A few years after Survivor made its debut, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen got in on the fun with the 2003 release of The Challenge. The mediocre flick sees the sisters starring as estranged twins Shane and Elizabeth, who are forced to face each other as participants in the reality show The Challenge.
The Olsens’ theatrical career was shorter than a New York minute. While the majority of their teenage years was spent releasing direct-to-video titles, Mary-Kate and Ashley gave the big screen a go in 2004 with the debut of New York Minute. Also starring Eugene Levy, Andy Richter, and Jared Padalecki, the box office failure lost some of the magic of the sisters’ earlier projects, framing the girls as Jane and Roxy, two opposing sisters who spend one whirlwind day in New York.
Mary-Kate and Ashley had 2002 Winter Olympics fever in Getting There: Sweet 16 and Licensed to Drive, a video that was released just days before the sisters turned 16. As Taylor and Kylie Hunter, they use their newly acquired drivers licenses to road trip to Salt Lake City for the Olympics, and pick up mishaps, romantic trysts, and catchphrases along the way.
The same year that they wrapped their run on ABC’s Two of a Kind, Mary-Kate and Ashley starred in Switching Goals as Sam and Emma Stanton. In a classic identical twin switching maneuver, the girls trade places on their opposing soccer teams to fulfill their athletic and romantic goals.
The Olsen twins went international in 2002 with the release of When in Rome. Mary-Kate and Ashley played Charli and Leila Hunter, two students in Rome for a summer internship. Steamy Italian flings and a mysterious scandal bring the flick solidly to the middle of the pack.
Early in their careers, Mary-Kate and Ashley starred in Billboard Dad, a 1998 release about two daughters of a single father. The sweet film taught viewers the correct way to make scrambled eggs, the power of a good dating ad, and the only way to handle a poolside bully.
One of the Olsen twins’ more offbeat projects, Our Lips Are Sealed featured Mary-Kate and Ashley as Maddie and Abby Parker, two girls who find themselves in the Witness Protection Program after they are witnesses to a museum robbery. The chatty girls blow their cover time after time, eventually landing in Australia with new identities and hunky new Australian surfer boyfriends.
Accompanied by a little Weezer, the Olsen twins hit the Bahamas for 2001’s Holiday in the Sun. The girls played Madison and Alex Stewart, two wealthy teens who spend vacation at the Atlantis Resort but wind up in Bahamian jail after their romantic moonlight cruise takes a dark turn. Come for the island intrigue, stay for Megan Fox in her very first credited role as mean girl Brianna.
In one of their first video releases outside of the Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley franchise, the girls put an Olsen twin-spin on the traditional Parent Trap story with It Takes Two. The flick starred the girls as Amanda Lemmon and Alyssa Callaway, two kids who are not related but happen to look like identical twins. Accompanied by costars Kirstie Alley and Steve Guttenberg, they meet at Camp Callaway and decide to switch places, inspiring some hilarious shenanigans, a flawless explainer of the Sloppy Joe, and one epic food fight.
Mary-Kate and Ashley said “Cheerio” to the United Kingdom in 2001 with the release of Winning London. The twins stared as Chloe and Riley Lawrence, two twin sisters with different personalities and priorities. They travel to London as a part of their school’s Model UN team, and pull off a hugely successful trip, winning the competition and picking up dreamy boyfriends (including future Chicago Fire star Jesse Spencer!) in the process.
The quintessential Mary-Kate and Ashley video, Passport to Paris hit Blockbusters nationwide in 1999. The Olsens starred as Mel and Ally Porter, two teens who are horrified to learn that they will be missing their highly anticipated schedule of spring break pool parties in favor of a trip to Paris. They manage to escape the boring schedule of their Ambassador grandfather and meet two French boys, Jean and Michel. The charming movie ends with the girls bonding with their grandfather and giving one killer presentation on the importance of clean water (but of course!).
11. 'The Challenge'
A few years after Survivor made its debut, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen got in on the fun with the 2003 release of The Challenge. The mediocre flick sees the sisters starring as estranged twins Shane and Elizabeth, who are forced to face each other as participants in the reality show The Challenge.
10. New York Minute
The Olsens’ theatrical career was shorter than a New York minute. While the majority of their teenage years was spent releasing direct-to-video titles, Mary-Kate and Ashley gave the big screen a go in 2004 with the debut of New York Minute. Also starring Eugene Levy, Andy Richter, and Jared Padalecki, the box office failure lost some of the magic of the sisters’ earlier projects, framing the girls as Jane and Roxy, two opposing sisters who spend one whirlwind day in New York.
9. Getting There
Mary-Kate and Ashley had 2002 Winter Olympics fever in Getting There: Sweet 16 and Licensed to Drive, a video that was released just days before the sisters turned 16. As Taylor and Kylie Hunter, they use their newly acquired drivers licenses to road trip to Salt Lake City for the Olympics, and pick up mishaps, romantic trysts, and catchphrases along the way.
8. Switching Goals
The same year that they wrapped their run on ABC’s Two of a Kind, Mary-Kate and Ashley starred in Switching Goals as Sam and Emma Stanton. In a classic identical twin switching maneuver, the girls trade places on their opposing soccer teams to fulfill their athletic and romantic goals.
7. When in Rome
The Olsen twins went international in 2002 with the release of When in Rome. Mary-Kate and Ashley played Charli and Leila Hunter, two students in Rome for a summer internship. Steamy Italian flings and a mysterious scandal bring the flick solidly to the middle of the pack.
6. Billboard Dad
Early in their careers, Mary-Kate and Ashley starred in Billboard Dad, a 1998 release about two daughters of a single father. The sweet film taught viewers the correct way to make scrambled eggs, the power of a good dating ad, and the only way to handle a poolside bully.
5. Our Lips Are Sealed
One of the Olsen twins’ more offbeat projects, Our Lips Are Sealed featured Mary-Kate and Ashley as Maddie and Abby Parker, two girls who find themselves in the Witness Protection Program after they are witnesses to a museum robbery. The chatty girls blow their cover time after time, eventually landing in Australia with new identities and hunky new Australian surfer boyfriends.
4. Holiday in the Sun
Accompanied by a little Weezer, the Olsen twins hit the Bahamas for 2001’s Holiday in the Sun. The girls played Madison and Alex Stewart, two wealthy teens who spend vacation at the Atlantis Resort but wind up in Bahamian jail after their romantic moonlight cruise takes a dark turn. Come for the island intrigue, stay for Megan Fox in her very first credited role as mean girl Brianna.
3. It Takes Two
In one of their first video releases outside of the Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley franchise, the girls put an Olsen twin-spin on the traditional Parent Trap story with It Takes Two. The flick starred the girls as Amanda Lemmon and Alyssa Callaway, two kids who are not related but happen to look like identical twins. Accompanied by costars Kirstie Alley and Steve Guttenberg, they meet at Camp Callaway and decide to switch places, inspiring some hilarious shenanigans, a flawless explainer of the Sloppy Joe, and one epic food fight.
2. Winning London
Mary-Kate and Ashley said “Cheerio” to the United Kingdom in 2001 with the release of Winning London. The twins stared as Chloe and Riley Lawrence, two twin sisters with different personalities and priorities. They travel to London as a part of their school’s Model UN team, and pull off a hugely successful trip, winning the competition and picking up dreamy boyfriends (including future Chicago Fire star Jesse Spencer!) in the process.
1. Passport to Paris
The quintessential Mary-Kate and Ashley video, Passport to Paris hit Blockbusters nationwide in 1999. The Olsens starred as Mel and Ally Porter, two teens who are horrified to learn that they will be missing their highly anticipated schedule of spring break pool parties in favor of a trip to Paris. They manage to escape the boring schedule of their Ambassador grandfather and meet two French boys, Jean and Michel. The charming movie ends with the girls bonding with their grandfather and giving one killer presentation on the importance of clean water (but of course!).
