Maria Thayer and Rachelle Lefevre are Kind of Separated at Birth

I just got back from the charming, witty Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I was about to write a little post in praise of Montreal’s Rachelle Lefevre, who I thought had a small role in this film. I thought Ms. Lefevre was playing opposite Jack McBrayer, who was pretty much reprising his excellent work as an uptight Christian conservative lad on 30 Rock.

I’d first seen Ms. Lefevre in Hatley High, a wacky little Canadian comedy set in an alternative universe high school where chess matters more than basketball or hockey. In that movie, I was struck by her charisma, and a kind of red-headed diaphanous quality that reminded me of Bryce Dallas Howard.

As it turns out, it wasn’t Rachelle Lefevre in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It was an actress named Maria Thayer. She’s a little older, and from Oregon, but otherwise they’ve had pretty similar careers–lots of guest spots on TV and the occasional film role.

I think I can be forgiven for making the mistake. While not twins, there’s certainly a resemblance. That’s Ms. Thayer on the left:

Forgetting Sarah Marshall isn’t a comic masterpiece. But it does have that Apatowesque truthfulness and subtlety that make it superior to traditional romantic comedies. It’s certainly better than the last breakup comedy I saw.