, which I’d never done before. Elliot and Beverly Mantle are both brilliant in their field of obstetrics and gynaecology and at the top of their game professionally, but the two characters are very distinct.
"I was lucky in that sense because Alice’s writing was so psychologically layered and profound that the sisters were two separate people on the page. Beverly is altruistic, thoughtful, kind and really wants to change the way that women give birth irrespective of their economic background. She is full of empathy and feels very deeply.
"Elliot loves Beverly, so she’ll go along with her dream, but she wants to change the world through scientific research and discovery, and is pushing the boundaries of what’s considered ethical and what isn’t. She has an appetite for pleasure and her mischievous kind of humour was definitely fun to embody.
"It’s very graphic and voyeuristic. They both deliver babies, so there’s body-horror around that, but it’s just part of life and how every single human on the planet got here. It’s also emotional, moving and darkly humorous. It’s a pretty wild ride."
Rachel , who like writer Alice Birch is the mother of two children, says it felt particularly nurturing to have such intense camaraderie with women during such a fractured time in the world. “I’d never been in a writer’s room and I was pretty nervous about what it would be like. But it was the most incredible group of women, all with glorious imaginations. These were some of the happiest times of my life.”
* Rachel Weisz has a hugely impressive acting CV with some top films already under her belt, including The Favourite, The Constant Gardener, About A Boy and The Lovely Bones, The Mummy, Runaway Jury, Beautiful Creatures, The Bourne Legacy and Black Widow.
Who else is starring in Dead Ringers?
The Dead Ringers cast also includes Britne Oldford (The Umbrella Academy, Skins) as Genevieve, an actress leaves Beverly starstruck when she comes in for a check-up. But as the pair grow closer, how will Elliot handle her sister’s new obsession?
Poppy Liu (Hacks, Better Call Saul) is Greta, the twins’ meticulous, yet long-suffering, artist-assistant runs the Mantles’ lives with complete efficiency. But does she have a hidden agenda?
Michael Chernus (Severance, Orange is the New Black) plays Tom, a brilliant, straight-talking scientist who’s working with his good friend Elliot on a potentially groundbreaking project. But could it land them in trouble?
Jennifer Ehle (Pride & Prejudice, Zero Dark Thirty, Saint Maud) is Rebecca, the canny and cutthroat heiress is interested in women’s health and science. Can the Mantle twins convince her to invest in their birthing centre?
Jeremy Shamos plays Joseph, the diligent, but often ruthless, associate of the Mantle twins hopes to raise funds for their passion project and introduces them to heiress Rebecca.
Emily Meade (The Deuce, The Leftovers) is Susan.
Writer Alice Birch on creating the new Dead Ringers
Dead Ringers' showrunner Alice Birch reveals that the all-female writing team felt putting the focus on two sisters was crucial for the series, which was three-and-a-half years in the making.
"We talked about the intensity of identical twins, the God-like power that comes with being a doctor and the signature body-horror of Cronenberg,’ says Alice, 36. "But we felt that two women at the centre of the story would be really interesting. It changes everything of course, but it also changes nothing. We wanted the series to be as wild as the film, and go in its own direction. The tone had to be twisted and camp, sexy and subversive – complete with an 1980s soundtrack and a nod to the movie. Like Rachel says, it’s a ride!"
Alice says the sex-and-power-crazed Elliot is a “brilliant, efficient pleasure-seeker who, when she wants to eat, she eats, she feels satisfied and then when a new want comes in, she doesn’t feel any guilt or shame."
Beverly, who identifies as a lesbian, is steady, calm and isn’t at all driven by hedonism. “She isn’t good at accessing pleasure until she meets a woman," Alice Birch says. "Genevieve, who brings her a huge amount of pleasure, which is very difficult for Elliot and the twins’ relationship. Beverly is also terribly moral and old-fashioned in a lot of ways.”
All about the original 1988 movie of Dead Ringers with Jeremy Irons
The original 1988 movie of Dead Ringers by director David Cronenberg starred Jeremy Irons, who played both Elliot and Beverly Mantle. They were twin gynaecologists who would often seduce their patients. Elliot, the more confident of the pair, would sleep with the women who would come to their clinic to deal with fertility problems, before passing them onto his identical twin, without them realising. However, Beverly became obsessed with one of the women, leading both brothers down a dangerous path of drug abuse, depression and paranoia.
"The difference between this and other twin movies is that there’s not an evil twin,’ says Cronenberg, now 80. "They’re real people, subtle, complex, difficult, and that’s the challenge of the movie. There is no psychotic twin and no purely opposite good twin. They are distinct people."
* Take a look at the 1988 trailer for the classic movie below...
