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10 Older Actors Who Played Teenage Roles In Movies and Series

Don’t believe anything you see on the other side of the screen. Actors and directors are pros at deceiving us by creating make-believe worlds. From the flowery and “forever” romance between Edward and Bella to the brave superheroes fighting for mankind, everything is believable in their fictional world. Similarly, there are many adult actors who smoothly pulled off teenage roles without raising any eyebrows. Everyone was not a teenager like Lindsay Lohan and Hillary Duff in their popular teen movies. That’s how proficient they are with makeup and acting. We bring to you the names of 10 older actors who played teenage roles in movies.

Emma Thompson in Sense and Sensibility

Emma Thompson is one of the gems of Hollywood who could move people with her flawless acting and screenplay writing. She has two Oscar awards under her belt, one of them was for the screenplay of “Sense and Sensibility”. Emma also managed to get nominated for the best actress in the same film. Interestingly, not only did she give a powerful performance, but also portrayed a 19-year-old woman while she was 36 years old.

Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s

The phenomenal icon, Audrey Hepburn was 31-years old when she starred in the classic “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. Her ageless appearance and charming persona perfectly captured the young hearted Holly. Holly was 18 years old in Truman Capote’s book but the author himself wanted Audrey Hepburn to portray the character.

Stockard Channing In Grease

One of the most bizarre examples of older actors playing teenagers is Stockard’s Betty Rizzo in Grease. Hollywood must be running out of teenage actors during 1978 as the film cast the 34-year-old actress as the 17-year-old high school teen.

Alan Ruck in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Older Actors Played Teenage Roles
Older Actors Played Teenage Roles

How can Alan get away with as a 17th-year-old teen when he was 30 years old in real life? Well, that’s how talented you got to be to play 13 years old younger and become a classic character. We won’t comment if it is unfair to cast a 30-year old as such a young teen, but we also can’t think of anyone playing out Ferris so well.

Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can

Leonardo is the titan of Hollywood who has given shattering performances in critically-acclaimed movies, year after year. He was 28 years old when he portrayed the 17-year old brilliant conman, Frank Abagnale in “Catch Me If You Can”. We can’t say if Frank was as stunning as Leonardo in real life, but there is no doubt that he looked older than his age. After all, the man deceived older men and women as a pilot, doctor, and so on.

Stacey Dash in Clueless

Older Actors Played Teenage Roles
Older Actors Played Teenage Roles

Who’d believe that Stacey Dash was far from her teen days when she played Dionne in “Clueless”? The actress was 28 years old when the world watched her as the 15-year-old friend of Cher. Well, it didn’t matter because she totally nailed the high school character with her energy and charisma.

Shirley Henderson in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Had Moaning Myrtle not seen the Basilisk that day, she would have been alive and probably in her 60s. But the Hogwarts student died at the age of 14 and remained in the washroom as a ghost for eternity. You’d be shocked to know that the young girl’s ghost was played by Shirley Henderson who was 36 years old in “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”.

Bianca Lawson in Pretty Little liars

Bianca Lawson is widely known to teen series viewers as she has appeared in many of them. Starting from “Saved by the Bell: The New Class” to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”,” Dawson’s Creek”, and “Pretty Little Liars”, she still hasn’t passed out from high school. Bianca was 34 when she played the 17-year-old. But who could tell!

Charisma Carpenter in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Older Actors Played Teenage Roles
Older Actors Played Teenage Roles

Charisma Carpenter rose to prominence when she played Buffy’s buddy in fighting the supernatural entities in the classic teen show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. Everyone could tell that she was a 27 years old actress, trying to fit in as a 16-year-old, but no one seemed to have minded for obvious reasons.

Dorothy McGuire in The Greatest Story Ever Told

Take a seat and stop eating ‘cause this example will leave your jaws dropped. Dorothy McGuire had just entered her late 40s when she was offered the role of Virgin Mary. Even though everyone knew that Virgin Mary was about 15 when she gave birth to Jesus Christ, the directors were adamant about their decision.

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