Those of you who haven’t had the privilege of watchingpsychological nightmare Dead Ringers might want to argue about Jeremy Irons’ inclusion in this eclectic list of all-time best screen performances. But, it very rarely happens that an actor succeeds in playing not one but two roles with scalpel-like precision. In Dead Ringers, Irons plays the roles of twin gynecologists, Beverly Mantle and Elliot Mantle. David Cronenberg has the uncanny knack of spotting the right actors for his roles. And he once again hit the bullseye when he opted for Irons to play the Mantle brothers. Irons may not have won an Oscar for his portrayal but it nonetheless set him up to secure the coveted statuette two years later for Reversal of Fortune (1990) . So, what is it that makes Irons’ performance in Dead Ringers singular? Firstly, it’s never easy to play a double role even if both the roles are quite similar in nature. But, Mantle brothers are like two extremes. While Beverly is an introvert, Elliot is an outright extrovert. Beverly is quite coy in matters of sex but Elliot oozes with chutzpah when it comes to charming the opposite sex. And despite their highly contrasting personalities these two seemingly different individuals are inseparable. They are so dependent on each other that one just can’t survive without the other. Portraying such convoluted parts requires great guile, subtlety, and poise as a performer and Irons’ poignant performance has all this and much more.