Age Inconsistency in Casting

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zarah_
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Re: Age Inconsistency in Casting

Post by zarah_ »

As long as they play the part/look the part, it doesn't really bother me. I mean, they are actors anyway.
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Post by Charlyt »

I don't really mind as long as they do their part well and they do justice to the part they're playing and why they were casted.
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Post by kyri45 »

The example that comes first in my mind is the case of the first 2 series of the Spider man movies. The 2 actors who played Peter Parker were just too old (they still seems in some way teenagers) and It makes you forget that the protagonist is just in his early year of highschool.
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Post by DakotaA »

To be honest, I don't mind as long as the story isn't affected and the acting is good. I think the Hunger Games movies were quite good. Underaged actors have much stricter contracts so I understand why they would have actors over 18.
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Post by Zora C Penter »

I don't like seeing aged up actors except when the script has become more sexualized than the source material
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Post by Bluebird03 »

I was not aware of the age inconsistency in the Hunger Games, since I did not read the books. I only saw the movies. But I have run across movies where someone younger (maybe in their late 30's) was playing a much older part- of someone in their mid-60's. That ruined the movie for me, as it was not at all believable.
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Post by Taylor Danvers »

I think they cast older people to make sure their cast members are reliable. teenagers are mostly going to school or focused on being kids and would be too distracted to work with
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Post by mamilla93 »

Depends on the actor. Some people just look younger than they are and makeup helps. Others cant play their own age.
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Post by spencermack »

The biggest change in age from book to TV adaption is Game of Thrones. Tommen in the show appears much older in the TV show than his age in the book.

This is understandable however due to the mature nature of the content. Casting a young child in a major role like that could be inappropriate for that child on set.

That being said, I think a lot of age adaptions are made for characters in movies where it is not completely necessary. Looking at a movie point of view, they need to cast a face that will put people in seats and sell merchandise. The Hunger games adaption worked for me, I don't think it changed the themes or mood of the story too much.
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Post by Krys_82 »

No, the age discrepancy in movies doesn't bother me as long as they can pass as being a teenager (or whatever age it is). I think part of the reason they cast young adults in place of teens in because of child labor laws. They can only have the minor work so many hours a day verses an adult actor has not time limit. So it comes down to schedule and time frame for the directors.
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Post by Letora »

I don't think it matters that much as long as they can look the part. I know Game of Thrones had to increase the age of the characters. I heard it was due to the actions the characters take and the network not being able to, or feeling comfortable, showcasing someone younger doing it. I have never read the books so I can't confirm it. I'm just passing along the words of a friend.
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Post by SunVixen »

I first read the books of George Martin, and only then I started watching the show.
I was very surprised when I saw that grown-up men and women were playing teenage characters. For example, Daenerys should be 13 years old, and John Snow should be 14 years old.
I understand that some of the scenes in this series were too erotic for underage actors. Perhaps this was the reason for the changes in age.
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Post by paigegreenpurba »

This very much bothers me. I can understand if there are adult issues present in the movie and you want an actor or actress who is old enough to deal with the subject matter, but outside of that it's unnecessary and it makes the viewer forget how young the character is, which is often critical to the plot.
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Post by Nisha Ward »

I understand why the age inconsistencies happen in some cases, but it really annoys me all the same, as they have the potential to change things about how authors characterise their characters in the books. GoT is a major example of this as much of the horror of the books' plots for characters like Sansa, Arya Rob and Dany don't feel the same when the actors are visibly older than their book counterparts. Like, the whole thing about Dany being sold into marriage with Khal Drogo is much more affecting when it's a fourteen year old vs. whatever age Emilia Clarke was in season one.

However, as I mentioned at the start of this post, I do understand why it happens sometimes. I'm pretty sure Weiss and Benihoff couldn't get away with half the things they've done with actors younger than the ones they cast.
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Post by lisalynn »

Most of the time we just believe whatever the movie makers tell us. As for Kit Harrington's Jon Snow supposed to be 14? Well, he looks good so I don't care. Try Stockard Channing at 30 cast as the teen Rizzo in Grease. That one was hard to take.
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