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If you ask me what my favorite movies are -- not ones that deserve an Oscar or are world-renowned for their cinematic genius, but ones that I can rewatch over and over and never get sick of; the ones I'll always flip to if they're on TV -- always in my top three is "The Parent Trap." Yes, I'm talking the 1998 remake to the 1961 classic starring the one and only Lindsay Lohan. It's timeless. The outfits? Lindsay playing two roles? Dennis Quaid!?!?!
Arguably the best part of the film, though, is the queen herself, Meredith Blake. An under-appreciated character if we've ever seen one, the 26-year-old goddess came out as a villain of the movie, when that may not actually be true. More on that later. But seriously, name a more iconic character reveal, we'll wait.
The good news is, as much as we still love this movie and love Meredith Blake even more, Elaine Hendrix, the genius behind the role, also has yet to get sick of it. "I just went to the dentist, and I walked in the office, and they’re like, “Oh my God, my favorite movie is 'The Parent Trap,'" she told Vulture in August.
Even better, nowadays Meredith Blake is seen in a completely different light than in 1998. As a kid, we saw her as the mean lady trying to steal Hallie Parker's dad away from her. Now, many of us are around the same age Meredith was in the film, and we get that she was just looking out for her own devices and, in a nutshell, trying to start her life with successful, dishy Nick Parker. Can you blame her?
"I absolutely am shocked but love that present day there’s [sic] scores of gals, a whole generation now, that don’t see Meredith as a villain," Hendrix explained. "They see her as an aspiration. With every character that an actor plays, we have to justify our behaviors. So, you know, Elaine Hendrix, the actress, knew that Meredith Blake was the villain, but as far as Meredith Blake goes…she just was doing what she needed to get what she wanted in life. She saw nothing wrong with any of this. There is definitely a part of me that feels happy for Meredith Blake that she’s been vindicated."
We love this for her. And we love that she still gets her Twitter followers going with her top-notch "Parent Trap" references.