(Photo: Courtesy of Abrams Artists Agency; Everett Collection)

The Ersatz Olsen Twins Take Manhattan
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What do you do with simulacra of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen who are still in the seventh grade? Allie and Lexi Kaplan of Short Hills, New Jersey, get called Olsen-like “every day.” “We do get special privileges,” says Lexi. “We get immediate seating in the restaurants in the Hamptons.” “The other day I went to see Must Love Dogs, and they gave me free popcorn,” adds Allie. They even have an agent, Bonnie Shumofsky. She found the Kaplan girls at a wedding and has been pitching them on their Olsenishness ever since. “They look like the Olsen twins,” she says. (Most of her other clients don’t look like younger versions of established stars.) “But if they didn’t have personality, I wouldn’t represent them.” The twins themselves say there’s room for them. “When we were 7, we were in Riding in Cars With Boys, but they cut the scene out,” says Allie. “We tried out for Cat in the Hat as Thing One and Thing Two, but we didn’t get the parts because we didn’t know how to do a cartwheel.” Lexi adds, “We were supposed to be on the Dave Chappelle show, but they said he had a breakdown or something.” They’ve also done commercials. In the meantime, what would happen if they met the Olsens? “It would be a shock for them,” says Lexi. “They would be like, ‘Oh, my God, it’s minis of us.’ ”
—Susan Avery