Meredith Blake

"Don't think I can't see through those angelic faces! One more trick from you two and I promise I will make your lives miserable from the day I say 'I do'!"

- Meredith to Annie and Hallie Meredith Blake is the main antagonist of the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap. She is a young gold digger who plans on marrying Nick Parker (the divorced father of Annie James and Hallie Parker) for his wealth.

Role in the film
Meredith is first seen when Annie and Hallie are switching places. She is a publicist from San Francisco whom Nick hired to do some publicity for his vineyard and they wind up dating and eventually get engaged. She has an assistant named Richard, with whom she deceives to get rid of "Hallie" (actually Annie) by sending her off to a boarding school in Timbuktu. She reveals to "Hallie" that whether the latter likes it or not, she is going to marry Nick, and shows her true colors as a greedy, manipulative and controlling woman. This is much to her disappointment, because the twins plan on getting their parents remarried and because Meredith is 15 years older than Annie (she is 26). She also reveals to Annie her true plot, which is that she is only marrying Nick for his money.

At the Stafford Hotel, Meredith introduces Nick, Annie, Chessy, and Sammy to her parents, Jesse and Vicki Blake. Another time, when Nick and Elizabeth James, his ex-wife, are together again at the swimming pool, Meredith is astonished to meet Elizabeth. She is also shocked to find out that Annie and Hallie are two people (twins) when she sees one on each side.

Elizabeth talks Nick into taking Meredith camping instead of her. Because Meredith isn't used to the altitude of the mountains, the twins play a trick on her by putting a lizard on her water bottle and rocks in her backpack. She is handed the bottle and freaks out at the sight of the lizard. Then, as she threatens to make the twins' lives miserable starting the day she gets married if they pull another trick on her, one of them calls her "Cruella". Meanwhile, one of them has put the same lizard on her head, and she freaks out when she finds it, and it gets in her mouth, causing her to choke.

That night, Meredith reveals that she doesn't eat trout and ends up being bitten by mosquitos after being given a bottle of sugar and water from the twins. After she gets into her tent to sleep, Annie and Hallie pull her mattress out and push it into the lake. The next morning, as she wakes up, she finds a bird perched on her and ends up screaming. She also does so when she finds out her mattress is on the water, and falls off of it. Soaking wet, she kicks a pot and angrily tells Nick that the day they get married is the day she ships "those brats" off to Switzerland. She then demands him to choose between her and the twins, and he, realizing her true nature, chooses the latter. She angrily freaks out in a tantrum and calls off the engagement, throwing her engagement ring at his head. It is unknown what happens to her next but it is likely that either her parents or Richard came and picked her up and she presumably left California for good.

Trivia

 * Meredith's mother shares her first name with Vicky Robinson from the 1961 original film. Coincidentally, both characters were played by Joanna Barnes.
 * Meredith also represents Larry Quinn from the 2003 live-action film adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book The Cat in the Hat. They both want to marry the hero's parents just to get their hands on the money. However, while Larry is unemployed, Meredith has a job as a publicist.
 * Meredith was sometimes called Cruella by Annie and Hallie. The name is a reference to Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmatians and they both share some similarities.
 * They're both females.
 * They're mean, greedy, selfish, self-centered and short-tempered.
 * They both love money.
 * They're the movie's main antagonist.
 * They both attempt to get wealth through their own method: Meredith wants to marry Nick for his money, while Cruella wants to make money by making the dalmatian puppies into fur coats.