Why Do They Hire Actors in their Mid to Late Twenties to Play Teens?

Amateurs. They hired me to play a teen when I was 34!

Acting is more than looking pretty and posing on camera. (Really, it is.)

It's very difficult to find an 18-year-old who is skilled and disciplined enough to memorize 20 pages of script for a 12-14 hour shoot that starts at dawn, on location. Even older, more experienced actors talk about how exhausting shooting for TV can be. The pace can be relentless.

A lot of pretty 18-year-olds have headshots and agents and resumes... and next to no real acting training at all.

[quote]Even older, more experienced actors talk about how exhausting shooting for TV can be. The pace can be relentless.

Wouldn't younger actors be the least exhausted by the pace?

What R2 said is exactly correct. It works better sometimes than others for sure. I've certainly been pulled out of the action thinking an actor playing a kid looks too old.

[quote]There are many technical reasons producers choose to hire actors much older than the character they play. For one, most teenagers and minors under 18 can only work under a highly restricted number of hours due to labor laws. Their time on set has to revolve around their schooling, rest and meals. Actors under 16 also need to have a guardian on set as they work.

Heath & Jake were 25/26 yo. In the novel when they met Jack & Ennis were 17 yo.

R2 From you lips to God's ears .

From the article at R5:

[quote]Shows like “Saved By The Bell” made an effort to only hire actors that fit the age range of their characters. Other shows need to do the same thing, to start taking age and age-appropriate content into account.

If we're using "Saved By The Bell" as our standard for realistic depictions of teens then we have far bigger problems than 25-year-olds playing 8 years younger.

R5 That explains the problem with hiring actors under 16 or 18, but not why they have to be in their late 20s or early 30s.

These are the ages of the cast of 13 Reasons Why in the final season. But even in the first season, some of them weren't very young.

On season 1 of Teen Wolf, Tyler Posey and Dylan O'Brien were 19, playing 16 or 17. That seems a little better (but the show went on and on).

because many teens worse than mid to late twenties...

puberty can be unpredictable

you can end up with twelve year olds that look closer to 35 and sixteen year olds that look closer to twelve.

Zach Gilford looked ok playing a teenager on the first couple of seasons of Friday Night Lights. Taylor Kitsch and Scott Porter looked too old since the beginning of the show.

^ most of the public screams why do they look so old... even when they are teens.

str8 people are more youth obsessed than the gays, plus throw in that repressed social shit and the sheer number of married folks, including even a few fruits, pretending now that they're married and had kids, they were virgins until they were married.

Don't look at me.

^ s shit gets real creepy real fast in their obsession for "purity"

of course, flip side, the strangest looking things on Stranger Things is the cast.

I vaguely recall DL thread on child actors that look like their 45.

Michelle Thomas who played Myra on Family Matters was around 25 when she started playing Urkel's girlfriend Myra. She was believable as a teen because she had a very youthful looking face. Thomas died of cancer at age 30 and I remember ET announcing her death and I was a bit surprised when her age was mentioned because I thought she was maybe 25.

Don’t look at me either.

I don’t understand the question and I won’t respond to it

It depends on the show. If it's something on Nick or NBC Saturday Mornings like Saved by the Bell, you can hire real teens to play those types of milquetoast storylines. If you want teens to play complicated, emotional, sexual beings, then you need actors over 18, especially now. Plus, as someone already said, there are too many things you have to work around with child actors.

r19 Is correct. It depends on what type of content will be in the show. If it depicts characters who are teens engaging in, otherwise, adult activity such as drugs, sex, and violence, then legally you cannot (and should not) hire minors to play those roles.

Teens are usually hired to play teens on shows on Disney, Nickelodeon, and other kids networks or kids shows. I remember the cast of Boy Meets World were the same ages of their characters.

You usually wouldn't get a child to play a child if the child character will be portraying adult content. Unless, of course, you're the makers of South Park. Then you absolutely need a child 5 or under to voice Ike because he's always been voiced by an actual child and thems the rules.

If the show is, or is conceived to have the potential of being, a continuing series, they want to hire an actor whose appearance will remain stable over at least a few years, not a teenager who is still growing and developing.

If someone in their late 20s actually looks like a teen and has some acting experience and talent, then they will be far more effective than an 18 year old with a thin resume..

[quote] because many teens worse than mid to late twenties...

Say what?

On FNL, Scott Porter looks like a young Tom Brady. A 25 year-old Tom Brady.

[Quote] and Scott Porter looked too old since the beginning of the show.

I was shocked Scott played a student and not a teacher in the Prom Night remake.

Bianca Lawson was playing teens for almost 20 years

Teenaged actors are like all teenagers--overemotional, flighty, unreliable, thin-skinned. Who wants to work with them if they can hire older professionals that look young for their age?

Teens playing teens in adult content like Blue Lagoon, Romeo and Juliet, Lolita, Leon the Professional, Flowers in the Attic, Apt Pupil and Kids was met with tons of controversy. Studios don't want to risk that these days. Look at how people are creeped out by Britney Spears whole early career.

Disney and Nickelodeon will use actual teen actors. Comedies like Malcom in the Middle, Everybody Hates Chris and Saved by the Bell will use actual teen actors. Sitcoms around families like The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Brady Bunch and Married with Children used teenagers.

The teen soaps with topics about sex and drugs and complex emotions and family drama will opt to use older actors not only just because of labor hours but because there would be controversy over underage actors. Also actual teenagers are not good at acting and would lack the maturity to be convincing in said roles. A lot of the characters on teen soaps act older and speak older than their age. These shows use older actors also because they are more attractive than actual teenagers who are awkward and still developing. Most teens would rather see college aged adults with no acne and braces and fully developed bodies.

On the other hand, Skins and Degrassi always used actual teen actors. And they remained controversial because of it. Though I think in the case of those shows, the youth of the cast helped make the subject matter more disturbing and effective as cautionary tales.

The cast of BH 90210 didn't see a problem with this.

Well, if they audition on the casting couch, teenagers wouldn't really be eligible, would they? And many of today's young actors seem to be perpetually naked fitness models who'd be whoring online if they hadn't found a legit acting role.

7th Heaven used actual teenagers in the cast preached abstenance and Evangelical Christianity. Though the dad was played by a pedo and the daughter characters were low-key slutty.

If anything like Seventh Heaven or Touched by an Angel is ever made again, Internet sleuthers need to get to work immediately to uncover the crimes of the production team and cast. Any Christianity-based family drama that preaches morality is certain to be put on by rapists.

[Quote] and the daughter characters were low-key slutty.

Were they? They had alot of boyfriends but so did their brothers.

Ahh. Poor R5.

Going thru life only reading the headlines and missing out on actual details... Details like OP saying pretty much exactly what R5 replied with.

(a) Real teenagers are incredibly hard to deal with, (b) they ‘re growing and changing so fast it’s hard to maintain continuity, (c) keeping the hebephiles off them is a Herculean endeavor.

Most teens lack the nuance and depth that acting requires.

R36 Oh, I know. You really have to go deep to really capture the intensity of High School Musical.

The 30 year-old dude playing the high school student in Stranger THings this season was ridiculous

Exactly OP!!

I’ve told my agent to decline the constant requests for me to play a teenager.

You guys ain’t seen nothing yet!

That 70s Show cast was mostly teenagers or close enough. Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher were around 19/20. Laura Prepon and Wilmer Valderrama were 17/18. Mila Kunis was 14 when cast and turned 15 when the show aired (she did look like a baby china doll in the first season lol).

Danny Masterson was 21 and Lisa Robin Kelly was the most egregious case as she was 28 playing 18 or 19.

This thread is definitely not about me.

I find teenage performances to be way more authentic when played by teenagers (Winona Ryder was a lot more effective than most of the teen movie actresses when she came up partially because she was actually the age of the characters she was playing) so I think the "better acting" thing is a weak argument. It's usually an excuse to do gratuitous nudity for women. I think 22 is a good cut-off age for teen roles.

Also, a number of teen actors have had the depth needed to play complex dramatic roles - Jodie Foster, Matt Dillon, Linda Manz, Diane Lane - among others, and were very successful in doing so.

I think teen movies and dramas are just written for older writers who probably losers in high school in order to relive their adolescence and fantasize about the hot girl they never had a chance with. John Hughes comes to mind.

90210 was odd because Shannen Doherty, Brian Austin Green, Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling were actual teenagers. While Jason Priestley was close enough at 21. But Luke Perry, Ian Ziering and Gabrielle Carteris were almost 30 and looked like their schoolteachers or chaperones, not their peers.

Dawson's Creek was close enough and the actors looked like teenagers to me. Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michele Williams were teenagers when cast. James Van Der Forehead was tall but could pass for a senior (definitely not a sophomore like his character started as). Kerr Smith and Meredith Monroe were too old.

[quote] 7th Heaven used actual teenagers in the cast preached abstenance and Evangelical Christianity. Though the dad was played by a pedo and the daughter characters were low-key slutty.

Gabrielle Union had a recurring role in the early seasons. She played the daughter of a pastor who was friends with Stephen Collins' character. I think she was supposed to be the same age as Jessica Biel's character. She was in her 20s and didn't look too old in the role..

Behold

R48 Gabby Union was also in 10 Things I Hate About You and She's All That playing the popular girl and even though she was too old for those roles. She looked very young (and still does), great genes and very much a beauty.

Dementia is setting in for Gabrielle/r42. She forgot she posted at r18 already

Sal Mineo is another retro example. He was excellent in Rebel Without a Cause and was 16 when it was filmed. James Dean wasn’t even that old (23) during the filming of the same movie especially if you look at some cases like Stockard Channing…..

I understand it more for TV, they have to be older than 18 to consistently work the long schedules.

James Dean looked a bit too old in Rebel Without A Cause but teens smoked, were outside much longer and this was only a decade away from WW2 and people grew up faster. So I can excuse. JD looked like a little boy next to Julie Harris. I don't know how old Cal was supposed to be but I assumed late teens based on his behavior.

This is also kinda needed on vampire or supernatural themed shows when the teen character isn't supposed to age. So, you would typically want an actor that is done with growth spurts that would cause obvious signs of the character aging.

I think Nina Dobrev was a perfect choice on The Vampire Diaries, even though her vampire character technically was turned when she was 17 or 18. She has a baby face. But even still when you look at mashed up clips of her in all seasons, it's obvious she definitely aged. Or maybe they changed make-up teams.

Alexis Bledel had such a babyface on Gilmore Girls, it's hard to buy she was actually 18/19 when the show began filming, she looked like she could have been 13 or 14.

The movie “Tadpole” with Aaron Stanford comes to my mind regarding the OP’s question.

I remember enjoying the movie, but whenever there was a closeup of his face in many scenes you could see a strong hint of stubble. He was supposed to be 15. It was so distracting that it made the movie seem almost farcical.

People here stress the point that it’s much easier to work with older people in casting for teenage roles, but more often than not, it’s glaringly obvious that they’re in their mid-to-late 20s and it ruins the film.

It’s similar to when makeup artists fail miserably in their attempts to make someone with no facial hair in their 30s look like they’re in their 60s with beards. They look obviously fake and even ridiculous at times.

Anyone see Love, Victor on hulu? It's a cute enough series, but all the teen characters talk like they're in their 40s, and the actors who play Benji, Mia, and Andrew all look 30-ish. I actually find the Mia actress creepy, as if she's a 40-year-old badly trying to sell herself as a teen.

Tom Welling in Smallville was the worst because the Clark Kent was meant to be 15 in the first season and Tom Welling was clearly in his mid-20s with an adult man's physique. Though I guess being a superpowered alien could explain that part.

[quote] Alexis Bledel had such a babyface on Gilmore Girls, it's hard to buy she was actually 18/19 when the show began filming, she looked like she could have been 13 or 14.

Bledel's Gilmore Girls co-star Keiko Agena was 25/26 when the show started and she was believable as a teen. Liza Weil was 22 when Gilmore Girls started and she kind of looked a bit too old to be playing a teen.

R26 I don't know her

Hollyweird, here I come!

[Quote] Gabrielle Union had a recurring role in the early seasons. She played the daughter of a pastor who was friends with Stephen Collins' character.

The brother became a recurring character in the later seasons as Matt's roommate.

[Quote] I think Nina Dobrev was a perfect choice on The Vampire Diaries, even though her vampire character technically was turned when she was 17 or 18. She has a baby face.

I don't know what she did to her face (or the rest of her body) but she looks a lot older these days. Or Julianne is sucking the life out of her.

You know, Stockard Channing gets a lot of shit for playing a teenager in "Grease," but she was fantastic. Maybe you have to suspend your disbelief a bit (as you do with ALL movies), but she delivered. Older actors with more experience are just plain better actors. I mean yes, there was the case of Joan Crawford insisting on substituting for her daughter on a soap opera (which was crazy, but I wish I had seen it), but most teen actors stink. They just do. In a movie like "Grease," they needed actors who could nail their acting, singing and dancing parts. So, I have never had a problem with their ages.

R58 which makes Clark's friendship with Lex that much weirder.

Minka Kelly was 25-ish and looked it on Friday Night Lights

I love FNL. One of my all-time favorite shows. But let's be honest. All the "teen" actors looked anywhere between 25 and 35, except maybe Jesse Plemmons, who could've passed for late teens/early 20s.

Jesse Plemons was 18 when FNL started. I bet Scott Porter and Taylor Kitsch expected to be the breakout stars of FNL, but they weren't lol.

Scott Porter is a handsome man, but easily looked early/mid-30s on FNL. Plemmons was the only one believable as a teen.

R67 it's not like Hollywood didn't try to make Taylor Kitsch happen.

Aimee Teegarden who played annoying Julie on FNL was 16 when the show started.

I thought Michael B. Jordan and Jurnee Smolett were somewhat believable as teens when they were added to the cast in season 4.

[quote]James Dean looked a bit too old in Rebel Without A Cause but teens smoked, were outside much longer and this was only a decade away from WW2 and people grew up faster.

Honestly, can with stop with this? In the 70s when I grew up teens that smoked didn't look like haggard older people. They looked just like everyone else. And regular sun exposure does not noticeably affect a mere 23 year old. Dean looked older because among other things, he was an insomniac. And also he was acting with two 16 year olds and playing a teen of the same age. Plus he tended to act older. (He did look like a teen in East Of Eden.)

The guy who played Brice on 13 Reasons Why was only in his early 20s and looked old, he was even balding and had to wear a hairpiece in later seasons.

(That was Justin Prentice.)

I think the most remarkable casting on 13 RW was Timothy Granaderos, who was close to 35 in the final season and could have almost been his own character's dad. He was really good and also looked 10 years younger, though not really like a high school teen. But we're used to seeing mid-20s looks, and accepting that as a teenager, on TV shows.

I think people here bring up something problematic - what if actual teens had to play these actions - like Monty, Timothy's character, raping another kid with a broom handle, or going down on another guy? Or the varioous sex scenes and rapes in the show? Maybe there's something dishonest about depicting these things that teens are supposed to be doing, then saying we can't show teen actors doing them because it's unacceptable for their ages. Teens are still watching it all.

In Endless Love, the original version. Franco Zeffirelli hired Martin Hewitt to play the character of David who's supposed to be a high school senior yet Hewitt is a 22-year-old man with a hairy chest and five o'clock shadow. It's more jarring as he's opposite the then 15-year-old Brooke Shields (though she's as tall as him and dolled up with makeup). Hewitt likely fucked Zeffirelli for that role. What's odd is Zeffirelli cast actual teenagers in his Romeo and Juliet movie which would never fly today with the nudity.

Hewitt played a teenager again in a campy teen mid-80s movie Out of Control again looking too old. He was hot though.

R73 Wasn't he also in the remake of Splendor In The Grass with Melissa Gilbert, or was that another guy and I'm mixed up?

R73 Never mind, it was Cyril O'Reilly. I went to a casting call for Endless Love. Maybe I should have slept with Zeffirelli. Except he didn't suggest it.

The camera actually makes teenagers look younger than they really are.

I noticed many teen models, actresses and singers look a bit older than their age. Like less babyfat and more tall and angular. Or put in clothing and makeup to make them look older. Maybe to appeal to both teens and adults. Brooke Shields, Jennifer Connelly, Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, Britney Spears and the like looked older than their ages.

[quote]It depends on what type of content will be in the show. If it depicts characters who are teens engaging in, otherwise, adult activity such as drugs, sex, and violence, then legally you cannot (and should not) hire minors to play those roles.

If as you say, one *should not* hire minors to play the roles of minors engaging in drugs, sex, and violence, then why should minors even be depicted engaging in drug use, sex, and violence? It sounds like you have a moral objection, aside from the legal one. But if seems hypocritical for there to be depictions of minors engaging in all kinds of sordid adult activity, as long as they are not actually played by minors.

*it seems

R76 and Vaseline over the lense helps when you're older.

[quote]seems hypocritical for there to be depictions of minors engaging in all kinds of sordid adult activity, as long as they are not actually played by minors.

Yeeah. This post right here, officer...

R81 Huh?

Seems someone totally missed my point, I'm saying if you wouldn't cast minors to depict minors engaging in adult activity, why show that activity at all? It seems morally kind of objectionable to me (and sleazy) to depict minors played by adults doing things minors would not be allowed to do on TV. It's a way of getting around showing a lot of sordid activity among teenagers.

Let's not forget Claire Danes was 15 when she filmed My So-Called Life. One of many things that wonderful show got right.

Noel Fisher in Shameless was 38 when the series ended, playing a character just out of his teens. Wonderful actor, but that was really pushing it.

[quote]It seems morally kind of objectionable to me (and sleazy) to depict minors played by adults doing things minors would not be allowed to do on TV. It's a way of getting around showing a lot of sordid activity among teenagers.

Oh ok. Thank you for clarifying. I don't disagree.

But...Hollywood.