The world of acting is a very complex one, and actors have to give their all to deliver outstanding performances in each of their roles. But most of the time, parts are limited and are not created for a particular actor — or, on the other hand, the director wants to work with one specific actor, despite the fact that they may not be physically similar to the character to be played. Whatever the case may be, once the actor gets the role, there is sometimes acomplex process of physical transformationto achieve the expected look of that character.
The makeup and costume crews can help with this transformation, just like they did with Colin Farrell inThe Batman. Farrell spent several hours in the makeup chair to achieve Penguin’s look, and the results were so impressive that he went for a coffee andwas not even recognized. Nevertheless, there are occasions in which the intervention of the makeup team is not so extreme, as the artists, regardless of their age, are able to play characters with very different ages than their own due to their looks.
Some can play younger characters, such as Audrey Hepburn inBreakfast at Tiffany’s, who was 32 years old when she portrayed 19-year-old Holly Golightly. Other actors can play characters that are older than their actual age, like Gwyneth Paltrow, who played a 32-year-old character inSe7enwhen she was only 22. These actors' appearances in such films can be achieved to a greater or lesser extent, but they all succeeded in conveying the essence of their respective characters. In this article, we will take a look at thirteen actors who played characters whose ages were very different from their real ones.
Updated on September 16th, 2023, by Rachel Johnson:This article has been updated with additional content to keep the discussion fresh and relevant with even more information and new entries.
13Thomas Brodie-Sangster
Thomas Brodie-Sangsterrose to stardom in 2003 with his performance of Sam inLove Actually.Two years later, he shared the screen again with Emma Thompson in the children’s movieNanny McPhee, adapted from the literary seriesNurse Matilda.
In this 2005 film, Brodie-Sangster played Simon, the eldest son of Mr. Brown, who was in charge of masterminding each and every prank that got rid of all of their previous nannies before Nanny McPhee’s arrival. The funny thing about the young actor’s performance is that the character was written as seven years old, but Brodie-Sangster was actually 14 years old already! Even today, the actor continues to amaze the audience, who stillcan’t believe his current age.
12Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrenceboasts a very diversified portfolio considering her 31 years of age, particularly regarding the different ages of the characters she has portrayed. The actress can move from teenage characters to adult women with envy-worthy versatility.
It is worth mentioning specifically her performance inSilver Lining Playbook, the movie she starred in alongside Bradley Cooper and for which she won an Oscar as Best Actress. In this 2012 production, Lawrence played Tiffany Maxwell, a widowed woman written to be in her mid-to-late 30s. But the actress' actual age when the film was shot was a mere 21 years old. Her portrayal of Tiffany not only earned her the Oscar but also praise from critics and audiences as well.
11Gloria Stuart
Undeniably one of the biggest cinematic triumphs of all time,Titanicfamously followed star-crossed lovers Jack and Rose (Leonardo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet) as they shared a like-altering romance while onboard the doomed ocean liner despite their vastly different economic backgrounds and social standings. While Winslet starred as the 17-year-old Rose, Golden Age of Hollywood starGloria Stuartwas cast as the modern-day version of the fictional survivor, who is about to turn 101 in the spellbinding picture.
Stuart was only 87 at the time the blockbuster came out and had to have makeup and a wig applied in order to age her up nearly fifteen years to match the character’s physical appearance. Her performance inTitanichelped revitalize her career and both she and Winslet went on to earn Academy Award nominations for their compelling portrayals of the iconic character.
10Michael J. Fox
Back to the Futureis one of the classics that any movie fan should watch. This trilogy landedMichael J. Foxone of his most iconic roles: Marty McFly, the teenager who accidentally time-traveled to the past in the DeLorean time machine of his friend Dr. Emmett Brown during the first movie. In order to return to his own era, Marty had to find Doc in the past and get his help. The film was such a blockbuster that it spawned two additional movies, in 1989 and 1990.
Although the actor might have passed for a 17-year-old in the first movie, forBack to the Future Part IIIhe was far from Marty’s 17 years. At 29 in real life, watching him play a teenage character felt a little less convincing than in the previous films. Nevertheless, the audience was already fond of the character, so the film was stillvery well-receivedand critically acclaimed.
9Estelle Getty
For seven spectacular seasons, the hilariousEstelle Gettystarred alongside Bea Arthur, Betty White, and Rue McClanahan in the beloved 1980s sitcomThe Golden Girls, chronicling the personal lives of an older group of dynamic women as they share a home in Miami and attempt to cohabitate and follow their passions. Getty appeared as the wise-cracking, straight shooter Sophia Petrillo, the mother of Arthur’s character Dorothy who moves in with the trio of ladies after her retirement home burns down.
Despite portraying Arthur’s mother, Getty was actually only 62 years old at the time the comedy began in 1985 (and a year younger than her “daughter” Arthur) and was playing a woman in her eighties. In order to achieve the necessary look for Sophia, the actress relied on white wigs, heavy makeup, and traditional clothing to age herself into the role. Getty quickly became a standout onthe feel-good show, which is since regarded as one of the greatest of all time.
Related:These Actors Got Way Too Deep Into Character
8Jason Earles
Jason Earlesrose to fame alongside several young actors in 2006 as part of the Disney TV seriesHannah Montana, which featured the double life of the teen pop star as she attempted to have, at the same time, the ordinary everyday life of a regular teenager.
This series starred Miley Cyrus, and the cast also featured her father Billy Ray Cyrus, Emily Osment, and Earles, the latter starring as Jackson Stewart, Miley’s teenage brother. By the premiere of the series, however, Jason was no longer a teenager: he was 29 years old. For the final episode ofHannah Montanaback in 2011, Earles had already turned 34, yet he still maintained a youthful look and Jackson’s messy, lazy vibe.
7Laurence Fishburne
In Francis Ford Coppola’s universally lauded ’70s epic war masterpieceApocalypse Now,Martin Sheen stars as a courageous and highly-decorated United States Army Special Forces officer tasked with hunting down and assassinating an unhinged renegade Special Forces Colonel (Marlon Brando) in Cambodia during the Vietnam War.
With a phenomenal ensemble cast including Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, and Dennis Hopper, the gritty picture also featuredLaurence Fishburneappearing as the cocky young soldier Tyrone Miller, and the actor actually lied about his age in order to nab the career-launching role. Fishburne was only 14 years old at the time and though his character was a young man himself, it’s still wild to think that he couldn’t even legally drive a car when he was out filming the grueling and violent movie for over a year in the Philippines. By the timeApocalypse Nowpremiered at the Cannes Film Festival, Fishburne was 18 years old and closer to his character Miller’s actual age.
6Emma Thompson
Emma Thompsonis an incredibly talented artist in several fields. As an actress, she collected countless awards but has also managed toperform as a comedianand writer, a position for which she also garnered a few nominations. Among her most critically acclaimed productions was the adaptation of Jane Austen’sSense and Sensibility, a film that she not only wrote but also starred in. In this 1995 movie, Thompson portrayed Elinor Dashwood, a sensible, thoughtful, and secretive 19-year-old.
Nonetheless, by the time she starred in Ang Lee’s movie, Thompson was already 35 years old. Her performance and screenplay earned her Oscar nominations for Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay, the latter category in which she was named the winner.
5Keira Knightley
Keira Knightleywas just 18 years old (and only 17 when first cast) when she starred in the 2003 Christmas romantic comedyLove Actually, with her newlywed character Juliet finding herself the object of her husband’s best friend’s affections in their complicated love triangle tale.
Knightley’s on-screen partner Peter was played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who was 26 while Andrew Lincoln (Mark) was 30.Fans were shockedwhen they discovered the actress was only 17 during the production of the fan-favorite holiday classic and was only five years older than fellow star Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who appeared as the rom-com’s standout character Sam.
4Florence Pugh
The movieLittle Womenpremiering in 2019 was one of many adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s best-known novel. Written and directed bythe acclaimed Greta Gerwig,Little Womenchronicles the life and growth of the March sisters. Among the cast, alongside Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, and Eliza Scanlen, isFlorence Pugh, who played Amy March. This character has always been presented as frivolous, and capricious, and was, to the audience’s eyes, among the least liked.
Yet, Gerwig’s script and Pugh’s terrific performance managed to twist the situation and reveal a different dimension of the much-hated Amy, and for her performance, the actress received many nominations. It is worth mentioning, though, the big age difference between the actress and her character: Amy is 13 years old in the story while Pugh was 22 years old when filming took place.
Related:Here Are 8 Actors Who You Didn’t Know Were Brilliantly Multilingual
