Meredith and Chessy from ‘The Parent Trap’ Have Been Best Friends for Almost 30 Years, and They Turned the 2026 Emmys into a Date Night
by Chrissy Stockton · Thought CatalogUpdated 7 minutes ago, September 15, 2026
“We’re like two teenage girls…What are you wearing? Okay, what are you going to do? Where are we going to meet? Who are we going to talk to? We’re not going to talk to them. Okay, got it.’ That’s us.”
Lisa Ann Walter and Elaine Hendrix arrived together at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 14, after planning their looks for the entire week. Walter, 63, wore a black dress with sheer tulle sleeves, while Hendrix, 55, chose a white beaded gown.
“We coordinated everything about this week,” Hendrix told PEOPLE days before the ceremony. “So not to be matchy-matchy, but to blend, to pair it up well, and we usually do that.”
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The actors met while playing Chessy and Meredith Blake, rivals in Disney’s 1998 remake of The Parent Trap. Their friendship has lasted since filming, and Hendrix said their planning still sounds like “two teenage girls” deciding what to wear, where to meet and whom they’ll talk to.
Hendrix also said Walter attended Dancing with the Stars every week during her 2025 run and wore the same color as her. When tension comes up between them, Hendrix compared their dynamic to a seesaw: “We each have our bursts, and then we’re also very quick to let them go because we know what’s going to set each other off.”
Their rules for handling those moments are to “be vigilant,” “be empathetic” and “vibe check everything.” Walter said they can tell when the other is stressed and try to help before it boils over.
Both had work recognized at the Emmys. Hendrix’s season of Dancing with the Stars received 5 nominations, while season 5 of Abbott Elementary, which stars Walter as Melissa Schemmenti, earned 7.
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