In 1984, twins Madeline and Margaret de Jesus pulled off one of the biggest (and funniest) cheats in the history of the Olympics. The whole story is on our latest “Shoot This Now” podcast, which you should check out on Apple or right here:
1984 was peak Los Angeles: Randy Newman had just released “I Love L.A.” Bret Easton Ellis was putting the finishing touches on “Less Than Zero.” Pasadena’s Van Halen released an album called “1984.” Glam rock was taking hold on the Sunset Strip. And the eyes of the world were on the city of freeways thanks to the Summer Games.
Brooklyn-born track star Madeline de Jesus came to L.A. with dreams of winning Olympic gold for Puerto Rico. But something went wrong: She was injured in the long jump, and found herself unable to run in the 4×400 meter relay.
Fortunately, she had a secret weapon: Her identical twin sister, Margaret, who was also an excellent athlete. Do you see where this is going?
On every episode of “Shoot This Now,” Deirdre McCarrick and I talk about true stories we think should be made into TV shows and movies. Then we talk about who we’d love to see in the main roles, and who should direct. We also offer up some Hollywood pitch-meeting-style comps. This one is “Chariots of Fire” meets “Catch Me If You Can.”
The college admissions scandal and Jordan Peele’s “Us” have us thinking about cheating and duality, respectively. Madeline and Margaret de Jesus’ story has both.
Join us for this, our very special 50th episode. We talk about Madeline and Margaret de Jesus and their duplicitous (but very funny) ruse, but also about Lori Loughlin, Jordan Peele, Liam Neeson, and dystopian boy band Menudo.
If you enjoy this episode, check out one of our sources, Yara Simon’s story about the de Jesus twins for Remezcla.