The X-Files Guest Stars That Were Nearly Special Effects
The X-Files is a show that has always had great special effects that brought everything from mysterious UFOs to killer cockroaches to life. However, in the show’s first season, we almost missed out on two memorable guest stars because the show was going to render their characters (one, at least) using expensive special effects. When The X-Files crew was casting for the episode “Eve,” they had so much trouble finding the right twins for the job that they considered using a photo double and split screens to bring the visual effect to life, something that would arguably have ruined the episode.
Clones
If it’s been a while since you’ve watched this X-Files episode, or maybe you never tuned into “Eve” in the first place, you’re probably wondering why casting twins was so important to the production. In short, this episode has Mulder and Scully encountering a bunch of creepy clones whose origins go back to a Cold War program intended to create super soldiers.
Instead of encountering a bunch of Captain Americas, though, our erstwhile agents encounter little clone girls, some of whom are very dangerous due to both their intellect and lack of morality.
Eve 6
In this weird X-Files episode, the different Eves have number designations (like Eve 6, the clone that the hit rock band takes its name from), and it was important to have twins so there could be multiple young clones onscreen at the same time.
Historically, having two characters that look exactly exactly alike makes it far easier to create such scenes than any kind of technical wizardry. Years later, Buffy the Vampire Slayer would do the same thing with a cloned Xander episode that was far easier to produce because Xander actor Nicholas Brendon has an identical twin.
Logistical Issues
Therefore, The X-Files producers had a simple mission when casting for “Eve:” find two young identical twins to help play clones. They ran into a major problem right away, though, when they tried to do the casting in Los Angeles. Thanks to child labor laws limiting how much the kids could work per day, flying them from LA to Vancouver would have made filming the episode downright impossible.
Canadians To The Rescue
Obviously, the X-Files producers ended up finding the right Vancouver girls to bring the young Eves to life: the twins Erika and Sabrina Krievins. Back when it looked like finding the right twins would be impossible, though, co-executive producer R.W. Goodwin considered going high-tech, using a photo double and a split screen to give a single actor a “twin” via special effects.
Goodwin eventually determined that the Eves interacted too much for this to work, and the whole process would have been too expensive (cost was a big concern in the early days of the show).
The Right Twins For The Job
Hearing this strange X-Files story about “Eve,” we’re grateful that the show was able to find the right twins to bring these characters to life. They did a fantastic job (particularly for child actors), and these two talents are a large part of why this early adventure is so memorable.
Considering that Mulder and Scully would eventually have a super-powered kid of their own, “Eve” also provided an early preview of just where this ambitious sci-fi series would end up taking our favorite characters.
