If Beyoncé is a fan of your body of work, you’re definitely doing something right. Such is the case of Les Twins (Laurent and Larry Nicolas Bourgeois), two uber talented French-born dancers, choreographers, models, and now — actors.
The pair make their big screen debut as the twin alien villains in MIB: International as a shape-shifting, break-dancing alien entity looking to destroy the MIB.
“In their natural state, they’re pure energy,” visual effects supervisor Jerome Chen said of MIB's twin bad guys in the May issue of Empire. “To blend in on this planet, they disguise themselves as humans. They do phase transitioning: changing state from solid to liquid, and back to any solid of their choosing. They can reform things and use them as projectiles. It’s a cool ability.”
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It's interesting that the producers landed on Les Twins for this double role, because in real life, they bursting with cool abilities. Born in Sarcelles, France, the pair have quite the following outside of the Men in Black world, having entered the public consciousness back in 2008 after becoming finalists on the popular French TV show Incroyable Talent. Then, in 2010, they made it big stateside after a video of Les Twins' performance on the San Diego leg of the World of Dance tour went viral. Ellen DeGeneres was quick to invite them on her show, where they wowed audiences with their talents and charm. They returned again in 2017, for round two:
Fast-forward seven years later, and the unstoppable duo actually won the J.Lo-helmed American reality competition show, also named World Of Dance:
Long before they became more mainstream sensations, however, the twins already garnered some A-list fans, including Missy Elliot, Alicia Keys, and Beyoncé (the Beyoncé), just to name a few. In fact, they made cameos in several of Beyoncé’s music videos, including the dance-heavy “Blow." They also joined Beyoncé on her Mrs. Carter world tour (they were the only male dancers), during her and JAY-Z's On The Run Tour, at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards, and you may have spotted Les Twins during her now world famous set at Coachella in 2018. The Beyhive are big fans, and a quick search for Les Twins and Beyoncé on YouTube will unleash a treasure trove of clips and fan videos chronicling their numerous collabs.
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Catch them at the top of the roller skates rack in "Blow":
They also famously showed up in the video for Beyoncé’s 2014 collaboration with Nicki Minaj, “Flawless”:
You can also catch them in Meghan Trainor’s “Lips Are Movin’” video and Missy Elliott’s catchy “WTF (Where They From)” music video from 2015.
Outside of the world of Beyoncé, they've also performed with rapper Big Sean in 2012 for Kanye West’s Fall 2012 fashion show in Paris and with Missy Elliott and Timbaland at Hennessy’s “Wild Rabbit” campaign launch event in New York that same year.
Oh, and they’ve also modeled for Jean Paul Gaultier, Givenchy, Benetton, Adidas, and H&M.
Not too bad for two guys who’ve just barely turned the big 3-0, eh?
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