Christian Cousins

Underage performers who happen to be identical twins have a distinct advantage in Hollywood. They can share duties for the same role on a TV or movie set, thereby doubling the allowable amount of time that they can be employed as child performers under Screen Actors Guild rules each shooting day. For Christian Cousins, brother of Joseph, this led to an onslaught of work in the late 1980s and early 1990s, beginning with eight episodes of work on the CBS-TV prime time soap "Knots Landing," the popular night time soap opera that delved into the lives of five Los Angeles families. This was by far their most substantial bit of small screen work, spanning three seasons from 1987 to 1990. Other single episode work on the sleuthing priest crime series "Father Dowling Mysteries," "Empty Nest," and the wacky airport comedy "Wings" finally gave way in 1994 to their strangest and yet in many ways most appropriate credit. The Cousins twins joined several other sets of identical sibling performers for the lowbrow comedy "Twin Sitters," which also featured former James Bond star George Lazenby in a supporting role.