Celebrity mingle
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on August 9, 2016 1:46 PM
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Gary, left, and Larry interview North Carolina's own Scott McCreery at the American Country Music awards in Las Vegas for Pop Wrapped.
Growing up in Rosewood, twins Gary and Larry Lane dreamed of being actors. That dream became reality, and they have been featured in movies, TV shows and several commercials.
The Lanes, now 41, have had a multifaceted acting career over the years, most recently being featured in a nationwide Burger King commercial, which will start airing in the fall on TV.
They have also filmed a Pepsi 100th anniversary commercial in New Bern and worked on the TV show "Dawson's Creek" and the movie "Mary Jane's Last Dance," both of which were filmed in Wilmington.
They moved to New York when they were 24, and were cast by actor Ben Stiller in the movie "Zoolander" as twin body guards.
"We didn't have a line, but it established us, and we were able to join the Screen Actors Guild," Gary said.
Then they moved to Los Angeles.
"We had saved up about $5,000," Gary said. "We rented a U-Haul and had enough for the first and last month's rent. Then all of the money was gone and we were living on Ramen noodles."
They got lucky and their agent in New York called them about appearing on "Fear Factor," where they won $50,000.
"We filmed it in November, but it didn't air until April," Gary said. "But we got the money Dec. 23 -- and the banks were closed. We called our mom and told her we were eating Ramen noodles with a $50,000 check sitting here."
Next came a part in Adam Sandler's movie "Jack and Jill."
The twins auditioned for Sandler, but didn't get a call from the production company until two weeks later. By that time, Larry was away doing a project at the Kentucky Derby. They worked it out with the production company that Larry would fly to L.A. to film the next morning, then immediately headed back to Kentucky to finish his project.
"Adam Sandler wanted us that bad," Gary said.
The Lanes also competed on a show called "Wipeout."
They did a national commercial for Dr. Scholls and Coca-Cola NASCAR 600, and have had parts in TV shows such as "Yes, Dear," "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and "Six Feet Under."
The twins have appeared in several movies, including "Something's Gotta Give," "Spiderman," "Spiderman 2" and "The Patriot."
They recently filmed an episode for Discovery Channel's "Short Attention Span Science," a kind of mythbuster show. The producers wanted to see if twins have the same smell. So they give Gary's scent to a bloodhound that has solved more then 100 murder cases, then both Gary and Larry took off running in different directions to see which the dog would follow. The show airs in the fall.
Their Burger King commercial will also start airing soon. To be considered, the Lanes had to send in a video about being twins and why they like the Whopper.
A couple days after sending their video in to the production company, they got a call from their mother, Alice, back in Goldsboro saying their dad, Jesse, who had been in a nursing home for the past three years, had taken a turn for the worse.
The 70-year-old died May 1 of this year at age 70.
"A week after the funeral, we got a call from our agent who said we got the commercial," Gary said. "We talked to our mom and she said we have to do our thing and that our dad would want us to do the commercial."
They met with the director, who asked if they recalled the first time they ever had a Whopper.
"It hit me like a ton of bricks," Gary said. "Dad took us the first time we didn't order the kids' meal, but a Whopper instead. I lost it. Dad had passed away about nine days before that. We went on. We felt like our dad was all around us that day."
And now the Lane twins have started a whole new adventure. They are freelance writers for Pop Wrapped, an online website with more than three million followers on Twitter. They call their columns TWINterviews.
"We started writing to give friends press on their projects and promote our projects," Gary said. "People said they had never been interviewed by twins. Everybody just has fun with it.
"I told Larry there are at least 10 events in Hollywood every night. We enjoy interviewing people. We love tapping into the pop culture."
The Lanes have attended and done stories at the American Country Music awards in Las Vegas, where they talked with Dolly Parton, Scotty McCreery and John Schneider. Recently, they covered a panel on Ageism in Hollywood, where they interviewed stars like Lesley Ann Warren, Kathy Griffin and Jobeth Williams.
"This is a hard industry and we are very blessed because being twins always seems to open doors for us," Gary said. "We have always worked hard for everything we've done. We always wanted our parents to be proud of us.
"Our family ties and roots are there in North Carolina."