17 ms·
The golden age of the aging actor
- Saint_Genet 4y agoIt’s also the age of 35 year old women playing the mothers of 25 year old men
- WalterBright 4y agoThat's nothing new.
- Saint_Genet 4y agoBut neither is older actors. People like Cary Grant, Paul Newman, and Robert Redford played hunks well into their 50s
- nonameiguess 4y agoThey don't cite the source, but the claim in the article is that the average age of top-billed actors has gone up faster than the average age of the audience, not that yesteryear had 0 older stars.
- greedo 4y agoAnd Tom Cruise is 60.
- WalterBright 4y agoAnd he has his own P-51.
- greedo 4y agoThat bugged me. No way could someone on a Captain's salary (or even what he was being paid as a test pilot if on reserve status) afford one.
- conductr 4y agoWho said he bought it? Implying gift/inheritance not theft. If I was a grandpa and had one in my shed, I'd probably give it to my grandkid that happens to be a top gun pilot/instructor.
- mellavora 4y agoespecially not after paying off his own private airfield.
- bluedino 4y agoHis love interest drives a classic Porsche 911 and owns a huge bar in San Diego.
- Retric 4y agoHis latest movie was also filmed 3 years ago in large part due to how long CGI takes but also how long movies are edited. So not only do Actors age more between filming and release, but it also takes longer for a new actor to catch on. Aka they film a movie when their 20, it’s a breakout hit when their 23, their next movie comes out when their 26.
- WalterBright 4y agoIt was filmed 3 years ago because the release was delayed due to the pandemic. They didn't want it to flop because people weren't going to the theaters.
- Retric 4y agoIt was finished filming almost a year before they started shutting down movie theaters for the pandemic and they didn’t release promotional materials back then. So, that pushes the earliest summer release as 2 to 2.5 years after filming each scene assuming COVID actually delayed things.
- raydev 4y agoThey did release promo, the first trailer came out in 2019. Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flURw76_UCU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flURw76_UCU You can see they had settled on June 2020 as the release date, but, you know what happened next. That release date was fully locked in until it became clear COVID wasn't going away. There were other, earlier delays: the film was initially scheduled for 2019, but they spent most of that year doing reshoots.
- Retric 4y agoOdd, I check for summer blockbusters it’s the in January or early February and it wasn’t on the 2020 list. But it’s clearly on this list from dec 2019: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/2020-movies-to-see-140042905.html https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/2020-movies-to-see-14004...
- ajsnigrutin 4y agoYep, and the reverse also... 35+yo people playing highscoolers was the norm. I mean, i guess it's kinda hard to film scenes not-in-chronological-order with a teenager who visibly changes during the filming, but it's not an impossible thing to do.
- jfengel 4y ago35 year olds also don't have to go to school, or be tutored. And they're allowed to work longer hours than actual children are.
- conductr 4y agoFunny that actors in their 20s, especially early 20s isn't the obvious solution when bodily change has slowed but age can still easily pass for HS aged.
- dragonwriter 4y ago> Funny that actors in their 20s, especially early 20s isn't the obvious solution when bodily change has slowed but age can still easily pass for HS aged. They are. Sure, there are some that are wildly out of that range, but since someone else raised BtVS let's look at how old the main cast was in 1997, when they were playing sophomores in high school: - Sarah Michelle Gellar was 20 - Alyson Hannigan was 23 - Charisma Carpenter was 27 - Nicholas Brendan was 27
- slyall 4y agoI hard that in the recent book from the Howard brothers. If you are under 18 there are all sorts of restrictions on hours worked, supervision, etc. So it is a lot easier to get a 18+ actor to play a 12-17 year old than someone the actual age. Part of the reason child actors struggle to transition to adult roles. 3-4 year enforced gap in their career.
- MiddleEndian 4y agoI was rewatching earlier seasons of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and it's hilarious that the character Xander Harris(0) was perceived as a scrawny high school nerd. 0. https://assets.mycast.io/characters/xander-harris-794251-normal.jpg?1593740559 https://assets.mycast.io/characters/xander-harris-794251-nor...
- hawski 4y agoThat reminds me about Laila Lockhart Kraner from Netflix's "Gabby's Dollhouse" is presumably in her early 20s. She plays an 11 year old.
- mgkimsal 4y agoGoogle showing she's 26 or 27?
- hawski 4y agoI haven't seen a conclusive answer. My search results suggest that she may be 22, but it is mostly based on the fact that she has some voice acting credits from 2003. Someone on Reddit mentioned that they read an article saying "(...) she moved to LA w her family when she was 6, and then took up acting classes “a while later”" and this suggest that voice acting would probably be after this. So she would be from 1997 at least and that would make her 25 (or more). The show had its premiere on January 2021. Regardless it is remarkable or even more remarkable. I looked her up, because my daughter was asking about her.
- BurningFrog 4y agoTried to look it up, but she's kept her age secret. I'm surprised that works in 2022!
- MisterBastahrd 4y agoNow do the actors of Beverly Hills 90210. When the show started, Ian Ziering was 26. Jason Priestly was 21. Lukey Perry was 24. Gabrielle Carteris was 29. Shannon Doherty was 23.
- Retric 4y agoIt’s seems more reasonable to use 26 year old actors to play a ~16 year old high school students than 11 year olds. Daniel Radcliffe on the other hand was actually 11-12 when playing an 11-12 year old character. By comparison Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy simply didn’t fit nearly as well because he was a 2 years older. https://fantasytopics.com/harry-potter-cast-real-life-ages-during-movies/ https://fantasytopics.com/harry-potter-cast-real-life-ages-d...
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- ChuckNorris89 4y ago>It’s also the age of 35 year old women playing the mothers of 25 year old men Its my gripe with the latest Dune adaptation. No way that actress was old enough to be Paul's mom unless she had him when she was 6 years old. She looked more like his siter than his mother. It bugs me when they don't have age apropriate family members with such obviously wide age gaps.
- beezlebroxxxxxx 4y agoI understand your complaint in the larger context of popular culture. But in the context of Dune, which takes place 1000s of years in the future, and in which there exist a genetically manipulating pseudo-cult group of witches/spies who are desperately seeking the ascendancy of humankind to a higher plane of existence, it is slightly more reasonable that Jessica Atreides looks the way she does, as a hyper attractive concubine that was intended (you might say "designed") to eventually develop the bloodline of a pseudo-god. But that also only really makes sense if you're invested in the narrative. The real kicker is that Paul probably should have looked younger. In the novel, he arrives on Arrakis when he is 15.
- Andrew_nenakhov 4y agoIn-universe, they also have drugs that slow aging by a lot, so wealthy people can live for up to 200 years.
- ChuckNorris89 4y agoSounds like something up Bezos's and Musk's alleys from our universe.
- saiya-jin 4y agoWell there is only 12 years age difference between actors, but Chalamet looks 15-17 all the time. Maybe creators wanted to emphasize strict gene selection happening behind curtains, and people in year 10,191 have better healthcare/skincare on position of queen. Never met 40+ woman who looked as if she just finished university? Smooth skin, no moles or wrinkles, energetic. Genes + upkeep + generally healthy lifestyle + good sleep. And probably no kids. Its not outrageous to have 15 year old son and looking very fine, plenty of world even in 2022 start having kids before/at 20. Look at all the photos of young moms from Ukraine escaping, often almost teenagers around young mom, in age that here where I live local women start thinking about having a child.
- rasz 4y agoalso 55 mothers of 45 year olds (The Northman)
- dredmorbius 4y agoThe Graduate (1967) featured Dustin Hoffman (aged 30) playing Ben, hooking up with Anne Bancroft, mother of Ben's girlfriend. Bancroft was 36 at the time of release. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Graduate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Graduate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin_Hoffman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin_Hoffman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Bancroft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Bancroft
- rasz 4y agoIn the last 20 years more and more movies started delivering appropriate casting for f->m age gaps, mainly because of pr0n revolution and popularity of MILF trope. American Pie 1999. Jennifer Coolidge -> Eddie Thomas = 19. Don Jon 2013. Julianne Moore -> Joseph Gordon-Levitt = 21. Mother Lover 2009 SNL skit is a classic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0DeIqJm4vM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0DeIqJm4vM. Patricia Clarkson -> Andy Samberg = 19. Susan Sarandon -> Justin Timberlake = 35. The French Dispatch 2021. Frances McDormand -> Timothée Chalamet = 38. Comare that to My Tutor 1983 where 8 year difference was still seen risque.
- goto11 4y agoThis is not a new trend though. In Lawrence Oliviers Hamlet from 1948, Hamlets mother is played by an actress which is 10 years younger than Olivier. The article shows a graph of the age gap between leads, and it shows it slightly narrowing, while both men an women stars are getting older on average.
- mirntyfirty 4y agoI’d claim that there’s so much familiarity and energy directed towards the development and marketing of these actors that it’s probably tough to establish the next generation.
- beezlebroxxxxxx 4y agoYou're also seeing the effects of plastic surgery and/or aggressive anti-aging procedures. Actors are aging slower, superficially, and this is leaving less leading or main roles (in an already diminished blockbuster schedule) open to a new younger group of actors. The same actors are staying around longer. For marketing reasons, there is less incentive to debut a new actor (unless it's a serious prestige picture), and the actors get caught in a weird state of body modification and refusing to age. A lot of their faces move oddly now. This goes for male and female actors.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- greedo 4y agoI saw Tom Cruise at the Silverstone racetrack with Mercedes during the British Grand Prix. Seeing him without makeup was a huge change from how he looked in the latest Top Gun movie. He actually looked his age.
- Wohlf 4y agoAnd Top Gun Maverick is the oldest he's ever looked too.
- wmeredith 4y agoThat's funny. When my wife and I saw him during the pre-race show, we jokingly said he looks great for 40! (Tom Cruise is 60)
- inanutshellus 4y ago... and did you see Nicole Kidman in Aquaman? Sometimes CGI "help" hits the uncanny valley instead.
- smm11 4y agoThe oldest of actors and actresses don't seem to be out there, in the public eye 24-7, as the younger set does. It's going to be very, very hard to have another Cruise, or Costner, or Johnson, etc., with the baggage literally every younger actor is carrying these days. It will take new faces, but again, who we know nothing about. Which is possible, how?
- nomdep 4y agoI don’t think it’s going to be a problem, if anything, public attention is something they have to fight for instead of being a burden. Tom Holland, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Zendaya, for example, are in their twenties, hugely popular, even among millenials, and probably they will be still popular in twenty years
- ipaddr 4y agoNever heard of them and they will probably have a lower status in 20 years.
- KerrAvon 4y agoSpider Man, someone I don't know, and Spider Man's girlfriend.
- ipaddr 4y agoI watch a lot of movies but never superhero movies. Super hero actors haven't crossover to mainstream. A guy like the rock crossed from wrestling to many genres of film and tv, I can't think of someone who came from the superhero world and was as successful in other genres.
- woobar 4y agoHugh Jackman? Just an australian TV actor before X-Men.
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- a4isms 4y agoThis is a golden age for nostalgia by the boomers and their echo generation. It drives these highly delayed sequels, just as it drove the Star Wars prequels. It drives high prices for certain used cars and musical instruments, all of which represent nostalgia for a generation that has retired with disposable income. It drives outrageous ticket prices for aging rockers reliving 30 year-old hits. It's demographics. When this wealthy generation dies off, the interest in its nostalgia will fade.
- nonameiguess 4y agoBoomers? I'm only in my 40s and have a whole lot of 80s and 90s nostalgia that Hollywood is milking the F out of. I'm hoping I won't die any time soon. Tom Cruise and Ed Harris are just the stars of some of my favorite movies from when I was a kid. Jennifer Connelly one of my first crushes. Not sure Top Gun is just targeting boomers.
- panzagl 4y agoPsst, just so you know, Generation X doesn't exist anymore- that's what GP meant by 'their echo generation'. I'd argue against him, but, whatever.
- jessaustin 4y ago[EDIT for clarity:] The boomers are a populous generation, and their children the millennials are also populous in a sort of "echo". It makes sense, that lots of parents would have had lots of kids. X are a less populous generation sandwiched in between those other two. https://nerej.com/generation-y-also-known-as-millennial-or-echo-boomers https://nerej.com/generation-y-also-known-as-millennial-or-e...
- panzagl 4y agoBoomers somehow gave birth to two generations- you had some still getting married and having kids right out of high school (kids would be Gen X) but you also had the 'Me Generation'/Studio 54/Gordon Gecko half who put off kids for career/lifestyle or spread them out over multiple marriages. I have a coworker who is 22 years younger than me despite our parents' ages being about two years apart. He's barely a millennial, while my childhood was pretty much as documented in 'Stranger Things'.
- fullshark 4y agoMy theory is that Movies are not the dominant cultural force for the younger generation. Their celebrity idols are on social media ( and musicians but nothing new there).
- mettamage 4y agoI am on IG since a few weeks meeting a lot of new people. Based on those experiences, I feel you’re completely right. I could only wonder about the tiktok world but that is a step too far for me
- fullshark 4y agoI just saw that a TikTok trend involves filming your friends going out to see the new minions movie in suits: https://www.distractify.com/p/minions-movie-tiktok-trend https://www.distractify.com/p/minions-movie-tiktok-trend It’s getting some credit for a ticket sale bump. I wonder if the joke for some kids isn’t just that the minions are lame but movies as a whole are lame?
- synu 4y agoIt’s Morbin’ Time (Morbius) was a similar recent joke where the comedy came from pretending a bad movie was good.
- oogali 4y agoI recall reading that was a TikTok scheme created by a marketing agency for the opening of the movie in the Israeli market. And yes, it helped drive a better opening weekend than was normally projected.
- schnevets 4y agoI just think it's a cyclical response to life becoming increasingly casual. In my public high school (~2005), we started doing "Formal Fridays" where we would dress up in suits. It was just a dumb, ironic fad that spanned multiple cliques and essentially went viral. At its peak, one enterprising friend bought a gross of hideous yellow-and-black "swiss cheese ties" and started selling them. Teachers were extremely concerned that it was some sort of gang/hidden meaning thing... But I digress. Altogether, I think it's good for the industry that kids are gathering at movie theaters again and doing things like this that make memories.
- WalterBright 4y agoMovies about high school go back to the 1950s, nearly always with a cast of "teenagers" that have lines and receding hairlines and are 28 years old. To me, they look ridiculous pretending to be kids.
- WalterBright 4y agoOne exception is the movie "Over The Edge" with a cast of all unknown first time acting high school kids. It worked well. The movie made Matt Dillon a star. I'm surprised more directors don't take a chance like that.
- vlunkr 4y agoHow often does that work though? Actual teenage actor are less experienced and usually worse than older actors. There are also child labor laws that don’t allow them to work as many hours, which may slow the whole production down if they’re in the main cast.
- WalterBright 4y agoI suspect it's the director that makes it work. Another example is the 1968 Romeo and Juliet, where the leads were kids. It's the only version of the story that really works. Both West Side Story and its remake had the "kids" way too old to be believably besotted with each other.
- ajsnigrutin 4y agoIt worked with many other series, like kid-to-adult series, eg. Harry Potter. Yeah, sure, it took a bit longer than 7 years, but the age difference (actor vs character) were not that large even at the end of filming).
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y agoI dunno. I think this kid looks pretty good: https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/018/666/fellowkids.jpg https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/018/666/fel...
- WalterBright 4y agoI've run into a few celebrity actors in real life. They all look quite a bit older than on screen, and much less handsome/beautiful in real life. Hollywood makeup and lighting works very well, they know their craft!
- Retric 4y agoSome of this is just the lag time between filming and when you actually see an actor. Top Gun Maverick isn’t even out and it was filmed between 3 September 2018 - July 2019. Add some time between when you actually see a movie and you see an actor in real live and they may have been 5+ years younger when it was actually filmed.
- Balgair 4y agoI'd add that the camera also adds 10 lbs. Meaning that due to the physics of the optics and sensors, faces get flattened out and people look 'fat' as a result. So, to compensate, actors tend to be a lot skinnier in real life. Like, 'yo, you need a cheeseburger' skinnier. My brother lived in LA for a number of years and would occasionally run into celebs. He said that when running into one he would first always say to himself 'Hey, that person looks a lot like a skinnier and shorter version of ___". And, lo, it would just be that actor, but without all the makeup and lighting and wardrobe.
- thefourthchime 4y agoChina is also destroying the movie industry as well. They are too large of a market not to cater to and have a rigorous set of requirements for what's acceptable in a film. Some things you would expect, like don't mention Taiwan, or being critical of China. There's some weird stuff too, like no "time travel" and no "ghosts".
- 130e13a 4y agoi wouldn't say outright destroying, but definitely distorting
- BrianOnHN 4y agoWhat's the potential threat in the concept of time-travel?
- JohnJamesRambo 4y agoWe would go back and help Chang Kai-Shek harder of course. I wonder what a world where he won would look like?
- BrianOnHN 4y agoI'm sure they're not afraid of it becoming a real technology. So, what's the "danger" in the concept alone? I'm assuming they have a "rational" explanation behind the decision. What is it?
- echelon 4y agohttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/china-bans-time-travel-films-177801/ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/china-ba...
- henriquecm8 4y agoWhat if the story takes place in a different universe, with no relation with our history?
- lapcat 4y agoCoincidentally, last night I saw "Solitary Man" (2009) starring Michael Douglas, who was 65 at the time (now 77). He played a character who had a series of one night stands with much (very much) younger women, so he was still cast at that age as a kind of sex symbol. It only grossed $5 million though, below its budget. Too bad, because the cast was amazing: also Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Jenna Fischer, Jesse Eisenberg, Mary-Louise Parker.
- datavirtue 4y agoI'm 45 and have zero interest in watching anything with 1980s actors. In fact, all of those names would ensure that I never even give it a chance. Those guys are all washed up as hell. Haven't been able to watch Deniro since I saw him get all slobby drunk and try to talk during an award show in the 90s. Most of these people have proven themselves ridiculous, making it very hard to watch them in a movie...Tom Cruise especially. "Only Murders in the Building" is awesome though.
- lapcat 4y ago> In fact, all of those names would ensure that I never even give it a chance. Ok, well, that's weird, but you do you.
- sbf501 4y agoReminds me of this old SNL sketch about an aging Sean Connery trying to get on every young female actress, and flatulating while the stagehand tries to help him into position. My Googling skills suck and I can't find a YouTube of it, all I can find are the Jeopardy! sketches.
- JansjoFromIkea 4y agoIt'd be good to see the age trends of major Hollywood executives too; I can't imagine they were ever especially young but are we possibly just having close to zero new blood coming in over the last few decades so the ones making the decisions are still the ones who decided all these names should be stars in the first place. Beyond that a lot of it would be that society has changed in a manner that it's just very hard to have a movie star today that has the level of widespread fame that a Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt attained in the 90s. You've also got a lot more actors who know how to handle their careers long enough to protect their status; there's a template the likes of Robert Redford built out by getting so involved in the overall process that still helps a lot.
- standardUser 4y agoI think this is just another consequence of Millennials becoming the dominant cultural force. There are the stars they grew up on.
- lapcat 4y agoTop Gun was 1986. Millennials were born in the 1980s. So, no. As usual, everyone forgets that GenX exists.
- asdff 4y agoMillenials knew Tom from Mission Impossible.
- lapcat 4y agoEveryone knows Tom. What's the explanatory force of Millennials? It used to be that Millennials were held responsible for killing everything. Now they're held responsible for saving everything?
- _carbyau_ 4y agoWell, I mean with the way the climate is going... if they don't save everything when they age into power, who will?
- kyleee 4y agoand from top gun since it's a fairly classic movie, I'd say
- tomc1985 4y agoAnd that weird video with him literally babbling on about Scientology
- mixmastamyk 4y agoI wouldn’t have agreed about GenX yesterday. But above was the third comment I’ve read today that misidentified them.
- paulpauper 4y agoTom Cruise can single-handedly solve ageing.
- asdff 4y agoYou mean finasteride, botox, a trainer, and a dietician can
- mywittyname 4y agoHollywood relies heavily on networking. Older actors have larger networks. Prolific actors tend to also own their own production companies. Adam Sandler and Tom Cruise both own the production companies for their movies, which means they can have basically any role they want. Adam Sandler stars in dopey comedies set in on tropical islands with all of the same people because he likes getting paid to hang out with his friends in nice places. Also, I think we can't discount how amazing plastic surgery is anymore. We don't see "old" actors hardy ever anymore. Even in the 90s, balding actors were pretty common, now you never see them. TC looks 35; same with Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd, etc. Why go with someone new when Brad Pitt looks just as young, but is a known quantity?
- rr888 4y ago> Adam Sandler stars in dopey comedies With the hottest actresses, you can definitely notice he does casting.
- conductr 4y agoHe owns it all https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Happy_Madison_productions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Happy_Madison_producti...
- Spooky23 4y agoAdam Sandler is like the modern version of the Stratemeyer Syndicate behind the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. Most of his movies are exactly the same with different dressing. I think Happy Gilmore was the prototype. Same plot, same type of girl, same jokes, different SNL buddies making an appearance.
- maroonblazer 4y agoThat may have been true in the past but his latest work, like "Uncut Gems" and "Hustle" are far from "Happy Gilmore".
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- RickJWagner 4y agoMaverick? He's a younster. I just streamed 'The Mule', starring and directed by Clint Eastwood (about 90 years old). The action wasn't so violent, but the plot was good and the movie worth watching. Count me as a fan of older actors, when the vehicle is right.
- volkse 4y agoTied to the average age of the moviegoing public? Maybe millennials are too broke to pander to..
- paulsutter 4y agoFame is more diffuse now, there are far more famous people now but (almost?) no global stars Actors (and politicians) who became famous in the olden days are the last of their kind It will be interesting to see what comes next
- Animats 4y ago"Actors who became fixtures on big screens and small in previous decades haven’t given way to new blood as quickly as was once customary." It's also the golden age of the aging politician. Biden? Trump? Sanders? Pelosi? Pence? Putin? They're all too old.
- lapcat 4y ago> It's also the golden age of the aging politician. Biden? Trump? Sanders? Pelosi? Pence? Ronald Reagan? Robert Byrd? Strom Thurmond? Pence isn't that old.
- ggm 4y agoTL;DR the industry is risk averse, and like the music scene, A&R people and lawyers and finance now prefer machine backed algo models, which say "stick to known star vehicles, and franchises, and add one starlet for an upside risk of a breakout you can capitalise next swing round" If some kid wins, in 50 years time they'll be this statistic too, making "Planet of the Apes Next Gen, Episide XXXVI" pretending to be 25 years younger.
- kstenerud 4y agoIt would be interesting to see the graph extended to the 1950s, because those age curves look suspiciously like the economic curves during recessions. In times of economic turmoil, folks tend to prefer the safety of established (i.e. older) people.
- goto11 4y agoMovie stars are not the top draw anymore. Franchises and brands are. People used to go to see an Arnold Swarzenegger movie or a Dustin Hoffman movie. Today they go to see a Star Wars movie or an Avengers movie. Actors are still important of course, but the stars are replaceable. Stars who get their fame from a franchise tend to have a hard time selling tickets outside the franchise. (Harrison Ford being the exception of course.)
- amelius 4y agoHow long until actors are mostly replaced by deep learning "models"?
- ComputerCat 4y agoUnrelated to Tom Cruise, but omg it bothers me when people who are clearly in their late 20's/early 30's play highschoolers in tv shows and movies