Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) and Columbus' (Jesse Eisenberg) antagonistic Zombieland friendship worked so well in the original movie that the writers decided to double down in the sequel. Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch's characters Albuquerque and Flagstaff in Zombieland: Double Tap are basically doppelgängers for Tallahassee and Columbus, which leads to a lot of laughs in the film. And if you thought Tallahassee was a badass, just wait until you meet Albuquerque.
Luke Wilson, who plays the character, described Albuquerque and Flagstaff's movie entrance to Fab TV thusly: "We're driving a monster truck called Big Fat Death … we took it from a monster truck jam, and we crush The Beast — the car that Woody and Jesse and Emma Stone use. And that's kind of how we make a rather dramatic entrance to the movie." Tallahassee couldn't have been thrilled to see his car go like that, and there's sure to be drama between the newcomers and the original zombie survivors since they have such similar but contrasting personalities.
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The actor choices for these doppelgänger roles is not just on point, there's also an extra hilarious detail behind the casting. Harrelson is actually really good friends with Luke's brother Owen Wilson. But this goes way beyond friendship: "Woody Harrelson Owen Wilson look alike" and "Woody Harrelson Owen Wilson related" are both Google search autofills, which means a lot of people have looked it up. Obviously, Luke looks like his brother, so there are similarities between him and Harrelson as well. Luke added that both men are from Texas, which adds to their similar "cowboy gunslinger vibe" in the film. And, as you can hear in the trailer, they sound pretty darn similar. It's almost as if this twin gag was inevitable.
For his part, Middleditch also joked in an interview with Fab TV that he's a "poor man's Jesse Eisenberg." He said, "I thought I was like my own, like, unique person with a perfectly, like, precious little gem to give to the entertainment industry that was entirely my own." Then he joked, "They said, dude, you're kidding yourself. Jesse was here first. You're just riding those coattails."
Middleditch has had a successful career of his own, playing one of the lead roles on HBO's Silicon Valley for years. But he does have a Columbus vibe about him.
But there's one thing that ensures Middleditch and Wilson's characters stand out: their friendship. In the movie, Flagstaff and Albuquerque seem to have a much healthier relationship that the duo we know and love. Sorry, Tallahassee and Columbus! After all, these dudes are accidental doppelgängers, not clones.