(Photo Cover: Anthony Paderewski)
At just nine years old, identical twin brothers Eitan and Matan Friedman already have credits in productions including Oppenheimer, Zero Day, and Found, but Don’t Say Good Luck marks the biggest project of their young careers so far. In the Happy Madison film, produced by names including Adam and Jackie Sandler and directed by Julia Hart, the brothers were able to bring something naturally familiar to the screen: the friendship, chemistry, and playful dynamic that comes from growing up together.
In the interview, Eitan and Matan recall an unusually demanding audition process that involved around 16 tapes, describe being welcomed into the “Sandler/Happy Madison family,” and share both emotional and hilarious memories from the set — including a serious scene derailed when Eitan’s farting sent everyone into a fit of laughter. They also discuss confronting their fear of the dark on Zero Day, the secrecy surrounding Oppenheimer, balancing school with acting, and the dream roles they hope to take on in the future.
Don’t Say Good Luck is the biggest project of your careers so far. How did you both feel when you learned that you would be part of the film?
The audition was pretty hard, being one of the hardest that we have ever received because production was looking to book twins (instead of one role where the twins switch out). We had to tape 3 different scenes, learn the lines on one character, then learn the lines of the other character, then switch, then tape together. I think we submitted around 16 tapes. This was one of those auditions that we submitted and forgot because we felt that it was a long shot. But then we got the surprise callbacks!
You were encouraged to simply be yourselves during filming. How did your real-life friendship and connection as brothers help you perform together on camera?
On set, these roles were so natural for us. We had to just act like kids and be Sunny’s little bratty brothers.
What was it like meeting and working with Adam and Jackie Sandler and director Julia Hart? What was the most important or funniest thing you learned from them?
Adam, Jackie and Julia are the very best! Julia has sons around the same age as us so she was perfect on how she spoke with us and was very considerate of our needs. Family is the most important thing with Adam and Jackie so they made us a part of the Sandler/Happy Madison Family from the very first day! We were taken care of by everyone and everyone made sure that we were having the best time.
What is each of your favorite memory from filming Don’t Say Good Luck?
Did anything happen that was so funny it made everyone on set laugh? One of our favorite memories was watching the crew members get tears in their eyes at one point in a scene. We knew that we accomplished what needed to be done. The funniest memory that we had was during a very serious scene, Eitan had gas and kept farting, then everyone got a case of the giggles and couldn’t stop.
You have already worked on very different projects, including Oppenheimer, Zero Day, and Found. What was the biggest difference between those experiences and making Don’t Say Good Luck?
For Oppenheimer, most of everything that we were doing was secretive. We were told what to do in a scene, not too much why behind it. There were not any monitors on this set. On the set of Zero Day, this was an opportunity for us to grow and face one of our fears. We are both afraid of the dark. In our scene, the SWAT team flips the breaker on the electricity and we were supposed to climbed out of bed because we heard a noise and walk down this pitch dark hallway to be face to face with the SWAT team. We nailed it!! Don’t Say Good Luck was this first project that we were on set almost daily for a couple of months. We learned every single crew members name and spent time with them personally.
How do you balance acting with school, sports, hobbies, friends, and family? When you are not working, what do you most enjoy doing together?
We attend a private school and they understand that acting is what we do. Our school works side by side with the set teacher to make sure that we excel in our academics. We have tried doing sports but since we are constantly booking, it’s hard to committed to many extra curricular activities. We do piano and guitar lessons during our aftercare from school. Most of our friend time is in school and on weekends. When we book a big out of town job, the whole family goes and we stay together.
What do you hope children and families feel after watching Don’t Say Good Luck, and what kinds of characters would you both love to play in the future?
We hope that children and families bring from Don’t Say Good Luck the importance of family and just living life to it’s fullest every day. To look at life as every day is a gift. Eitan would love to work with Tom Holland on a Spider-Man movie. Matan would love to work on Sesame Street. These are our dream jobs.
