Twin Tots Try Out for Shot at Bedrock

It’s not your typical Hollywood casting call. The reading material scattered around the waiting area tends more toward “The Berenstein Bears Learn About Strangers” than Drama-logue. And none of the hopeful thespians is giving others the evil eye, even though--horror of cattle-call horrors--each one has at least a counterpart in the room who’s shown up with exactly the same look.

This is the first round of casting for the parts of Pebbles and Bam-Bam in the live-action feature film version of “The Flint-stones,” which will star John Goodman as Fred and Rick Moranis as Barney Rubble.

Only identical twins ages 3 to 5 are being considered for each of the two roles. Thus, this Doublemint fever-dream of a holding area happened over the weekend on Universal Studios’ Stage 12, with nothing--parents excepted--but dozens of truly dinky doppelgangers in sight.

It’s standard practice in Hollywood to at least try to cast lookalike siblings in very young parts. That way, if one goes on a crying jag or, say, insists on knowing what Dino’s motivation is before continuing, his or her genetic mirror can step right in and pinch-act. Tag-team pretend-time.

So, even though the winning pairs of kids won’t be seen together on screen at once, this still represents the best opportunity for identical preschoolers to make a splash on the big screen ever since those adorable little girls who won America’s hearts in “The Shining.”

Behind the black curtain, producer Bruce Cohen and casting director Nancy Mayor are doing the interrogation at a folding table. The questioning runs toward what the applicants had for breakfast, which Ninja Turtle is their favorite and, of course, whether they’re up to the requirements of the job.

“Bam-Bam is very lively, but sometimes it’s a problem,” Cohen tells a pair of rambunctious boys. “Bam-Bam breaks things. Do you think you could break things?”

The two lads suddenly clam up, looking over at their parents in confused terror. This has got to be a trick question.

“You would have permission to break things!” Mayor adds, trying to draw the boys out of their catatonia. “What a concept!”

Is this some kind of sting operation Mom and Dad have set up? The boys continue to nervously take the Fifth. These kids know which side their bread is buttered on.

By advertising for twins, the producers get a different pool--a different gene pool, literally--from the tykes who usually show up for kiddie roles. One grown-up who worked on Universal’s “Kindergarten Cop” remembers that experience as Stage Mother Hell, and notes how refreshing it is that most parents here are bringing kids on their very first casting call. In other words, no Papa Culkins or Mama Shields in the bunch. Yet.

If most of the twins aren’t pros, plenty are veteran hams. Dylan and Dustin Karzan, 4, impress the producer with a “Wayne’s World” shtick, bending over backward, doing pelvic thrusts and saying “Schwing!” in unison.

After their interview we approach the boys, asking: How did you learn this Wayne ‘n’ Garth act? Did your parents teach you?

“I just saw it in the movie,” responds Dustin, astounded at the idiocy of our query. “ Duhhh .”

Some twins are preternaturally gregarious, while others seem shellshocked by the process. But even the catatonic aren’t necessarily disqualified, as the roles won’t require much chitchat anyway: Amid destroying much Stone-Age personal property, Bam-Bam will mostly say “BAM! BAM!” a lot. Pebbles, meanwhile, will giggle. Not a lot of range to show off in a screen debut, but who’s to say they won’t go on to be Van Damme or Goldie Hawn someday?

Dialogue or no, Pebbles and Bam-Bam will be significant characters, Mayor says: “Kids coming to the movie are going to want to see children their age on screen.”

TV crews have been invited to this casting call, and there’s a media feeding frenzy around the cuter twins, especially the girls with Bedrock bones holding up their ponytails. Some do say the darndest things, offering unprompted personal revelations, perhaps rehearsing for that future post-Betty-Ford People cover. An MTV reporter jokes with one girl about being represented by “the Mommy and Daddy Agency,” only to have the lass get confessional about her parents’ separation. Cut.

There’s a bit of mercenary spirit amid the innocence here too, with some of the girls, especially, planning to use the part of Pebbles as a stepping-stone to a larger purpose, and not just to be a movie star.

“I want to be a mermaid star,” corrects ambitious Kristin--or is it Tarin?--Robertson, 4.

Some may recall that Universal has had problems with child actors in big britches before (recall the “Problem Child 2” countersuits). But there’s a built-in safety valve for the studio on this one: When and if it’s time for a “Flintstones” sequel, the Pebbles and Bam-Bam of the first movie will be much, much too old for the parts.

In Hollywood, you don’t need a twin to be easily replaceable.