To hate it when much older actresses play teenage characters?

[Chamomileteaplease]

Why do directors/casting directors do this?? I cannot understand it.

On the Railway Children thread someone said that the girl who played Phyllis was 20!

And in How to Build a Girl I looked up the main character who was supposed to be 16 and it was all about her being 16 really and the actress was 27 .

Can anyone tell me why this happens? Surely it detracts from the plot/message/character?

Moaning Myrtle was in her 30s so she didn't age. Aging ghosts over the years of filming is not a good look.

It was funny as she was very recognisable from being one of Bridget Jones' friends.

@Kitanbul - what?? Got an agenda much?
You clearly haven't watched The Railway Children.

@Kistanbul - misspelled your name. My question above.

As a tween/teen I was always bemused by paul, Jim and Helen in Neighbours. The actor who played Paul was about 5 years younger than Jim, who was about 10 years younger than Helen (however the actors that played Jim and Helen did look older than their age)
Ditto the old teens as PP have said in Beverley hills 90210.
My DH (who is generally pretty unobservant) once saw Elaine Paige playing a character in their 20s when she was about 50, and was about it.

I'm pretty sure Julia swahala was in her 30s when she played (teenage) saffy in ab fab.

[quote PuppyMonkey]@GreyishDays I think it’s Rizzo who was definitely 30-something isn’t it?[/quote]
@PuppyMonkey that rings a bell.

This is really common. Beverly Hills 90210, The OC, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Riverdale, Dawsons Creek, Happy Days all featured actors at least a decade older than their characters. I do remember watching Happy Days when I was a little kid thinking The Fonz looked too old to be going to school :)

@ thevassal But when you have a fully grown man/woman clearly in their mid twenties screaming that their parents "just don't understand them" or playing an innocent virgin or sulking because they got a bad result in a test or being sarky to their teachers it just looks a bit embarrassing and ridiculous.

This.

But it is interesting that some of you really don't mind .

I hadn't meant to just refer to actresses - it was only that someone mentioned Sally Thomsett and I had also just watched To Build a Girl.

I had thought of labour laws and gruesome plot lines but hadn't thought of other reasons put forward so thank you for those.

I still think it detracts from the stories though and is short sighted of the directors. And agree with the person who mentioned these people looking more "fuckable" . It also might make young people wonder why they don't look more sophisicated and grown up like these mature people who are supposedly their age.

The actor who played Paul was about 5 years younger than Jim, who was about 10 years younger than Helen
Well Helen actress was 17 years older than Jim actor which is right but reasonable. He was 11 years older than Paul so they needed a younger actor to play Paul

wanderings
Perhaps the acting in Harry Potter might have been better if most of the cast had been played by adults.
So true. The actors might have been a little less entitled too.

^^
Exactly

Alison Brie in Community. Ridiculous.

@Chamomileteaplease We have the internet now. Teenagers can easily look up cast lists and see why they don't look like the grown woman playing a teenager.

There are lots of restrictions on employing actors who are year 11 and under. No such restrictions once they hit 6th form age and no requirement to provide an education Or for the school/college to authorise the absence so some young actors (unless they are already successful) take a break from auditions etc.

Those like my daughter who are in professional training are not allowed to take professional work whilst she is still training.

I think it is so that they can do sex scenes and it be less creepy

It also might make young people wonder why they don't look more sophisicated and grown up like these mature people who are supposedly their age

This. They are bombarded with images of "teens" who are slimmer, more fashion conscious, less spotty, better made up, generally more attractive/sexier than their actual peers. So that becomes what they aspire to and what they see as normal, rather than looking at those of their own age group struggling to find their way.

In American high school films and TV shows it bothered me. When I was about 12 I genuinely believed being 16 would be like it looked like on TV - when everyone just seemed so mature and they had properly grown into their bodies / faces etc.

Jackson from Hannah Montana was about 30 years old playing a 15 year old and he actually looked 15 at the time

I struggle with actors who don't physically look the part.
Don't care about community theatre, they can look like anything. But for film, they should look the part. I can probably handle change of race without blinking and maybe even change of sex, but not wrong height/age. It breaks the physicality of who the character was, how they interacted in space.

The guy who played young Harrison Ford: Too short. Obviously not the same character.

William Hurt got the mannerisms and voice perfect when he played Feynman; but WH is still an imposing 6'-something tall. Feynman was weedy. Ruined the movie for me.

Emma Thompson was horribly obviously too old in S&S. She should have played the mother!!

Kevin Stacey in the Shipping News. Just WTAF.

Most 'high school' movies are ridiculous. Mollie Ringwold actually was 17 when filming the Brkfast Club. It only made her character stand out more from most the others.

Jennifer Lawrence prevailed in THG movies, but would have been better if she had actually looked 16-18.

sorry, meant guy who played the young Han Solo! Still haven't seen that film. I can't get past his mere 5'8"ness.

Producers want actresses who look physically more mature and adult for teen roles so they can be more overtly sexy. That’s why it’s not uncommon that young characters played by actual child/teen actresses are recast with significantly older actresses once the character reaches a certain age. Sometimes productions will age the character overnight, to skip the awkward puberty stage. American soaps are the worst for this. One minute a character is 11 and being played by an actual 11yr old actress, the next day she’s 16, played by a 27yr old, doing storylines about love triangles.

@SleepingStandingUp

The actor who played Paul was about 5 years younger than Jim, who was about 10 years younger than Helen Well Helen actress was 17 years older than Jim actor which is right but reasonable. He was 11 years older than Paul so they needed a younger actor to play Paul

Helen wasnt Jim Robinson's mum she was his MIL.

The Inbetweeners, the actors were actually mid twenties, but playing teen aged boys.

The Inbetweeners

They are meant to be 16-18 but all in their 20’s I think it worked

Even as a child I thought some in Grease looked suspiciously old but still loved the film

I'm fine with them using older actors in teen dramas. They usually have a lot of sex scenes and storylines it would be tough for younger actors to take on. Yeah they're not as awkward as actual teenagers, but aren't these shows just about escapism anyway? As a hormonal, spotty teenager, I was fine with not seeing people like me on TV.

I was watching Riverdale a while ago and I genuinely thought the actor playing Josie was high school age. I even thought it was creepy to see her kissing Archie, because she looked so young. Turns out she is 32. I need to know her skincare routine.

Sometimes it works but I just kbew this theead would mention How To Build a Girl because that really didn't work. At all. Terrible casting!