Casting is a delicate balance in movies and television series. It would be helpful if there was an actor with the right look and personality for the role, but that’s not always possible. In some cases, it appears that casting directors had a hard time finding the right person to match the desired age and personality.
Some of the actors who were cast for whatever reason were significantly older than the iconic characters they played.
1. Henry Thomas
![Hugh Crane](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Henry-Thomas-Haunting-of-Hill-House.jpg)
Don’t feel embarrassed if you don’t know Mike Flanagan’s Henry Thomas character. The Haunting of Hill House Same with Timothy Hutton. Although there was a 26-year time jump between the roles of young and older Hugh Crain, the actors appear even closer than that, with only an 11-year age difference.
2. Stellan Skarsgard
![Father Lankester stands in front of Pazuzu's statue](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Stellan-Skarsgard-Exorcist-The-Beginning.jpg)
![Father Lankester stands in front of Pazuzu's statue](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Stellan-Skarsgard-Exorcist-The-Beginning.jpg)
need to understand the timeline exorcist However, Stellan Skarsgard was too old for the role. The Exorcist: The Beginning. Skarsgård will play a younger version of Father Lankester Merrin, played by Max von Sydow. exorcist. problem?Skarsgard was 53 years old during filming. The beginning, Sydow was 43 years old during filming. exorcist.
3. Seth Rogan
![superbad seth rogen](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Superbad-1.png)
![superbad seth rogen](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Superbad-1.png)
Logan was originally scheduled to play his younger self in the 2007 comedy, which was loosely based on his life. super bad. However, Jonah Hill was cast as Seth instead. This is an unusual decision, as Hill is only a year younger than Logan, and it seems like an odd casting choice for an actor in his 30s to play a teenager graduating high school.
4. Robert De Niro
![Irish Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Ray Romano](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/The-Irishman.jpg)
![Irish Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Ray Romano](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/The-Irishman.jpg)
The actor played a younger version of himself Irishand while aging someone by several decades is fine, making a man in his 70s look like he’s in his 20s was a feat the filmmakers weren’t hoping for.
5. Alan Rickman
![Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Alan Rickman](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/MV5BOTEwMjM3NTU0NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODU4NjgyMw@@._V1_FMjpg_UX1280_-e1664004431509.jpg)
![Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Alan Rickman](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/MV5BOTEwMjM3NTU0NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODU4NjgyMw@@._V1_FMjpg_UX1280_-e1664004431509.jpg)
Rickman was too old to play Snape in the movies Harry potter However, most of the adult cast had to be made younger to match the characters that were intended to be portrayed in the book. It appears that the casting directors wanted to include most of Britain’s acclaimed elite actors in the production, and age was probably not a consideration.
6. Fabian Frankel
![House of the Dragon Fabian Frankel](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/House-of-the-Dragon.png)
![House of the Dragon Fabian Frankel](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/House-of-the-Dragon.png)
dragon house Made some very strange casting decisions. The timeline of the story changes drastically throughout season 1, so it makes sense that all the actors’ looks would need to age. The actresses who played Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alice St. Hightower were replaced by older actresses. In contrast, Paddy Considine was sitting in the make-up artist’s chair for the role of King Viserys Targaryen.
However, Fabian Frankel, who played Sir Christon Cole, seems to have found the fountain of youth, as he did not age at all during the 20 years that the story takes place.
7. Florence Pugh
![Little Women Florence Pugh](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Little-Women.png)
![Little Women Florence Pugh](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Little-Women.png)
Little Women ‘ is a classic American book with several very popular film adaptations. In the 2019 version, Pugh tried to play a much younger character, pre-teen, but it didn’t sit well with some viewers. It’s understandable that a 22-year-old would play an 18-year-old. It takes a lot more effort for a 22-year-old to play a 12-year-old.
8. Josh Brolin
![Men in Black 3 Josh Brolin, Alice Eve](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Men-in-Black-3.png)
![Men in Black 3 Josh Brolin, Alice Eve](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Men-in-Black-3.png)
Instead of putting makeup on Tommy Lee Jones, men in black 3 I chose Josh Brolin to play the young Agent K. It took him over an hour in a makeup chair and a prosthetic leg to get Brolin’s look done.
9. Grease Cast
![15 times older actors played younger roles 10 Grease John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Grease-e1692045004649.png)
![15 times older actors played younger roles 10 Grease John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Grease-e1692045004649.png)
It might have been hard to find an ensemble cast of versatile singing and dancing actors in the ’70s. of grease The cast was in their 20s and 30s, playing high school students. For example, Olivia Newton-John was 29 years old. According to casting director Joel Tam, this was a deliberate choice so the ensemble looked similar in age to the lead stars.
10. Kevin Spacey
![Beyond the Sea Kevin Spacey](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Beyond-the-Sea.jpg)
![Beyond the Sea Kevin Spacey](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Beyond-the-Sea.jpg)
across the sea The story of singer Bobby Darin’s rise to fame in his 20s. Spacey was 45 years old when the film was released in 2004. Many fans felt he couldn’t pull off being a 20-something darling, especially when actress Kate Bosworth, who plays his love interest, was 24 years younger.
11. Robert Redford
![natural robert redford](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/The-Natural.jpg)
![natural robert redford](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/The-Natural.jpg)
Redford is an iconic actor who has been in the industry for most of his life. We all understand that artistic license is needed in Hollywood, but Redford, 48, plays a teenage baseball star. The Natural It was a very strange choice.
12. Emma Thompson
![Sense and Sensibility Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Sense-and-Sensibility.jpg)
![Sense and Sensibility Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Sense-and-Sensibility.jpg)
Emma Thompson is a phenomenal actress and has had an amazing career. Still, her role as Eleanor Dashwood in Austen’s 1995 film adaptation sensible and sensitive This was strange considering the actress was 36 years old playing a character who was supposed to be 19 years old. Even Thompson said in an interview that she felt she was too old for the role.
14. Ben Platt
![Dear Evan Hansen Amandla Stenberg, Ben Platt](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dear-Evan-Hansen.jpg)
![Dear Evan Hansen Amandla Stenberg, Ben Platt](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dear-Evan-Hansen.jpg)
Dear Evan Hansen ” is a moving musical about a high school student with social anxiety disorder who fabricates a story in order to be accepted by his peers. Many fans felt that Ben Platt, then 25 years old, was too old to play a teenager. However, no one can deny his amazing singing ability.
15. Michael C. Hall
![dexter](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/dexter.jpg)
![dexter](https://wealthofgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/dexter.jpg)
dexter Although it’s a dark drama, there are some bright moments. But putting an actor in his late 30s in a wig and having him pretend to be his teenage self provoked the kind of laughs the show’s producers hadn’t intended.