Nancy Meyers reunites ‘Parent Trap’ cast including LiLo

In 1998, the world fell in love with twins Hallie and Annie for a second time. Reviving the 1961 classic family film The Parent Trap, which originally starred Hayley Mills as twins Susan and Sharon, writer and first-time director Nancy Meyers took over the zany family story about twins separated at birth who later meet at summer camp and scheme to bring their divorced parents back together. This time, the film was led by unknown child actor Lindsay Lohan. On July 20, Meyers and the cast reunited to discuss the magic of their remake and remembered the late Natasha Richardson.Journalist Katie Couric hosted the virtual reunion on her Instagram and was joined by Meyers, producer and co-writer Charles Shyer and the main cast, including Lohan, Dennis Quaid, who played Hallie and Annie’s dad Nick, Elaine Hendrix, who played Nick’s girlfriend Meredith, Lisa Ann Walter, who played Hallie’s nanny Chessie, and Simon Kunz, who played Annie’s butler. Using the reunion to help raise money for the charity World Central Kitchen, the cast reminisced about the 1998 film that continues to be popular today.Calling the film magic, Meyers said that much of the credit for the continued success of the remake goes to its lead. “Also, LL. We discovered a big star. We discovered somebody that everybody fell in love with,” said Meyers. “Within two or three minutes, she had the part,” said Shyer of Lohan’s audition.“The first thing I remember was meeting Lindsay,” said Quaid, who reenacted a touching father-daughter scene with Lohan for the reunion. “I remember thinking, 'Oh my god, that’s one of the most talented people I’ve ever met. Period.' Forget that she’s 11 years old. Then I actually thought there were two because your accent was so perfect!”

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After chatting with @nmeyers during an IG Live - we decided that we should try and see if we could pull off getting the Parent Trap gang back together again for the first time since 1998 -- and guess what, we really did it!!!@lindsaylohan, @dennisquaid, @lisaannwalter, #SimonKunz, and @elaine4animals join writer-director @nmeyers and writer-producer #CharlesShyer to share their memories from filming, reenact their favorite scenes and discuss the film’s lasting impact. PS: With COVID-19 continuing to ravage the globe, we all decided to use this reunion as an opportunity to raise awareness and funds for @wckitchen - @chefjoseandres organization that is helping feed those in need all across the world. You can donate $10 by ? texting PARENT to 80100 or by going to wck.org/parenttrap (link ? in my bio!)❤️ #parenttrapreunion #wereallydidit

A post shared by Katie Couric (@katiecouric) on Jul 20, 2020 at 5:41am PDT

Fondly remembering the film that launched her career, Lohan credits The Parent Trap as giving her the ‘acting bug.’ “It’s just really special,” said Lohan, adding that the film served as her first audition and first time on a major set.Still new to Hollywood when she filmed the double roles, Lohan said that The Parent Trap helped her understand what was happening in her private life at the time. “My parents were kind of separating at the time when this was all going on, and it made it a lot easier for me to play these characters that were figuring it out,” said Lohan.Cast as the villain in the film, Hendrix laughed over the recent revival of her character on social media, which has included a #JusticeForMeredith hashtag and some well-timed tweets on Hendrix’s part.Reuniting for the first time since the filmed premiered 22 years ago, the cast, along with Meyers and Shyer, also lovingly remember Natasha Richardson, who played Hallie and Annie’s mother Elizabeth. Richardson died in 2009 after suffering a head injury during a skiing accident in Quebec. “Natasha had such an elegance and grace, and she was so maternal to me,” said Lohan.“She was somebody so giving and so glad to be there and transmitted that joy of being able to do what we do,” added Quaid. “It made everything that much better.”Hendrix remembered the late actress frequently gushing about her family, which included her husband, actor Liam Neeson, and the couple’s two sons. “She would come into the hair and makeup trailer and she would literally swoon over talking about Liam and her kids,” said Walter. “She would call him ‘My Liam.’ She truly seemed to have it all which to me made what happened even more heartbreaking.”