If you watch Netflix, you know what I am talking about.
It has become increasingly common for Hollywood to cast older actors in teenage roles on shows and movies, primarily while the actors are in their twenties or early thirties.
Casting older actors (and by older actors, I mean between the ages of 24 and 30) as teenagers has its benefits; however, there are some apparent downsides as well that may be very important in how well your audience engages in the show.
First, let's examine WHY older actors are portraying teenagers more often.
There are many reasons for shows and films to cast older actors in roles of characters who are primarily between the ages of 15 and 17. Labor laws are one of those reasons and arguably the most important reason. Child actors, or actors who have not reached the age of 18, are limited to 8 hours a day of on-set work. These actors need time set aside daily for school, outdoor activities, and other child necessities to ensure they are raised healthy and correctly.
Another reason that shows and films cast older actors in teenage roles is based on maturity.
Puberty is the primary example of physical maturity. It can cause numerous problems for teens, such as the appearance of acne and the growth of hairs in places not just on top of the head. Puberty also commonly sees a teenager's height drastically increase during a short period of time. A great example is Finn Wolfhard, who portrays Mike Wheeler on the Netflix show Stranger Things. Stranger Things season 3 was filmed in 2018, while season 4 was filmed in 2021 due to the pushback of the pandemic. For a teenager, three years is a long time. If you watch season 3, followed by season 4, there is a noticeable difference between the physical maturity of Mike Wheeler. He seems to have grown significantly over the short time between the seasons because his actor had aged three years. But not just three regular years, three years of puberty, and development as a teenager.
Immaturity is behavior that demonstrates that someone presents a younger or more childish mindset than others, and is not necessarily appropriate or professional for someone older than 18. A child actor having fun on set in a disruptive manner may not be fun for the director or crew to deal with, which can cause unnecessary problems on set that may worsen the content on-screen, cause tension on set, and in the worst scenario, require a recast.
Emotional maturity is also important for casting dire to consider, as child actors do not typically have a handle on their emotions like adult actors should have. This can include emotions such as sadness or anger, that once out of control, can quickly become very annoying or disruptive. An angry actor throwing a temper tantrum on set is unprofessional and is most commonly seen in actors below the age of 18.
Another reason older actors may be the primary choice to cast instead of young actors is the sexual content produced in the show or film. Not every show or movie has sexual content between one or more underage characters. Still, many who plan to use sexual or suggestive content usually tend to cast an older actor to portray that character. This may be because the actor would be more comfortable performing the type of content or because the type of content being produced is easier to watch when it is being made by someone over 18, which would be deemed acceptable by most viewers.
A great example is Timothée Chalamet's 2017 film Call Me By Your Name, in which he portrays a 17-year-old boy who falls in love with a 24-year-old. During the time of filming, Chalamet was the age of 20. The romance between the 17-year-old boy and the 24-year-old man became more comfortable to watch because it was known that both actors were over 18. If the actor portraying Chalamet's character were 17, the same age as the character, the scenes in the two characters that were sexually driven would become a bit discomforting compared to those exact scenes in the film between the two characters being portrayed by two adults because one of the actors would not be classified adult yet. Watching somebody classified as an adult making out or having scenes with sexual motives in them with a teenager just does not sit right with me, even when the movie is supposed to present this type of relationship as unusual and discomforting.
Here is where the problem starts, however.
Depending on how old the actor selected for a teenage role is quite important. Look at Chase Stokes's character John B from the Netflix show Outer Banks. At the age of 28, Stokes began portraying a 16-year-old John B.
The problem with this is that Chase Stokes does not look like he is 16 years old, not even a little bit.
John B is not the only one, as the entire supporting cast of teenage characters is unrealistically cast in the show. If I were to show a scene of John B and his group of friends surfing or hanging to someone unaware of the show and out of context, likely come as a shock to them that these characters are supposed to be 16 years of age and are not actually a group of college friends on spring break. These characters look fresh out of college, not sophomores in high school.
Think of it more like this. A 29-year-old Chase Stokes portrays John B in season 2, which premiered in 2021, and the character's age is 16. Eleven, portrayed by an 18-year-old Millie Bobby Brown on the Netflix show Stranger Things, is 15 years old in the latest season. Putting the two actors side by side and saying that their characters' ages are only one year apart is… well, insane.
Now, I am not saying that the actors portraying the characters are flawed. In fact, I believe the acting in Outer Banks is quite good.
However, the unrealistic age casting in the show can draw the viewers' attention away from the show itself. During the final episode of season 2, there is a scene that mentions Sarah Cameron's (another side character on the show) age, which I was utterly taken aback by. I already knew that she was only 16 years old, but hearing it mentioned when it was so evident that the actress is far older than the character was just so awkward. The actress who portrays Sarah Cameron, Madelyn Cline, may only be portraying a 16-year-old on Outer Banks, but in her upcoming film Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, she will be playing a role that has her dating Dave Bautista, as in Drax the Destroyer from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Watching Madelyn Cline switch from a 16-year-old into an adult dating Dave Bautista and then switching back to her 16-year-old character when the next season of Outer Banks releasing next year is quite dumbfounding at the realization of how Hollywood casts adults in unrealistic teenage roles.
(And to clarify something about Madelyn Cline; I believe she is fantastic as Sarah Cameron. I have only seen her in Outer Banks, but she does a great job on the show, and I cannot wait for the third season to drop.)
It is the same problem that many other shows have, including All American, Pretty Little Liars, and Riverdale. However, one compliment I can give Riverdale is that in the show's first season, the actors may have been much older than their characters, but they did not look much older than their characters on screen. Archie Andrews did not look much older than 15, nor did Betty Cooper (I would have guessed the actors portraying the characters were in their late teens). However, I can't say the same for Veronica Lodge or Reggie Mantle, whose actors looked quite a bit older than the characters they were supposed to play on-screen in a convincing manner.
Now, is it bad that older actors portray teenagers more often in shows and movies than actual teenagers do? Not necessarily. But it depends on WHY the actor is chosen for the role. Suppose an actor over 18 is selected for the role of a 15-year-old because the character is having sex with his teacher (I am talking specifically about Archie Andrews in Riverdale). In that case, that is a great reason to cast someone over 18 for a teenage role.
How old the actor is when chosen for the role is also extremely important in the realism of the story's character. How long can Outer Banks last as a show if the characters are only 16 years old when their actors are at least seven years older than their characters? With a time jump, the show could last much longer, that's for sure. But will it do one? We will have to wait and see.
There is an argument about how these shows are meant to be unrealistic, so the casting does not have to be realistic, which is a valid argument. However, in my opinion, I would much rather watch actors who look and feel like teenagers embark on these crazy adventures like in the show Outer Banks, rather than these actors who are eight to ten plus years older than the character just pretending to be teenagers. There is a difference between pretending to be something and being something, and there is a fine line between the two.
I am going to bring Stranger Things back into the talk now. The show started when the actors were just a year older than their characters. In a sense, the actors on the show have grown with their characters, and if the show kept going on for ten more years, it would be realistic that the actors fit the age of the character if the continuity stayed the same as it has been for the last four seasons.
However, I want to address when I see an older actor playing a younger character and when that becomes a problem. When a person turns 18, they are now considered an adult. Typically, adults are seen as more developed than teenagers.
Now, this is where I believe it is okay that a 30-year-old Joe Keery can play a 19-year-old Steve Harrington in season 4 of Stranger Things. When we first saw Steve in season one, he was portrayed by a 24-year-old Joe Keery, six years younger than his season 4 self. However, at 17, Steve Harrington was already a pretty mature character. His character has repeatedly shown that he is the grown-up of the group, putting his life on the line for others in every season thus far. Now Joe Keery is 30, playing a 19-year-old Steve Harrington, who is considered an adult. His physical features being established already is not much of a problem, being both the actor and character are adults.
So, will Hollywood finally address the issue of unrealistic age castings?
Not likely.
Do I personally hope they do?
In fact, yes, I do.
Why?
Because I would much rather watch a teenager doing teenager things than watch an adult pretending to be a teenager, do teenage things, especially when they have not been teenagers in five or more years.
If Hollywood keeps casting older actors in teenage roles, it's whatever. It would not be my preference, but that feeling is subjective to everyone. Some may prefer the older castings, and that is okay. But for me, an adult pushing 30 should not be portraying somebody as old as one of the kids from Stranger Things. An adult who is just over the age of 18 would be my preferred pick, but if someone a little older, maybe up to a maximum of 23 years old (and that is pushing it even) who can believably take on the part is given the role, that would be just fine with me.
