Rachel Weisz to star in Amazon's gender-swapped TV series reboot of Dead Ringers

Deadline

The Oscar-winning actress' first major TV role will have her starring in a reimagining of David Cronenberg's cult classic 1988 film Dead Ringers. The movie starred Jeremy Irons as twin gynecologists who take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman. In the Amazon reboot, which has been given a straight-to-series order, Weisz will play the Mantle twins, who "are the most successful, brilliant and extraordinary people you’ve never met," according to Deadline. "Identical from head to toe, these two OB-gyn’s are on a mission to change the way women birth, starting with Manhattan. Drugs, pioneering but very much illegal medical research, sex and falling in love, this drama based on the David Cronenberg 80s cult classic, takes us to darker and stranger territory than we could have possibly imagined...While the series is expected to have a similar feel, it is said to have a different tone and explore themes like women’s health and the issues it faces, including underfunding, as it focuses on the two professional women, the Mantle twins, who are excellent at their jobs while also trying to navigate life outside of work. In the series, the Mantle twins share everything: drugs, lovers, and an unapologetic desire to do whatever it takes, including pushing the boundaries on medical ethics in an effort to challenge antiquated practices and bring women’s healthcare to the forefront." Dead Ringers will be written by Normal People writer Alice Birch. Weisz won the Oscar for best supporting actress for 2006's The Constant Gardener, one of her two Academy Award nominations.