Aside from their stint as the Doublemint twins in those Doublemint gum commercials, Brittany and Cynthia Daniel are best known for playing Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield in Sweet Valley High, the teen drama based on the Francine Pascal book series of the same name. If you were a fan of the series, which ran from 1994 to 1997, you were likely enamored with the blonde twins and their group of friends. Cynthia played Liz, the sensible, down-to-earth twin, who was deeply in love with her boyfriend Todd and spent most of her time trying to corral her sister. Jess, played by Brittany, was the wilder of the two and somehow managed to always find some drama that the whole gang would have to navigate together, for better or worse. While there was talk of a movie spinoff, a full-length feature set in Sweet Valley never came to fruition. Here’s what Brittany and Cynthia have been up to instead since Sweet Valley High went off the air in the late 1990s.
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Brittany continued to act.
SGranitz/WireImageBrittany continued working in the entertainment industry after co-starring with her sister in Sweet Valley High. She and Cynthia appeared together in movies including Joe Dirt, White Chicks, and The Basketball Diaries. But she also booked some leading roles on her own, such as playing Kelly Pitts in The Game on the CW and Penny on That ‘80s Show. She also had a four-episode arc on Dawson’s Creek as Eve Whitman, a party girl who shows up in Capeside and is revealed to be Jen’s (Michelle Williams) secret half-sister.
Cynthia had a shorter career in Hollywood and went on to pursue other creative endeavors. However, she returned to acting for the first time in decades to appear alongside Brittany in the 2022 remake of Cheaper by the Dozen.
Cynthia has her own photography business.
SGranitz/WireImageInstead of continuing on with acting, Cynthia broke off from that career and started her own photography business. Five Arrows Photography specializes in baby, family, and engagement photos. On the website, Cynthia writes, "I crave to capture images that give you chills and cause your heart to skip a beat. As we all know time passes quickly... I feel honored to help freeze some of those precious moments.... Laughter, tears of joy, baby's extra rolls, and tickles."
It's no wonder that Cynthia is so passionate about that type of photography. She herself is a mother to three kids: sons Colt and Ryland and daughter Steely Rose.
Cynthia married a Yellowstone star.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagicCynthia has been married to actor Cole Hauser since 2006. He currently stars as Rip Wheeler in the hit series Yellowstone and has also appeared in Rogue, Olympus Has Fallen, and ER. When asked how his wife has handled him becoming a sex symbol for Yellowstone fans, Hauser told Entertainment Tonight (via Outsider), “She doesn’t see any of that. She is one of those amazing women. She’s been with me for so long that she knows the ins and outs of what we do. He added that she's great friends with the actor behind his onscreen love interest, Kelly Reilly, and that they all spend time in Montana together when they're filming.
Cynthia helped Brittany become a mom.
Brittany was diagnosed with stage IV non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2011 and was told by her fertility doctor not long after her chemotherapy treatment that she was pre-menopause—news that she told People was "devastating" at the time. Cynthia donated one of her eggs to her sister, who welcomed daughter Hope Rose via surrogate in October 2021 with her husband, Adam Touni. "I saw it as such a simple gift I could give to her," Cynthia told the magazine. "I know Brittany would do it in a split second for me. And we've always shared everything, so why not this?"
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They run a lifestyle blog together.
As if that weren't enough evidence that Brittany and Cynthia are as close as ever, the sisters currently blog together. Sweet Collection XO is a lifestyle website about fashion, motherhood, clean living, and more. They also share an Instagram account where they post about similar topics.
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