# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/21 "2017-07-05T15:00:13Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > 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_. Kate Bosworth is not a bad actress but yeah, not really a great Lois Lane in this movie. I remember seeing someone somewhere write that Parker Posey should have been Lois. I would love to see that version. In _The Longest Day_, 55-year-old John Wayne played Lt. Col. Vandervoort and was 28 years older than the real Vandervoort. ---
**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 5, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/22 "2017-07-05T15:05:14Z")
I don’t think that any version of **Frankenstein** portrays Victor as anywhere near as young as the character is indicated to be in the book (He’s an undergraduate, and probably les than 20). Colin Clive was 31. Leon Vitale (probably the youngest Victor Frankenstein) was 29. Kenneth Branaugh was 34. The equally-young Robert Walton is rarely portrayed, but in one version he’s played by 69-year-old Donald Sutherland (!) ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/23 "2017-07-05T18:47:30Z")
Hopefully the latest reincarnation of Spiderman captures the spirit of youth by casting Tom Holland as the high schooler. He was 20 during filming but he has a much more youthful look and sound than Tobey Maguire (27 then) and Andrew Garfield (29 then). ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/24 "2017-07-05T20:09:41Z")
Pocohantas was about 12 years old when she met John Smith, so… ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/25 "2017-07-05T20:51:04Z")
Severus Snape would have been more accurately played by an actor in his 30’s. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/26 "2017-07-05T21:18:16Z")
Sean Connery, then 69, might have found a more age-appropriate love interest in, say, Kathleen Turner, then 45. Kathleen Turner would then put on the catsuit and writhe her way through the lasers in _Entrapment_. ---
**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, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/27 "2017-07-05T21:53:28Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Pocohantas was about 12 years old when she met John Smith, so… Also, she ran around naked and apparently the adult male colonists were quite fond of her. An accurate _Pocohatas_ would likely result in prison for both the people involved in making the film and the people who watched it. ---
**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, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/28 "2017-07-05T22:20:11Z")
Frodo Baggins was the equivalent of middle-aged in _The Lord of the Rings_ book trilogy, not like the Jackson films where Elijah wood was 18-19 during filming. Not sure what difference that would make, but Peter Jackson did wonder why so many people complained about many of his changes (elves at Helm’s Deep, no Tom Bombadil, etc.) whereas no one ever said a word about the age difference. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/29 "2017-07-05T22:38:08Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I don’t think that any version of **Frankenstein** portrays Victor as anywhere near as young as the character is indicated to be in the book (He’s an undergraduate, and probably les than 20). Colin Clive was 31. Leon Vitale (probably the youngest Victor Frankenstein) was 29. Kenneth Branaugh was 34. Leonard Whiting was 23 when he played Victor in [Frankenstein: The True Story](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070074/?ref_=nm_knf_i2). ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/30 "2017-07-05T22:49:29Z")
We tend to think of Prince Albert as a stodgy, middle-aged prig, but even though he was pretty priggish from early on in life, he was only a boy of 20 when he married Victoria, a few months younger than she was. Yet I note that in television shows and movies that deal with their courtship and early married life, he’s played by men much older, usually in their 30s. Rupert Friend, at 29 in _Young Victoria_, seems to come closest to the correct age. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/31 "2017-07-05T23:32:44Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Frodo Baggins was the equivalent of middle-aged in _The Lord of the Rings_ book trilogy, not like the Jackson films where Elijah wood was 18-19 during filming. Not sure what difference that would make, but Peter Jackson did wonder why so many people complained about many of his changes (elves at Helm’s Deep, no Tom Bombadil, etc.) whereas no one ever said a word about the age difference. I thought he was about 50, which is barely into adulthood in Hobbit years… ---
**Author:** ![Marci\_Al](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Marci\_Al](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marci_Al)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/32 "2017-07-06T00:09:36Z")
If only Frodo was played by someone who looks and acts more mature than Elijah. ---
**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 6, 2017, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/33 "2017-07-06T00:18:50Z")
> [@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. I’d go see that play. Come to think of it I actually have seen that play, but all the actors were middle school students so it doesn’t exactly have the same effect as what you’re suggesting. ---
**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 6, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/34 "2017-07-06T00:19:22Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#): > > Leonard Whiting was 23 when he played Victor in [Frankenstein: The True Story](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070074/?ref_=nm_knf_i2). Yeah, but the title is misleading… ---
**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 6, 2017, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/35 "2017-07-06T01:27:43Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I thought he was about 50, which is barely into adulthood in Hobbit years… It works out to about mid- to late-30’s in human years. 33 is the age of majority for hobbits. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/36 "2017-07-06T01:36:30Z")
Yea, and then they join the militia, and everyone knows it’s near-impossible to overcome a force of Hobbit. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/37 "2017-07-06T02:08:24Z")
_Gone With the Wind_, with a sixteen year old girl(at the beginning) as Scarlett. Vivien Leigh was 26 when she played that role. It’s interesting that the actress that played Scarlett’s mother, Ellen O’Hara, was actually a little younger than what the lady would have been. Ellen, at the start of the book, was about thirty-two years old, having married the forty-one year old Gerald when she was fifteen. Barbara Neill, was twenty-nine when she played Ellen. ---
**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 6, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/38 "2017-07-06T02:59:41Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#): > > We tend to think of Prince Albert as a stodgy, middle-aged prig, but even though he was pretty priggish from early on in life, he was only a boy of 20 when he married Victoria, a few months younger than she was. Yet I note that in television shows and movies that deal with their courtship and early married life, he’s played by men much older, usually in their 30s. Rupert Friend, at 29 in _Young Victoria_, seems to come closest to the correct age. Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes both look quite young in ITV’s recent series–at 29 she’s convincing in portraying the 18 year old Victoria, maybe because she’s small (her bio says 5’2" and I’ve read speculation that she may be just 5’1") and round-cheeked. Tom Hughes was 29 when he played a 20 year old Albert, also convincingly. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/39 "2017-07-06T07:10:07Z")
I remember arguments that people would have found Humbert far less sympathetic in the movie _Lolita_ if Lolita had been cast at her actual age, instead of a 15-year old playing 11/12. (BTW, I had no idea that movie was that old–it looks more recent in clips I’ve seen.) I think _Smallville_ would feel very different if the actors actually looked like ninth graders when they started, but I’m not sure how to articulate it. What’s weird is how I didn’t notice until someone pointed it out–I’m just used to it. I do remember one movie version of _Romeo and Juliet_ that had an age appropriate Juliet that seemed a lot creepier. It’s the one where you very briefly see her nude onscreen. I’ve always assumed that Jethro was in his mid- 20s, BTW. I figured everyone was just being nice in acting like he was just a boy. Similarly, I understood Jed as having letting Ellie Mae get away with “acting like a boy” for a long time, and so she was at least 18-19. Or, if he wasn’t, I assumed that he was like me and some of my friends in the Ozarks who look a lot older than they actually are. I mean, I had my full beard in ninth grade and was at my full 6’2", which is apparently unusual. (One person apparently tried to become my friend in that grade because they thought I might be able to buy them cigarettes–that I looked old enough not to card.) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386/40 "2017-07-06T11:42:58Z")
BigT, were you referring to the early 60s _Lolita_ (Kubrick), or the 90s one with Jeremy Irons? I think your comment is spot-on for the Kubrick version, and also (though less markedly) for the later version. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roles-that-would-seem-different-with-age-appropriate-actors/790386.md?page=3)