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In both the 1961Parent Trapand the 1998 remake, one actor was cast to play both twins.
For Walt Disney, Mills was the obvious choice for the dual roles of Sharon and Susan.
In 1960, she had won over audiences and critics as the plucky, ever-optimistic Pollyanna.
Though it wasnt a huge box-office smash, the 14-year-old Mills was considered a triumph in the part.
She received the Academy Juvenile Award the last honorary Oscar of its kind at the 33rd annual ceremony.
What does it feel like to hit this milestone?I know, 60 years.
But why do people talk about films being 60, and not 50?
But it is its amazing.
I think Walt would be very happy thatThe Parent Trapis still enjoyed and remembered after all these years.
I know you didParent Trapshortly afterPollyanna, and you already had a contract with Disney.
I was so lucky.
I did one audition when I was 12 for the first movie I ever made.
And I didnt even feel that that was an audition.
It was more like a screen test.
I never felt like the job depended upon me.
So then the next thing wasPollyanna.
And after that, I never did another audition for years.
The first time I had to do an audition, I think, was 20 years later.
And it was a horrible shock!
Its a dreadful experience to have to go through.
Ive heard you had a great relationship with Walt Disney.
Was he coming by the set very often?Yes, he often did.
He would just come down from his office, and wander across the lot.
And hed go and visit all the sets and the soundstages.
He loved movies, he loved actors.
He loved the whole process of moviemaking.
And he was intricately involved with every shot every aspect of the movie.
He knew what was going on.
And he was always really encouraging.
You didnt think,Oh my god!
Hes gonna … You know, because he was always smiling.
And hed go around and tell everybody good job!
Very encouraging to people.
Do you remember receiving the script forThe Parent Trapthe first time?I do.
I remember reading the script.
I thought it was wonderful.
I absolutely loved it.
They didnt have that title then.
I know we started the movie without a fixed title, and then they came up withThe Parent Trap.
Which funnily enough, my parents didnt like.
But they changed their mind.
Thats the funny thing about titles.
Were you nervous at all about playing two different characters?I was more excited than nervous.
The idea of playing these girls from different sides of the country.
But I think I got away with it because the girls were always playing each other.
Did you consider yourself more of a Susan or Sharon?I think I gravitated more towards Susan.
I loved her lifestyle.
I loved her house.
And her clothes, her cowboy boots.
She didnt play the guitar very well.
But I think her life looked a lot more fun than Sharons.
Did you get to know her well on set?Yes, we had lots of fun together.
We would rehearse the scenes together and then we would switch places and play opposite parts.
Shes got a longer neck and much longer legs, which I was extremely jealous of.
So I think that kind of compensated for it being the back of a head in the film.
Were there any scenes you remember being particularly tricky to film?Well, they were all quite challenging.
Being tipped out of the canoe by the girls.
Again and again and again and again.
And then the fight scene!
I think that was where I got my comeuppance, the fight scene at the dance in the camp.
We shot the fight scene first.
And then I had the fun of picking up the cream pie, and squashing it into Susans face.
And I rubbed it, really did a good job.
And they said, Okay, change.
And I thought,Oh gosh, yes, Ive got to get the pies squashed in my face.
Instant karma that was!
I think the fight was probably the most tricky.
It was quite effective, though, wasnt it?
Its worked amazingly well.
And I got letters.
People really did believe there were two people.
Which, really, I find that very hard to believe.
But it was very basic, simple split screen.
I dont know how they did it there wasnt like a dividing line.
When we were shooting a scene, on pain of death did you cross over the dividing line.
Because if you suddenly said, Here, do you want a Coke?
[Hayley extends her hand] your hand would disappear, because it was a line.
They were only basically filming one side of the screen.
And then they [would] film the other side.
Otherwise, when you got back, the sheet would be going up.
I couldnt believe it.
It was a gimmick song.
And then suddenly I mean, it got into the Hit Parade!
I think it got to be No.
Theyre very, very discerning in Hawaii!
It was one of the surprises of my life.
My mom was 10 whenThe Parent Trapcame out, and she was already a huge fan of yours fromPollyanna.
Except that we never forgot that it was because of the film.
It was the film.
It wasnt as if they met me at a party and had that reaction to me.
So there was always this kind of feeling of being at arms length, or once removed.
So thats really what it was.
And they could imagine themselves in that situation.
Theyre expecting Pollyanna or Susan or Sharon, and they just got me.
Because youve got the fan magazines all writing stories that arent true and picking photographs that have been airbrushed.
So then theres the person with a spot and greasy hair.
And they think,Oh dear, this is a bit disappointing.
There is a kind of bubble of unreality that goes along with it.
Maybe less now, because probably social media has got so much to do with it.
And you know, people know everything about everybody now.
Theres not a lot of surprise or mystery.
There were amazing actors that I worked with, that were all in their 40s and 50s theyve gone.
I was there at kind of the tail end of the glory days of old Hollywood.
And so it was wonderful and fun to go back to those days.
So its about Hollywood then and also my personal struggle.
