# What's the biggest difference between character and actual age of actor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 10, 2014, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791 "2014-04-10T11:58:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/1 "2014-04-10T11:58:09Z")
There’s a bit of a kerfuffle in the GOT thread (when _isn’t_ there one?) about the age of Sansa. There seems to be some disbelief that she is a young girl when it is obvious the actor is not. Turns out, Sophie Turner really is a teenager. But it did bring up the fact that characters that are supposed to be young are played by much older actors. I’m looking for the biggest spread in the supposed age of a character and the age of the actor playing them. I don’t mean “trick” characters like one who ages backwards or young actors made up to look old. I’m talking straight up non-stage made up playing out of age. One example from movies that come to mind is Stacey Dash in Clueless. She’s playing a high school senior and was damn near 30 years old at the time. Also Diana Ross’ Dorothy in the Wiz. Although they did age up the character a teeny bit and made her a young school teacher, I think Diana out aged her character by a good 20 years. Any more? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/2 "2014-04-10T12:06:17Z")
I know we recently did this exact subject in a Cafe Society thread but I’m unable to find it right now. It was within the last month IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/3 "2014-04-10T12:12:00Z")
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=12302797](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=12302797) - this is one older thread but not the one I’m looking for. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/4 "2014-04-10T12:36:57Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I know we recently did this exact subject in a Cafe Society thread but I’m unable to find it right now. It was within the last month IIRC. You’re probably thinking of the zombie from 2008 that was revived last month: [Largest age difference between actor’s actual age and age of the character?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=480380) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/5 "2014-04-10T12:38:40Z")
Mary Pickford played Little Lord Fauntleroy when she was 29, and when she was 34, did a film called _Sparrows_, where she played a young teen, who is about 14 or 15. If you aren’t familiar with her work, she was actually quite convincing. She wasn’t quite 5 feet tall, and that helped, but she was also a really good actress, who could move like a child. It was remarkable, really. These were both silent, B&W films, so she didn’t have to worry about how she sounded-- although she did have a child-like voice, which is probably why she didn’t make the transition to talkies, and the B&W helped make her skin look more youthful, but she really did look young. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/6 "2014-04-10T13:07:16Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > You’re probably thinking of the zombie from 2008 that was revived last month: [Largest age difference between actor’s actual age and age of the character?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=480380) That’s the one - the same names/rolls keep showing up. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/7 "2014-04-10T13:21:03Z")
I don’t know if this counts: Mary Martin was born in 1913, and played Peter Pan as late as 1960. ---
**Author:** ![NVME702-redux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a183cd/32.png) [@NVME702-redux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NVME702-redux)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/8 "2014-04-10T13:51:50Z")
Mel Gibson was 34 when he filmed Hamlet, who I would say was meant to be about 17. Glenn Close played his mother and she was 43 at the time. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/9 "2014-04-10T14:04:58Z")
Not in a film, and not for the whole play, but I saw Richard Harris\* playing King Arthur in **Camelot** onstage in the 1980s. He was in his 50s, but looked a lot older, and the sight of him at the beginning as a circa 20-year-old Arthur was REALLY hard to believe. \*Harris had played Arthur in the 1967 film version of the play, back when he was only 37. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/10 "2014-04-10T14:25:02Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > There’s a bit of a kerfuffle in the GOT thread (when _isn’t_ there one?) about the age of Sansa. There seems to be some disbelief that she is a young girl when it is obvious the actor is not. Turns out, Sophie Turner really is a teenager. But it did bring up the fact that characters that are supposed to be young are played by much older actors. I’m not sure what the big deal is. The actresses who play the Stark girls were the same age as the characters when the series started 4 years ago. Don’t blame them for getting older faster than HBO can film each season. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/11 "2014-04-10T14:27:30Z")
> [@NVME702-redux](#): > > Mel Gibson was 34 when he filmed Hamlet, who I would say was meant to be about 17. Glenn Close played his mother and she was 43 at the time. Ian McKellen played Shakespeare’s _Richard III_ on screen at age 56, when Richard actually died at age 33, but Richard has typically been played as middle-aged. In a movie called\* Tower of London\* by Roger Corman, 51-year-old Vincent Price plays him; this film has no pretensions toward historical accuracy, though. Regarding _Hamlet_: most scholars agree that Shakespeare changed his mind about the age of the character, and started him out as very young, but later wrote him as about ten years older; however, he never went back and corrected the age in the earlier part of the play. Probably because the company wanted to get on with the production. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/12 "2014-04-10T14:30:31Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > There’s a bit of a kerfuffle in the GOT thread (when _isn’t_ there one?) about the age of Sansa. There seems to be some disbelief that she is a young girl when it is obvious the actor is not. Turns out, Sophie Turner really is a teenager. But it did bring up the fact that characters that are supposed to be young are played by much older actors. > > I’m looking for the biggest spread in the supposed age of a character and the age of the actor playing them. I don’t mean “trick” characters like one who ages backwards or young actors made up to look old. I’m talking straight up non-stage made up playing out of age. > > One example from movies that come to mind is Stacey Dash in Clueless. She’s playing a high school senior and was damn near 30 years old at the time. Also Diana Ross’ Dorothy in the Wiz. Although they did age up the character a teeny bit and made her a young school teacher, I think Diana out aged her character by a good 20 years. > > Any more? George Burns played God. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/13 "2014-04-10T14:35:42Z")
Moaning Myrtle, from Harry Potter, is a ghost who died somewhere in her teens, and thus should have stopped aging at that point… But the actress who played her, Shirley Henderson, was 40 at the time _Goblet of Fire_ was filmed. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/14 "2014-04-10T21:22:23Z")
In the miniseries of _The Mists of Avalon_, 44-year-old Joan Allen played 13-year-old Morgause at the beginning of the story. A spread of 31 years, which is extreme as these things go. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/15 "2014-04-10T21:37:15Z")
Mel Brooks was not close to being 2000 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Esseb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Esseb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esseb)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/16 "2014-04-10T22:15:36Z")
Bruno Schleinstein was 42 years old when he played a 17 year old boy in [The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Enigma_of_Kaspar_Hauser). It took me a while before I realised how young the character was really meant to be when I watched it. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/17 "2014-04-10T22:18:49Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > George Burns played God. Yeah, God was way younger. Stockard Channing was 34 when she played a high school student in _Grease_. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/18 "2014-04-10T22:54:15Z")
TV Tropes has some pages along these lines: [Dawson Casting](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DawsonCasting) [Hollywood Old](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HollywoodOld) [Playing Gertrude](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PlayingGertrude) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/19 "2014-04-10T23:54:18Z")
Pretty much any actor who’s played the Doctor, really. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791/20 "2014-04-11T00:25:49Z")
Kind of a cheat because it’s just his voice, but [Curtis Armstrong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Armstrong) (‘Booger’ from _Revenge of the Nerds_) voices Steve’s friend (semi-coincidentally called ‘Snot’) on _American Dad!_ He’s supposed to be 14, when in fact Armstrong is 60! He’s got one of those recognizable voices (and to a degree faces) that never seems to age. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-biggest-difference-between-character-and-actual-age-of-actor/685791.md?page=2)