TikTok twins Railey Gilliland and Seazynn Gilliland, 20, have been chosen to portray Canada’s Tegan and Sara in the series based on their 2019 memoir High School.
“It felt kismet when I saw Railey and Seazynn for the first time on TikTok,” said Tegan Quin, in a release. “There was something undeniably intriguing about them: They were sweet and original, impossible not to watch.
“I felt compelled to send Sara the video. ‘Too bad they don’t act,’ I texted her. Sara wasn’t deterred. They were performers, musical and dynamic. ‘You can’t teach charisma,’ Sara said, which they had in spades. Sara was relentless — these were the twins that had to play us.”
Railey (Tegan) and Seazynn (Sara) are 20-year-olds who hail from Fresno, California.
Tegan and Sara's mother Sonia will be portrayed by Vancouver native Cobie Smulders (the character has been named Simone) and their stepfather Bruce (renamed Patrick) will be played by Kyle Bornheimer.
“For those asking yes our mom and stepdad are very excited these phenomenally talented Baes are playing them on our tv show High School,” read a tweet from Tegan and Sara on Thursday. “And so are we.”
Tegan and Sara. Trevor Brady
Production of the series for U.S. streaming service Freevee will run from March 21 to June 2 in the Quin’s native Calgary with Clea DuVall directing several episodes.
In a 2020 interview with iHeartRadio.ca, Tegan and Sara spoke about how High School resonated beyond their fanbase.
“We all went through high school and we all were adolescents at some point,” said Tegan. “There’s a lot of relatable content. I also think that because it was set in the ‘90s, there’s a certain age group that will just love this sort of journey back through… you know, we talk so much about Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana and Green Day.
“Regardless, I think it’s a good coming-of-age story … Sara and I just felt like, ‘Man, there just needs to be more stories about women in music. There needs to be stories about women finding their artistry and becoming artists and conquering the world and becoming international performers.’ This origin story sets that up really nicely. It’s important.”
This article has been updated since it was first published.