Skip to content
Documentary casting call for identical twins in Great Yarmouth
Director Jean Hogg, 52, has long been fascinated with the relationships between identical twins.
Having an identical sister, Ms Hogg knows how “wonderful yet complex” a relationship between monozygotic twins can be.
Ms Hogg’s current project – Identical – explores the relationships between twins and hopes to dispel myths and cliches about the phenomenon.
She said: “Being a twin, you’re so bounded to each other from a young age.
“And when you get to the stage where you get jobs or go to university, it can be quite a difficult split from your sibling.
“Some twins absolutely love it, but others find it difficult, and I wanted to explore that.”
Ms Hogg’s 8mm film features interviews with more than ten sets of identical twins, with one pair being interviewed at the of age 12, 15 and again at 18.
Now, Ms Hogg is calling for female identical twins aged between three and four in the area to come forward to take part in the project and share their experiences.
“This project has been really nice to chart twin’s relationships with each other as they get older,” she said.
“And it can be frustrating to see the portrayal of twins in film and TV as something scary or freakish.
“Being called freaky is something me and my sister got used to when we were growing up. I hope the film will give people a bit more context on what it is really like to be a twin.
“My own experiences have naturally woven into the film and it’s made me question where me and my sister fit in.
“It’s been a joyful project.”
Ms Hogg is currently producing the film and hopes to have a theatrical release and for the film to be available on streaming platforms in the future.
For more information, visit Identical – Twins Documentary on Facebook.
Identical Twins
The phenomenon of identical twins – also known as monozygotic twins – occurs when a single embryo splits in two soon after fertilisation.
This is why identical twins have identical DNA.
Non-identical twins are created when a woman produces two eggs at the same time and both are fertilised by a different sperm. The fertilised egg is called a zygote and these non-identical twins are known as dizygotic or fraternal twins because they grew from different zygotes.
According to Twins Trust, the likelihood of having identical twins is about 1 in 250 (about 0.5%). Identical twins do not run in families but are more likely to occur with mothers over the age of 30.
Famous twins include former Norwich City players Josh and Jacob Murphy, 90s film stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and former WWE superstars Brie and Nikki Bella.
