The Kids of "Boardwalk Empire"

We're not even halfway through the first season of HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and I'm hooked! Some will be attracted to the saga of Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) to compare it to the real Nucky Johnson, the political figure it is based upon. Some may be fascinated by the gangland figures like Al Capone (Stephen Graham) and Lucky Luciano (Vincent Piazza). Others adore a period piece and appreciate the tremendous effort put into recreating Atlantic City in its original heyday. I'm enjoying all these elements of "Boardwalk Empire," and while we're at it -- let's not overlook the children on the series. They aren't just thrown into the story but serve to illustrate little things about the time period. Warning: There are a few spoilers in this article if you have not seen "Boardwalk Empire" yet).

There are 3 main children on "Boardwalk Empire," and each of them are played by a set of identical twins:

Emily Schroeder is the youngest child of Margaret Schroeder (Kelly Macdonald), the lady who we already know holds tremendous fascination for Nucky Thompson. He's so fascinated with her that when he finds out her abusive husband caused Margaret to miscarry, Nucky has him murdered and dumped in the river. Then he gets a girl fired in a fancy dress shop so Margaret can have her job.

Little Emily is played by identical twins, Josie and Lucy Gallina, who are 3'9" tall and have the ability to play characters aged 3-5 years old. This is their first acting role. What a way to start out!

Teddy Schroeder is Margaret's son. He is played by identical twins, Declan and Rory McTigue. The McTigue twins have been on two "Law & Order" shows. They were in Criminal Intent's episode entitled "Dollhouse" (2006), and had an uncredited spot in the SVU episode entitled "Haunted" (2004). They also played Adam Chandler III on the ABC soap opera "All My Children," the grandson of David Canary's character, Adam Chandler. David Canary, ironically, played the role of twins, Adam and Stewart Chandler, for many years, until Stewart died.

The characters, Emily and Teddy, witnessed the violence going on between their parents in the debut episode of Boardwalk Empire, before their father's unexpected demise. Little Emily cried at the dinner table as her father got rough with her mother.

In Episode 4, "Anastasia," Margaret's neighbor, Edith, is sitting in the parlor smoking a cigarette and reading the newspaper while the children are playing on the floor. She admonishes Margaret about being too soft with her kids and suggests some good old-fashioned spanking. Edith mentions an item in the paper about a woman believed to be the Russian princess, Anastasia Romanov, after being fished out of the river in Germany. Emily asks her mother about the princess and Margaret takes the paper and reads the story to the child's great delight.

The character of Tommy Darmody is played by Brady and Connor Noon. Tommy is the son of Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt), Nucky's wayward protege who has been banished to Chicago. Little chubby-cheeked Tommy is now left with his mother, Angela (Aleksa Palladino), and his grandmother, Gillian (Gretchen Mol), a sexy stripper who was last seen taking up with Lucky Luciano. If the little hints that Jimmy Darmody may be Nucky's son turn out to be true, that would make Tommy Nucky's grandson.

Even if "Boardwalk Empire" has a 6-year run, these kids would still all be under 12 years old, so we're not going to see them get into any kind of teenage trouble like we did with A.J. and Meadow on the Sopranos. All the same, the child actors lend a nice touch to the series, and hopefully, these three sets of twins will be on the boardwalk, so to speak, throughout the entire run.

Source:
IMDB.com: Boardwalk Empire
Boardwalk Empire's Child Actors