# 25-Year-Olds Playing HS Students on TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541 "2006-07-29T14:46:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![psychloan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4bbf92/32.png) [@psychloan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychloan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/1 "2006-07-29T14:46:52Z")
Why this practice is so frequent? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/2 "2006-07-29T14:50:01Z")
Without being inside the minds of casting directors, part of it may be because of labor laws that apply to child actors. If the actor is under a certain age then there are limits as to how many hours a day he or she may work. That’s why babies and very young children are often played by twins. There may also be required tutors on-set and other regulations which increase the overall cost of production. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/3 "2006-07-29T15:24:38Z")
Not to mention that with adolescent actors come adolescent woes: pimples, weight gain (and loss), voices cracking at the wrong time, clumsiness on set and on camera. If I was the wardrobe mistress of real teenagers, I’d have to build or buy three of every outfit, because the damn kids grow so fast. Twenty-somethings are past all that and as pretty as they’ll ever be in their lives (in most cases). But **Otto** ’s explanation is the one I’ve heard most often. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/4 "2006-07-29T15:26:44Z")
Another WAG: in many cases, they’ve actually had a little more time to study acting. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/5 "2006-07-29T15:32:28Z")
Luke Perry is 40. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/6 "2006-07-29T15:53:16Z")
It’s mainly a US thing, AFAIK- UK/Australian shows tend to use teenage actors/actresses for High School Soaps and Dramas. The problem is that, even with make up and so on, a 15 or 16yo actor/actress still looks 15 or 16… and that could make viewers (and the actor/actresses’ parents!) uncomfortable with some of the events/situation in the storylines (especially anything involving drugs or sex). Also, teenagers aren’t exactly noted for their maturity (for the most part), and there’s the Real-Life dramas they could very well bring to the set (“She tried to pash my boyfriend!”/“He stole my PlayStation game!”/“S/he is a lezzie/gay!”) You get the idea. Probably easier just to use early twentysomethings and assume no-one will notice or, more importantly, care. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/7 "2006-07-29T18:16:40Z")
Lack of maturity, coupled with self-absorption and self-importance? > [@](#): > > LOS ANGELES, California (AP) – A studio executive scolded actress Lindsay Lohan in a letter for her behavior on the set of “Georgia Rule” and doubted her reasons earlier this week when she said suffered from heat exhaustion. > > – snip – > > “You and your representatives have told us that your various late arrivals and absences from the set have been the result of illness; today we were told it was ‘heat exhaustion.’ We are well aware that your ongoing all night heavy partying is the real reason for your so-called 'exhaustion,”’ Robinson wrote in the letter that was posted Friday on [TheSmokingGun.com](http://TheSmokingGun.com). > > – snip – > > “You have acted like a spoiled child and in so doing have alienated many of your co-workers and endangered the quality of this picture,” Robinson wrote. > > The studio executive also said if Lohan does not honor her commitments, the studio will pursue “full monetary damages” and take other necessary action to preserve the studio’s financial interests. Source: [http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/07/29/lohan.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/07/29/lohan.ap/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/8 "2006-07-29T19:57:28Z")
Perhaps older actors have had previous work in the industry, making them a safer and more reliable choice (and cheaper to find) than auditioning a bunch of unknown teenagers the correct age for the role. Also, movies tend to deal with fairly long-term time frames: it can take a year between the initial screenplay to the final release. Once a film is cast it might be two months before the cast is assembled for a 6-12 week shoot. A teenager could potentially change quite a lot in that time period. He might not look much like the headshot his agent submitted. Regarding the voice-cracking thing: lines in movies can be looped in later in ADR (additional dialogue recording). ADR helps quite a bit, especially when there’s a lot of foley work (sound effects, shoes squeaking, doors closing, ambient noise). It’s probably easier to make the Spanish-language version of your movie if the sounds are already pre-separated on the English-language version. ADR is usually an unnecessary expense for a TV show — first, you can get the sound right on-set, and second, TV is usually local, so you don’t have to translate it into eight languages for the international release. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2006, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/9 "2006-07-30T00:21:22Z")
There’s also the problem that if the series is successful, you end up with an actor that is five years older, but the producers may have kept the characters in high school to keep the plots and situations. Buffy is a bit unusual in that the characters were allowed to go to college, although I think they cheated a little bit. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/10 "2006-07-30T20:40:06Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > Luke Perry is 40. According to IMDB, Gabrielle Carteris (Andrea) was 34 when she left 90210 in 1995. An entire high school career older than Luke. I have to agree with **Martini Enfield**. Much of the fan base for shows like the OC is actually much older than the high school age of the characters - college students and 20 somethings. I don’t think they are interested in watching characters that still look like children. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/11 "2006-07-30T20:51:50Z")
If you’ve ever worked with teenagers you’d know the answer to this question. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/12 "2006-07-31T15:34:35Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > There’s also the problem that if the series is successful, you end up with an actor that is five years older, but the producers may have kept the characters in high school to keep the plots and situations. Buffy is a bit unusual in that the characters were allowed to go to college, although I think they cheated a little bit. Not sure what you mean by cheated, but of the original main high school student characters, Buffy was the only one who was anywhere near her character’s age. The first season was their second year of high school, so the characters were around 15 or 16. Actual ages: Buffy: 20 Willow: 23 Xander: 26 Cordelia: 27. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/13 "2006-07-31T16:22:59Z")
Or to use a more recent example, _Veronica Mars_ where the characters were supposed to be high school juniors in the opening season (2004). Their actual ages were: Kirsten Bell (Veronica) - 24 Percy Daggs (Wallace) - 22 Jason Dohring (Logan) - 22 Francis Capra (Weevil) - 21 Teddy Dunn (Duncan) steadfastly refuses to reveal his age. But his actual high school graduation was in 1999 so figure he was around 23. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/14 "2006-07-31T16:41:42Z")
Just in case you think this is a new practice: When _The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis_ started in 1959, the characters were juniors in high school. They were played by: Dwayne Hickman - 25 Bob Denver - 24 Warren Beatty - 22 Tuesday Weld - 16 Weld was soon kicked off for bad behavior (take that Lindsey Lohan) and Beatty didn’t like his role. They were replaced by Sheila James - 18, and Stephen Franklin - 27. And Hickman had just spent five years as a teenager on _The Bob Cummings Show_, making him one of the few actors to play a teenager for a full decade after leaving his teens. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/15 "2006-07-31T17:36:02Z")
**Expano Mapcase** Small nitpick. That actor’s name is [Stephen Franken](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0291266/) and not Franklin. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/16 "2006-07-31T17:42:43Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > There’s also the problem that if the series is successful, you end up with an actor that is five years older, but the producers may have kept the characters in high school to keep the plots and situations. Buffy is a bit unusual in that the characters were allowed to go to college, although I think they cheated a little bit. Well on Buffy they had to stop referring to the characters ages because it would have just been ridiculous. They looked old by season 7. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/17 "2006-07-31T17:52:50Z")
I always thought it sucks that TV shows do that because your average teenager has enough hangups about their looks without having to see model-perfect 25 year olds as the standard their looks have to measure up to. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/18 "2006-07-31T19:15:27Z")
One unexpected source of realism was the cast of _Saved by the Bell_ (ages in the first season of 1989): Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack) 15 Mario López (AC) 16 Dustin Diamond (Screech) 13 Lark Voorhies (Lisa) 15 Tiffani-Amber Thiessen (Kelly) 15 Elizabeth Berkley (Jessie) 17 Imagine that - a show about teenagers with an actual cast of teenagers. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/19 "2006-07-31T19:27:46Z")
Mila Kunis played 16 yr-old Jackie Burkhart when she was only 14! When she auditioned the casting people asked how old she was; she responded “I’ll be 18 on my birthday.” She just didn’t say _which_ birthday. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541/20 "2006-07-31T19:39:20Z")
Isn’t the actress who plays Moaning Myrtle in the HP movies in her 40’s? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-year-olds-playing-hs-students-on-tv/366541.md?page=2)