Frederick "Freddy" Borden was a nickname of Frederick Borden. Throughout the course of the film, Alfred Borden and Frederick Borden would take turns on playing Alfred Borden/The Professor and Bernard Fallon.
Biography[]
After falling out with Robert Angier due to the death of Angier's wife, Julia McCullough, Borden began his own career as a magician under his belief that a great trick required the magician to live his act constantly. To this end, their public identity became Alfred Borden, while the other brother disguised himself as Bernard Fallon. Both Freddy and Alfred were dedicated to their act; when Angier sabotages one of their tricks and causes Alfred to lose two of his fingers, Alfred cut the corresponding fingers on Freddy's hand.
Both brothers always knew that to pull off a great trick, you had to live your act 24 hours a day. Alfred mentioned this to Angier when they saw Chung Ling Soo perform his stage show and carry on limping after the performance. To this end, Borden concealed the fact he had an identical twin and the two lived identical lives.
For years, they succeeded in concealing the fact they were actually two men. Alfred fell in love with Sarah and had a daughter with her, Jess. Though they both shared Sarah as their wife, Freddy did not love Sarah and would even make cruel comments toward her. Sarah was not immediately aware that she was wife to both Alfred and Freddy, though she instinctively suspected that her husband was not as he appeared.
When Angier sent his new assistant Olivia Wenscombe to learn Alfred Borden's secrets, she and Freddy fell in love. Freddy and Alfred were forced to juggle their lives in order to see their respective lovers, eventually realizing Olivia's initial reasons for approaching them. When Olivia gave Borden's encrypted diary to Angier, Angier captured Freddy (as Fallon) so Alfred was forced to give up the key that would allow Angier to decipher the diary. That evening, it is Freddy who wanted to celebrate, but this caused more strain on his relationship with Sarah. Soon after, Sarah hanged herself due to this.
Angier then returned to London with "The Real Transported Man", using technology he had got from Nikola Tesla. The Borden brothers agreed to end their own Transported Man trick and leave Angier alone. However, curious as to how it worked, Freddy could not help but investigate backstage. Freddy was arrested for murdering Angier, who has set it up to frame Borden. He was sent to prison and executed, while Alfred visited him dressed as Fallon. He then tracked down the real Angier who was disguised as Lord Caldlow, and shot him. He revealed his secret, before burning Angier's machine and all the corpses it had created.