Nicholas Brendon has an identical twin brother called Kelly, who is often mistaken for Nick by fans. Kelly has done stunt work on Alias and played Jacob in MTV’s Undressed. Kelly doubled for Nick in the episode 5.03 The Replacement, when Xander was split in two. Nicholas mostly played both characters but Kelly was used as a double, and had a bit of dialogue when the two were in the same frame.
In some scenes in 5.18 Intervention, Xander was played by Kelly Donovan because Nicholas was sick.
Here’s what Nick said on the message boards at his official site:
“Truth be told, I played both characters [in 5.03 The Replacement]. It was very challenging and rewarding and I must’ve done an OK job if you couldn’t tell it was me. … I had a blast working with Kelly and he really deserves kudos for his work. He was never promised on-screen dialogue but they did end up using some and I think he did a stand-up job. In fact there was even one point where Kelly, Tressa and I had to rewind and freeze the tape to decipher who was who, (standing side by side, Kelly as “Cool Xander” did a stellar job of imitating my signature blinky eyes).”
Related episodes: 5.03 The Replacement, 5.18 Intervention
Comments on this trivia
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MagicBone on December 12th, 2005 at 3:29 am
How come they have different last names?? Oh, maybe they’re half brothers.
MagicBone on December 12th, 2005 at 3:31 am
Oh my god….I cannot believe that I just wrote that. I just reread that and smacked myself. That is quite possibly the stupidest thing I have ever thought. Please wipe that from your memory. Oh god…..
slightlyembarrased on December 12th, 2005 at 3:39 am
I, for one, will never forgive you for this faux pas, MagicBone…never….
MagicBone on December 12th, 2005 at 3:40 am
**sobbing**
slightlyembarrased on December 12th, 2005 at 3:41 am
OK…no tears, MB…you are officially and completely absolved…*under his breath…”crybaby…”*
slightlyembarrased on December 12th, 2005 at 3:45 am
..though, MB, the more you think about it, identical twins truly ARE half-brothers, in that they come from one egg, that splits in HALF….
somethingblue on December 12th, 2005 at 3:58 am
I think it’s funny, magicbone, just like your screename! So why do they have different last names? Did Nick take a screen name of his own? Curious…
MagicBone on December 12th, 2005 at 4:04 am
Acdording to somewhere, Nick’s last name is Schultz but he uses his middle name Brendon as his last name. Maybe his brother did that too.
arkan on December 19th, 2005 at 11:16 pm
Yes, they both use their middle names as last names. They must really hate their real last name? Or maybe they just think it’s easier to get jobs with more American sounding names.
asdf on August 23rd, 2006 at 6:46 am
Also, Schultz is a common last name, and
“Brendon” sounds more Hollywood
ashley on August 30th, 2006 at 9:21 pm
Does anyone know what Intervention scenes were played by Kelly? That’s really interesting!
Wynter on August 30th, 2006 at 9:41 pm
BBC Buffy said one of the scenes was the fight scene near the end, when the Scoobies storm Glory’s apartment building. There are more but I don’t know what they are, sorry!
Bakatulip on January 1st, 2007 at 1:16 am
The scene that begins with Anya saying “I think I breathed in a quart of vampire dust” was definately a scene Kelly was in… you can hear it in the voice.