# Roles that would seem different with age-appropriate actors? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 2, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386 "2017-07-02T20:13:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/1 "2017-07-02T20:13:45Z")
Spun off from [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20319659&postcount=65) thread where I imply how squicky Miss Jane’s interactions with Jethro would be if the show was actually cast with a teenage actor (as Jethro was supposed to be) instead of a 25-year-old. (One other example that I sometimes think about is how much less immature Buffy’s Zander would have seemed if the actor was actually around 15 instead of around 50.) ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/2 "2017-07-02T21:19:59Z")
The movie version of “Hello Dolly” would make a lot more sense if the title character was “a woman of a certain age” like it’s been in every stage version–instead of a mid-twenties Barbra Streisand. Among other things, her romance with Walter Matthau(!) would actually have a shot at being believable. ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/3 "2017-07-02T21:38:03Z")
Something tells me the Twilight movies would be come across as much creepier if the actor portraying the hero appeared closer to the character’s actual age. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/4 "2017-07-02T22:49:42Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > The movie version of “Hello Dolly” would make a lot more sense if the title character was “a woman of a certain age” like it’s been in every stage version–instead of a mid-twenties Barbra Streisand. Among other things, her romance with Walter Matthau(!) would actually have a shot at being believable. This is what I came in to mention. Streisand is a helluva singer, but completely inappropriate for the role (which is supposed to be a much older matronly type). Another one that bugs me is Frank Sinatra playing older brother Alan Baker in the 1963 movie of Neil Simon’s **Come Blow Your Horn**. The character is clearly supposed to be circa 30 years old, maybe a little older. Sinatra was 48 at the time. And, of course, I don’t like them rewriting **The Wiz** so that Dorothy was played by 34 year old Diana Ross instead of a teenager (Stephanie Mills was 17 when she originated the role on Broadway, the same age Judy Garland was in the 1939 film). I know _why_ they did it, but I don’t have to like it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/5 "2017-07-02T23:37:29Z")
Just as an anti-this-thread. There are lots of cases where the actor playing the mother or father of another isn’t really a good choice, because they’re too close in age. This generally doesn’t bother me – it’s usually when an actor too old is playing a part that should be going to a younger actor that things don’t look right\* Some cases: \*\* Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade\*\* – Sean Connery was 59, playing father of Harrison Ford, 47 **North by Northwest** – Jessie Royce Landis (63) played the mother of Cary Grant (55) **Chitty Chitty Bang Bang** – Lionel Jeffries (42) played the father of Dick Van Dyke (43!!). The “father” was older than the “son” - Like **Grease** , where all the students are too old. I realize that it’s a revered Holywood tradion, but: John Travolta – 24 Olivia Newton-John – 26 Stockard Channing – 34 (!) Jeff Conaway – 28 Barry Pearl – 28 Michael Tucci – 32 Didi Cohn – 27 Jamie Donnelly – 30 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/6 "2017-07-03T00:04:53Z")
I believe Daenerys Targaryen is 14 or so in the books. I fully support the show’s decision to up that age massively. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/7 "2017-07-04T23:15:42Z")
Audrey Hepburn plays opposite many much older love interests, several of whom felt that they were too old for the roles. In _Sabrina_, Humphrey Bogart is 30 years older than her; in _Charade_ Cary Grant was uncomfortable with their 25 year age difference. 10 years previously Grant was originally cast as the lead in _Roman Holiday_ and backed out because of the age difference; the role went to Gregory Peck, who was only 13 years older than her. In _Funny Face_ the romantic lead is Fred Astaire, again 30 years older and in _Love in the Afternoon_ Gary Cooper is 29 years older. I don’t remember much about _Charade_, but in _Funny Face_ and _Sabrina_ there would be much more romantic chemistry if the male leads were 15 or so years younger. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/8 "2017-07-04T23:42:24Z")
SUPERMAN RETURNS was built around how our hero left the solar system for five years and returned to find that Lois Lane now has a five-year-old son. Mention is made of her ‘I Spent The Night With Superman’ piece from back when. Et cetera. Lois Lane, distractingly, looked like she would’ve been a teenager ‘five years ago’. Because, well, the actress _was_. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/9 "2017-07-04T23:45:46Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > Audrey Hepburn plays opposite many much older love interests, several of whom felt that they were too old for the roles. I was thinking more of people playing a character that was a very different age than the actor. For instance, Hepborn was 32 when she played 18-year-old Holly Golightly. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/10 "2017-07-05T01:39:19Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I was thinking more of people playing a character that was a very different age than the actor. For instance, Hepborn was 32 when she played 18-year-old Holly Golightly. Watching Yankee Doodle Dandy right now. Rosemary DeCamp was 11 years younger than James Cagney when she played his mother. Joan Leslie played George M. Cohan’s wife, Mary. In real life Mary Cohan was five years younger than her husband. Leslie was 25 years younger than James Cagney. She also played Gary Cooper’s girlfriend in Sergeant York, and Cooper was almost as old as Cagney. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/11 "2017-07-05T01:55:12Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I believe Daenerys Targaryen is 14 or so in the books. > > I fully support the show’s decision to up that age massively. They upped the ages of all of them 3-4 years. Daenerys 13 Jon 14 Bran 7 Sansa 11 Arya 9 Joffrey 11 Robb 14 Rincon 2 Those ages are not out of line if it was an actual medieval setting. They were changed for a few reasons. Despite the fact that it might be realistic for the setting it would be unsettling for the audience to see. Probably more importantly for the production, most of those roles required a lot of screen time which would have been difficult for younger actors to do. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/12 "2017-07-05T02:03:12Z")
Charles Lindbergh was 25 when he did his solo flight across the Atlantic. Jimmy Stewart was 48 when he played him in the movie. A good performance but at the time I first watched it I never would have thought he was supposed to be 25. I just assumed Lindbergh was a middle aged man. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/13 "2017-07-05T02:14:46Z")
**Ender’s Game** would have been quite different if Ender etc. were actually six like in the book. ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/14 "2017-07-05T04:05:31Z")
I’ve never seen a performance of Romeo and Juliet with actual correct age actors. Probably because it would completely change the story, to realize that Juliet was a 13 year old child, when a meddling Priest decided to help the older lusty teen Romeo to marry her in secret, and then fake her death with special potions. It would go from romantic tragedy to creepy insanity. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/15 "2017-07-05T05:33:18Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Daenerys 13 > Jon 14 > Bran 7 > Sansa 11 > Arya 9 > Joffrey 11 > Robb 14 > Rincon 2 > > Those ages are not out of line if it was an actual medieval setting. They were changed for a few reasons. Despite the fact that it might be realistic for the setting it would be unsettling for the audience to see. Probably more importantly for the production, most of those roles required a lot of screen time which would have been difficult for younger actors to do. 😕 Rincon? 😃 Tommen Baratheon was NINE when he became king and married Margery. :eek: They never had sex in the books, though – even in history, arranged marriages typically never consummated until adolescence. Of these, the most unrealistic IMO was Robb (and Jon, to a lesser extent) becoming a great military leader at such a young age. Medieval marriages to tweens was common in history, but leading troops, not so much. Another issue is that the younger characters, in the books, talk & act as if they’re much older – G.R.R.M. even acknowledged that he didn’t know how to write children realistically. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/16 "2017-07-05T05:50:23Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I was thinking more of people playing a character that was a very different age than the actor. For instance, Hepborn was 32 when she played 18-year-old Holly Golightly. Holly Golightly was 18?! I just looked up the synopsis of the novella (which I read 20+ years ago) and have to say that I never picked up on that detail–because of Audrey Hepburn I always assumed that Holly was in her mid-late 20s. And Marilyn Monroe (whom Truman Capote wanted for the role) was even older–she would have been 35 in 1961 when the film was made. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/17 "2017-07-05T05:53:34Z")
A filmed version of Lolita with an actual 12 year old playing the title character instead of the usual 16-to-20-year-olds would drive home the sickness of Humbert’s attraction and be a lot less tittilating. Probably why it’s never been done. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/18 "2017-07-05T13:58:37Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > Holly Golightly was 18?! I just looked up the synopsis of the novella (which I read 20+ years ago) and have to say that I never picked up on that detail–because of Audrey Hepburn I always assumed that Holly was in her mid-late 20s. Yes, 18 to 19, married in early teens (don’t remember off the top of my head.) Also male narrator (who IIRC was never named in the novella) was gay, so no romantic relationship. And no last minute second thoughts about Cat with a reunion in the rain. And no Mickey Rooney. I’d love to see a remake that was accurate to the novella. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/19 "2017-07-05T14:05:20Z")
> [@igor\_frankensteen](#): > > I’ve never seen a performance of Romeo and Juliet with actual correct age actors. Probably because it would completely change the story, to realize that Juliet was a 13 year old child, when a meddling Priest decided to help the older lusty teen Romeo to marry her in secret, and then fake her death with special potions. It would go from romantic tragedy to creepy insanity. The 1968 movie got the ages fairly close. Olivia Hussey was 17, Leonard Whiting was 18. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/20 "2017-07-05T14:50:51Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > A filmed version of Lolita with an actual 12 year old playing the title character instead of the usual 16-to-20-year-olds would drive home the sickness of Humbert’s attraction and be a lot less tittilating. Probably why it’s never been done. The Jeremy Irons version pushed the envelope, portraying her as a 14-year old, although I believe the actress was something like 16 at the time of filming. I thought that version did well to drive home and make real that aspect of the story, but perhaps lacked a bit of the black humor in the novel. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386.md?page=2)