What is it like to be Michael B Jordan’s twin, Andie MacDowell’s hands or Rachel Weisz’s hair? Some of Hollywood’s best stand-ins reveal all
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ost of us are familiar with the idea of stunt doubles in film and television. But there are plenty of other doubles working in the industry, too – for when an actor doesn’t want to do an intimate scene, for example, or doesn’t have the skills required to show their character playing an instrument or driving a car. Here, six body doubles talk about their secret lives on screen.
Until recently, Percy Bell was a little-known actor living in Nashville, Tennessee – who just so happened to be the exact same height and build as the best actor Oscar winner Michael B Jordan. In 2024, he came across a casting call for a film that turned out to be Sinners. In the film, Jordan plays the twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who often appear on screen together, requiring a double to “play” the other twin.
Bell, 35, had never worked as a double before. He says the experience was “a little bit more rigid” than regular acting roles, as it was more to do with lining up his movements with Jordan’s than with building his own character. Still, he thought deeply about how he was going to play Smoke and Stack, making playlists for both characters to help him embody each role. Funnily enough, one of the songs he had on his playlist for Stack also turned out to be a song Jordan had been using to get into character. “We’re very similar in certain aspects,” he says. “That’s why the chemistry was so good.”
