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We’ve heard about actors going an extra mile or a whole lunar distance to fit the role of their dreams. But what if their way to stardom requires taking “age is just a number” all too literally?
You see, it turns out that there’s not just one or two actors who have played characters far from their real age. From Gwyneth Paltrow to Amanda Seyfried, some of the cases you see below are truly mind-boggling. Remember Moaning Myrtle from the Harry Potter films? Allegedly, the actress Shirley was 37 years old at the time of filming, which made her the oldest actor to play a teenage student at Hogwarts. If you ask me, I see no reason why defying age shouldn’t count as a magic power.
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#3
Shirley Henderson, Who Played Moaning Myrtle In The Harry Potter Films, Was Actually 37 When She Appeared In The Second Film
If you wonder why so many teenage roles are actually played by adult actors, there may be a good reason or two for this. First of all, according to child labor laws, kids can only work for up to a few hours at a time. Meanwhile, movie sets and TV productions will normally spend 10-12 hours a day working on a set.
There is also the issue of schooling that most minors are still required to complete. Plus, minors are more expensive to get insured if their job requires them to do stunts and physical work. Casting slightly older actors may be a workaround for not paying extra costs.
Moreover, the child actor can outgrow the age of their characters as their aging is more noticeable. Think of the ages 13 and 18 and how vast the difference is. And lastly, the great majority of professional actors are twenty and up, so they always already have greater experience and acting skills to compare with teenage and child actors.
#5
John Franklin, Children Of The Corn. The Role Of The 12-Year-Old Prophet In The Horror Movie Children Of The Corn Became A Debut For John Franklin. By That Time The Actor Had Already Turned 25
For many child actors who start out at a very early age, the sudden fame and intense work load may be debilitating. Macaulay Culkin, who started acting at the age of 4 and got famous for his role as Kevin McCallister in the Home Alone films, has said multiple times how truly hard it all was.
“It started feeling like a chore. I started vocalizing that and not being heard: I was saying, ‘I wanna go to school—I haven’t done a full year of school since first grade,'” he told Esquire in a recent interview.
Culkin’s lifelong struggle with psychological problems also serves as an example that casting a very young actor for a leading role which requires a lot of responsibility may be, in some way, harmful.
#12
Keanu Reeves, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. He Played A 17-Year-Old Schoolboy At The Age Of 25 In The Sci-Fi Comedy Of 1989
#13
Sophie Mcshera Plays The Young Kitchen Maid Daisy In "Downton Abbey" While Being 35-Years-Old
#19
Ian Somerhalder Started Playing Damon Salvatore, A Vampire Turned-At-25 When The Actor Was 30-Years-Old And Finished The Show When He Was 38-Years-Old Still Playing A 25-Year-Old
#21
Bianca Lawson, Who Played High Schooler Maya, Was 31 When The Pilot For Pretty Little Liars Was Shot
#27
Jason Earles Was 29 When He Began Playing Hannah's Teenage Brother, Jackson, On Hannah Montana
#28
Emma Thompson Starred As 19-Year-Old Elinor Dashwood In "Sense And Sensibility" When She Was 35
#31
Joe Keery, Stranger Things. The Actor Who Played The Role Of High School Student, Steve Harrington, Had Already Turned 24 When He Started His Work On The Sci-Fi TV Series
#33
Scarlett Johansson Starred In "Lost In Translation" When She Was Just 18 Years Old, Though Her Character Was Meant To Be A College Graduate
#34
Andrew Garfield Was 31 When The Second Amazing Spider-Man Came Out, Featuring His Character Graduating High School
#35
Kristen Connolly, The Cabin In The Woods. She Played A 18 Year Old Friend Of The Main Character, Was 31 Years Old At The Time Of Filming
#36
Roberto Benigni, Pinocchio. The Movie Pinocchio That Was Released In 2002 Starred 49-Year-Old Benigni Playing The Role Of The Young Wooden Boy
#38
Julianna Rose Mauriello Was 16 In 2007, When She Finished Playing The 8-Year-Old Stephanie In Lazytown
#39
Christian Navarro In "13 Reasons Why". While His Character Is Supposed To Be 18, Navarro Is 28
#40
Sasha Pieterse, Who Played 15-Year-Old Alison, Was 12 When The Pilot For Pretty Little Liars Began Shooting
#42
Nicole Kidman, Flirting. The Actress Was Pretty Far From School Aged. At The Time Of Filming, In 1991, She Had Just Turned 24 Years Old
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What do you think ?
Tiari 5 years ago (edited)
And to be fair - in most of the cases you SEE that the actor is way too old.
CbusResident 5 years ago
Also I think for some of the adaptations involved they are leaving the age ambiguous/staying silent on it, even though in the source material it was specified as some age younger than the actor or actress. In Romeo & Juliet, the text says that Juliet is 'in her 13th year.' In A Clockwork Orange, when Alex (the protagonist) has sex w/ the two girls (and they play the superfast William Tell Overture), in the book he's 16, the girls are middle schoolers, and he gets them really drunk and rapes them. In American Psycho, when Bateman picks up a prostitute in his limo (and then tortures her to death), it's supposed to be a 15 year old prostitute. The woman in the movie version playing that prostitute was clearly at least in her 20s. But yeah, you can see why Hollywood has to change some of this stuff.
Load More Replies...
Tracey Hirt 5 years ago
It makes sense for studios to cast adults as kids. Minors are very restricted when it comes to the amount of hours per day they are allowed to work, whereas adults are not.,
StormWolf 5 years ago
It took reaching my mid-thirties (many years ago) to fully appreciate looking younger than my age. Loathed it prior to that! Doesn't help being only 5'1 either...
Martha Meyer 5 years ago
Most people simply look about the same between their late teens and early 30ies. A bit more baby fat in the face and brighter looking eyes for the younger age range is often the only noticeable difference. And makeup can do a lot to compensate that.
Francis 5 years ago
well. in most "highschool" dramas the actors are waaay older then the roles they play. Do you really want all the girls/women have a crush on a 16 y.o. actor or a crush on a 20+/30+ actor? and it's never good to compare books and films! Harry Potters Parents were around 21 when they died, but in the movies they look like almost 40
earringnut 5 years ago (edited)
Um, you're like "16 year old girls crushing on 16 year old boys is gross." Dude I'd ask what's wrong with you but I think I get the gist.
Load More Replies...
Rasmus Herold 5 years ago
No mention of Ralph Macchio in the Karate Kid? Where he manages to pull off an obnoxious early teenager at the tender age of 22.
Jo Choto 5 years ago
What makes me mad is how Hollywood has a cutoff age for women. Like in one movie Sally Field is playing Tom Hank’s’ wife but then she’s his mother in Forrest Gump. They both aged the same amount but men can play whatever they want. Women have to be sex kittens or they are consigned to the old lady trash heap.
Claes Gustavsson 5 years ago
Max Von Sydow was only 44 when he starred as Father Merrin in "The Exorcist". Good acting and Make Up (D**k Smith).
Ronel du Plessis 5 years ago
My husband was 25 when he was still asked for his ID when he bought alcohol.
Dorothy Parker 5 years ago (edited)
This has always been the way it was done. Vivien Leigh was 26 playing 16 year old Scarlett O'Hara. Judy Garland was 16 when she played 11 year old Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Don't get me started on Diana Ross in The Wiz.
D. Pitbull 5 years ago
Surprised more East-Asians aren't on this li---... oh wait... that's right... there aren't that many roles for them... but yeah... we tend to look the same age from 18 to around 50... it's just a matter of hairstyle - then we age about 200 years between 51 to 65... all at once...
Martha Meyer 5 years ago
Gotta get that “wise old grandma/grandpa“ look going at SOME point. Lol
Load More Replies...
Tiari 5 years ago (edited)
And to be fair - in most of the cases you SEE that the actor is way too old.
CbusResident 5 years ago
Also I think for some of the adaptations involved they are leaving the age ambiguous/staying silent on it, even though in the source material it was specified as some age younger than the actor or actress. In Romeo & Juliet, the text says that Juliet is 'in her 13th year.' In A Clockwork Orange, when Alex (the protagonist) has sex w/ the two girls (and they play the superfast William Tell Overture), in the book he's 16, the girls are middle schoolers, and he gets them really drunk and rapes them. In American Psycho, when Bateman picks up a prostitute in his limo (and then tortures her to death), it's supposed to be a 15 year old prostitute. The woman in the movie version playing that prostitute was clearly at least in her 20s. But yeah, you can see why Hollywood has to change some of this stuff.
Load More Replies... Tracey Hirt 5 years ago
It makes sense for studios to cast adults as kids. Minors are very restricted when it comes to the amount of hours per day they are allowed to work, whereas adults are not.,
StormWolf 5 years ago
It took reaching my mid-thirties (many years ago) to fully appreciate looking younger than my age. Loathed it prior to that! Doesn't help being only 5'1 either...
Martha Meyer 5 years ago
Most people simply look about the same between their late teens and early 30ies. A bit more baby fat in the face and brighter looking eyes for the younger age range is often the only noticeable difference. And makeup can do a lot to compensate that.
Francis 5 years ago
well. in most "highschool" dramas the actors are waaay older then the roles they play. Do you really want all the girls/women have a crush on a 16 y.o. actor or a crush on a 20+/30+ actor? and it's never good to compare books and films! Harry Potters Parents were around 21 when they died, but in the movies they look like almost 40
earringnut 5 years ago (edited)
Um, you're like "16 year old girls crushing on 16 year old boys is gross." Dude I'd ask what's wrong with you but I think I get the gist.
Load More Replies... Rasmus Herold 5 years ago
No mention of Ralph Macchio in the Karate Kid? Where he manages to pull off an obnoxious early teenager at the tender age of 22.
Jo Choto 5 years ago
What makes me mad is how Hollywood has a cutoff age for women. Like in one movie Sally Field is playing Tom Hank’s’ wife but then she’s his mother in Forrest Gump. They both aged the same amount but men can play whatever they want. Women have to be sex kittens or they are consigned to the old lady trash heap.
Claes Gustavsson 5 years ago
Max Von Sydow was only 44 when he starred as Father Merrin in "The Exorcist". Good acting and Make Up (D**k Smith).
Ronel du Plessis 5 years ago
My husband was 25 when he was still asked for his ID when he bought alcohol.
Dorothy Parker 5 years ago (edited)
This has always been the way it was done. Vivien Leigh was 26 playing 16 year old Scarlett O'Hara. Judy Garland was 16 when she played 11 year old Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Don't get me started on Diana Ross in The Wiz.
D. Pitbull 5 years ago
Surprised more East-Asians aren't on this li---... oh wait... that's right... there aren't that many roles for them... but yeah... we tend to look the same age from 18 to around 50... it's just a matter of hairstyle - then we age about 200 years between 51 to 65... all at once...
Martha Meyer 5 years ago
Gotta get that “wise old grandma/grandpa“ look going at SOME point. Lol
Load More Replies... 
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