Thursday, January 21, 2010

The 80s' and 90s' Oldest High Schoolers: Giving New Meaning to the Term "Senior"


When I get confused on a daily basis for a high school student, I don't let it faze me. Instead, I simply remind myself that I am probably younger than the average actor who plays a high school student in the movies or on TV. People think high schoolers look like 25 year olds because 25 year olds populate most of the high school roles: it's as simple as that. In contemporary shows like Glee, some of the actors playing the students (namely Cory Monteith and Mark Saling, both 27) are only four years younger than the actor playing their teacher (Matthew Morrison, 31). It's no wonder our perceptions are skewed; in Hollywood, it seems, one truly can stay 16 forever.

The problem with a movie franchise featuring a high-school age lead character is simple: that actor is going to age a lot faster than you can churn out those movies. So while the "...To be continued" might allegedly pick up the day after the original action, in reality the actors are a few years older. It's the same problem they're bound to have with those Twilight films. Unless Robert Pattinson really is a vampire and thus immortal (and based on his skin tone, I wouldn't automatically rule it out), he's probably going to stop looking 17 at some point.

The practice of casting 20-something actors as teens is a fairly common one. After all, it's far easier to deal with adult than a minor when casting actors. On the other hand, there's only so far you can push the age range and still reside comfortably in believable territory. Maybe some of you had 30-year old classmates in high school, but in my experience most of these actors would have garnered some questionable looks from their alleged peers if they showed up at the homecoming game.

The 80s and 90s had a lot of gross offenders, but the group listed here is among the most grievous:



Alan Ruck as Cameron in Ferris Bueller's Day Off


Cameron's age: 18
Ruck's age when the movie was released in 1986: 29

I'm not much of a math person, but even I can figure this one out pretty easily. Alan Ruck was born in 1956, making him practically the same age as my parents. I was born in 1985, and I'm pretty sure my parents weren't high school seniors at the time. It just doesn't add up.

It's not whether or not we can appreciate his performance in Ferris Bueller; personally, I thought he was great. It's more that he was twice the age of some real-life high school students while playing one himself. To be fair, Matthew Broderick was in his 20s when he filmed the movies, but Mia Sara (Sloane) was actually 19. When you've got an actress 10 years younger than you giving you life advice onscreen as your peer, we've got a slight problem.



Gabrielle Carteris as Andrea Zuckerman on Beverly Hills, 90210


Andrea's age at the outset of 90210: 17
Carteris's age at the outset of 90210 in 1990: 29

It's one thing to play a part 10-plus years your junior for a one-time gig, but it's another entirely to commit to a long-running project under these pretenses. Carteris was 29 when she started on 90210, meaning that by the time of her departure in the fifth season she was probably old enough to have a high school son or daughter of her own. She was only 6 years younger than James Eckhouse, the actor who played Brenda and Brandon's dad. Then again, on a show where character's willfully name their children cutesily matchy names like Brenda and Brandon, perhaps hiring a 29 year old actor isn't your biggest problem.



Shannon Elizabeth as Nadia in American Pie


Nadia's age in American Pie: 18
Elizabeth's age when American Pie was released in 1999: 26

Thank goodness for Shannon Elizabeth's terrible fake European accent or else her age would have been the least believable aspect of her character in American Pie. Actually, I should take that back. Her boobs probably win that prize.



Michael J Fox as Marty McFly in Back to the Future III


Marty's age: 17
Fox's age when the movie was released in 1990: 29

Here's another case of an actor aging out of their original character in a franchise while preserving the illusion that they haven't changed a bit. In a movie that defines time travel so laxly, you'd think they could have written in a few extra years of life for Marty in between installments, but they all just kept picking up where the last one left off. I always liked this one better than Part II, though, so maybe I was a tad more willing to suspend my disbelief.



Meredith Monroe as Andie McPhee on Dawson's Creek


Andies's age when she first appeared on Dawson's Creek: 15
Monroe's age when he first appeared on Dawson's Creek in 1998: 30

Dawson's Creek made Monroe's extreme age discrepancy from her character a bit more stomachable by casting Kerr Smith as Andie's fraternal twin, Jack. Smith was no fresh-faced kid himself, debuting on the show at age 26. I'm not sure if any of you have ever seen a high school sophomore, but I'll give you a hint: they look much closer to 12 than 30. Of course, they are much closer to 12 than 30, but that's really beside the point.

To her credit, Monroe did have a pretty youthful appearance, but when she appeared in the series finale at age 36 the show may muddled its credibility. Suddenly, storylines like Pacey hooking up with a teacher don't seem so scandalous. It would probably been equally troubling if he'd just gotten together with one of his senior castmates.



Judd Nelson as John Bender in The Breakfast Club


John's age in The Breakfast Club: 18
Nelson's age when The Breakfast Club came out in 1986: 25

25 is still young compared to some of the others rounding out this list, but both Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall were actually high school-aged when The Breakfast Club premiered in 1986. I'll concede that co-stars Emilio Estevez and Ally Sheedy were both 22, but still. Either you cast a bunch of teenagers or you cast a bunch of 20-somethings, but mixing the two only highlights the differences in age.



Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase on Buffy the Vampire Slayer



Cordelia's age when Buffy premiered: 16
Carpenter's age when Buffy premiered: 27

Carpenter had originally intended to audition for the show's title role and Sarah Michelle Gellar for the role of Cordelia, but the two got switched somewhere along the audition process. I don't care what they dressed her in: there was no way this girl would ever pass for 16. She might not even have gotten carded at the club. Carpenter is, however, gorgeous, which means many viewers were in it more for the eye candy than the believability.



Stacey Dash as Dionne Davenport in Clueless



Dionne's age in Clueless: 16
Dash's age when Clueless came out in 1995: 29

When I first saw the movie, I'd never have guessed that Dash was almost 11 years older than her costar Alicia Silverstone. Actually, if you've seen any recent photos of Stacey Dash, it's pretty obvious she's still got it. Dash went on to reprise her role for the Clueless TV show, continuing to play her high-school aged character well into her 30s. Aside from posing for Playboy in 2006, Dash's career probably peaked in her postmature high school days, so it's for the best she milked her perceived youth for as long as humanly possible.


Most of us would balk at the offer to experience high school all over again, but some of these actors have made pretty lucrative careers out of living their adult lives in reverse. It just goes to show that there doesn't need to be such a thing as aging gracefully. Who would pick that option when you could choose not to age at all?

30 comments:

courtney said...

It is always funny to me to look and Andrea next to Kelly in the early episodes of 90210...she looks like one the teachers. The clothes didn't help either.

thegamerswife said...

Craziness! I never realized that Meredith Monroe was THIRTY when she started on Dawson's Creek - she really did play the part of an immature teenager well!

FizzyGurrl said...

Thanks for this post- I hit the big 3-0 this weekend, and knowing that I still could possibly pass for a high-schooler in Hollywood makes the whole thing a bit better. Love your blog!

Anonymous said...

This is hilarious!

Valerie said...

That's funny they were almost twice the age of the character they were playing. I mean great for them to look that young :)

Molly said...

The only one I ever bought as a high schooler was, oddly enough, Meredith Monroe. She was very convincing, and it helped that NO ONE on that show looked like a teenager.

Melanie's Randomness said...

Okay I almost fell over when I read the last part of this post. I was aware back in the day that the kids that are in the high school shows weren't actually the ages but i had NO IDEA HOW OLD THEY REALLY WERE!!! Charisma Carpenter was 29?!?!?! My god. I mean I'm 24 and I still look at those shows & go god i look really young for my age. Well yeah lol i guess I am. lol. Great post!!!

Charlotte said...

I told my sister about this post as I was reading it, and she immediately mentioned Cordelia on Buffy. I never thought she looked like a high school student AT ALL. She was, however, my favorite character.

I had no idea Meredith Monroe was twice her character's age when she first started on the show! I never thought she looked too old or anything.

Sadako said...

I had no idea re Stacey Dash. But wow, she did look really young and amazing.

Moonjava said...

Interesting posting!

I for one, think that Tom Welling, who was also older but played a freshman or something in high school, etc looked like he could be younger in the beginning! ;)

But after he...eh hmmm...filled out in all the right places, looked older (but still not like his age). LOL!

Unknown said...

So, if Alan Ruck was born in 1953, wouldn't he have been 33 when Ferris Bueller came out?
Other than that, great post.

The Haute Bitch said...

i coud not get over how old stacey dash was when she played dionne! she fit and looked her part so well!

loving your blog :)

www.thehautebitch.blogspot.com

Roxarita said...

Andrea Zuckerman's obviously age was a problem for me even as a kid. I mean, REALLY?!

Although I do think part of the logic behind hiring adult actors is that their looks won't change dramatically. Like, Michael J Fox looks more or less the same in all of the Back to the Future movies, but what if a real 16 year old had been cast in the first one? They would look shockingly different by the third because they would have grown up so much.

(and Back to the Future III ROCKS!)

Children of the 90s said...

Whoops, great catch Sarah. I meant 1956, must have typed it out wrong!

Hollywood Sucker said...

When I was younger I had this little fan info book for 90210 and it had a bio page for each cast member. This listed, among other things, each actor's real age. But I always found it funny that for Gabrielle Carteris it said "age: ???"

Confessions From A Work-At-Home Mom said...

I LOVE THIS!!! I think you could have used almost the entire cast of Dawson's Creek as an example there, other than maybe Katie Holmes. I think James Van Der Beek was 32 by the time the series ended!

Now I'm missing me some 90's shows, bad!

~Elizabeth
Confessions From A Working Mom

LadyJ3000 said...

What's funny is that Stacey Dash is still playing teenagers. Only two years ago, she played a teen starlet in the film I Could Never Be Your Woman.

Gucci Mama said...

I always suspected these actors were closer to grandparenthood than high school, but I never realized exactly how right on I was.

lissa said...

wow, I thought they were in their twenties not thirties, still, it's tv and movies and not real life

how about Eric Stoltz in Some kind of wonderful or the two female leads? Or Johnny Depp and the others on 21 jump street? when I watch them, I don't quite think of their age at all

thegirlhassparke said...

Wow this was an interesting post, I never realised the age differences before.

Melissa Blake said...

Ahhh, love this post! It used to bug me when the actors kept getting older, and their characters were perpetually teens!

Miss Crystal said...

A lot of these become even more painfully obvious when you compare it to say "Heathers" where the actors were actually teenagers at the time.

Lindsey said...

I new some of these, like Andrea - you always new she was older. But there were a few I didn't realize their age or had forgotten about it! Fun post!! =)

Juliana said...

Wow, a lot of those Were evident but I never knew Sracey Dash was that old. I know Gilmore Girls isn't from the 90s but Keiko Agena who played a teenager was only a Copley years younger than Lauren Grahm who played the mother of a teenager.

Meghan said...

I had no idea that Meredith Monroe was that old! Wow. Excellent post:) So glad to have found your blog - I love it!!!

Kristie said...

Beverly Hills 90210 was famous for casting twenty somethings to play teenagers. Luke Perry (Dylan) and Ian Ziering (Steve) were other examples.

Andhari said...

They look seriously old, it freaks me out how can people think they;re in high school ages.

Kimberly said...

Wow...I guess we hold up really well until we turn 30.

Vanessa, Take only Memories said...

That is so funny! Great post!

Summer said...

There always seems to be a discrepancy with Meredith Monroe whether its her age or name. When she goes by the middle name Leigh people post one age for her and when she goes by the name Hoyt its another age. What the deal?

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