23 Actors Deemed "Too Old" Who Proved Everyone Wrong (2025)

"Other than being much older than his character Tommy DeSimone ("Tommy DeVito" in the movie) was in real life, the real Tommy was also a hulk of a guy, like 6'4", 250lbs. Pesci had to come up with an amazing performance to make himself as menacing and terrifying as he could. He nailed it, too. He's scary as fuck in this movie."

—doctor-rumack

Joe Pesci won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1991 for his role as Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas.His acceptance speech was famously short with only five words: "It's my privilege. Thank you.".

"Marisa was 28, and he was 49 (probably 48 while filming), but throw on a hairpiece, and he looks like a cute person in his thirties. We never find out how old Vinny actually is, but based on his background in the movie, he would be around 35 to 40 years old."

—RyzenRaider

"She played Moaning Myrtle, a teenage ghost who haunted the bathroom in theHarry Potterfilms when she was almost 40 years old."

—Anaisli

"Alan Rickman was more than 20 years older than Snape should've been."

—Enge712

"The actual Patch Adams attended medical school in his 20s. They had to write a few lines into the movie about him being older than the average medical student."

—Average_40s_Guy

"She wrote the script and did so beautifully as Elinor. There could have been no one else, but she was 17 years older than her character."

—AllynWA1

"Yeah literally everyone in Grease. They are way too old but I couldn’t imagine anyone else in the roles."

—PixalmasterStudios24

In case you're wondering, while making Grease, John Travolta (Danny) was 23, Olivia Newton-John (Sandy) was 28-29, and Jeff Conaway (Kenickie) was 27, and the rest of the cast was all at least in their 20s, if not, 30s.

"Ruck being older probably helped in his performance. You don't get that dead inside look without life beating it out of you at some point."

—Decantus

In case you're wondering, Matthew Broderick (Ferris) was 23,Mia Sara (Sloane) was 18,Jennifer Grey (Jeanie) was 25, andJeffrey Jones (Principal Rooney) was 39.

—Xanatos2076

In case you're wondering,Alicia Silverstone (Cher Horowitz) was 18 years old,Brittany Murphy (Tai Frasier) was 17 years old, andPaul Rudd (Josh Lucas) was 25 years old.

"It’s a classic holiday movie, but honestly, he was too old in real life to portray his character in that timeline. He would have been nearly 40 if he got drafted into WWII and was older than the General in real life…yet they treated the General like a father figure to him and Danny Kaye. LoL"

—CosmicOutfield

In case you're wondering,Danny Kaye (Phil Davis) was 43 years old,Rosemary Clooney (Betty Haynes) was 26 years old, andVera-Ellen (Judy Haynes) was 33 years old.

"In the book, his character, Alex, was 15 years old."

—deviltrombone

"I’m sorry...the lead character in that book is 15 years old!? Good god."

—heardThereWasFood

"Also, he and Anne Bancroft, who played Mrs. Robinson, are only 6 years apart."

—Appropriate_Error589

In case you're wondering, Bancroft was 35 years old while making The Graduate.

—GoobyGrapes

"For comparison, Keira Knightley was 16. But Parminder crushed that role, and that movie is influential to young POC soccer players today. Plus, she did her own soccer stunts (aside from a few)."

—VivaLaCon88

"She's 8 years older than Lindsay Lohan and only 7 years younger than Amy Poehler, who played her mother."

—Sic39

In case you're wondering,Lindsay Lohan (Cady) was 17,Amanda Seyfried (Karen) was 18,Lacey Chabert (Gretchen) and Lizzy Caplan (Janice) were 21,Tina Fey (Ms. Norbury) was 33, and Amy Poehler was 32.

"Too old to be high school kids, but they both nailed it."

—SpreadElectronic1232

In case you're wondering, Neve Campbell (Sidney Prescott) was 22, Rose McGowan (Tatum Riley) was 22, Jamie Kennedy (Randy Meeks) was 25, David Arquette (Dewey Riley) was 24, Courtney Cox (Gale Weathers), was 31, and Drew Barrymore (Casey Becker) was 21.

—Admirable-Present510

In case you're wondering,Christopher Lloyd (Dr. Emmett Brown) was 46 years old,Lea Thompson (Lorraine Baines) was 23 years old,Crispin Glover (George McFly) was 20 years old, andThomas F. Wilson (Biff Tannen) was 25 years old.

Also... Michael J. Fox was 27 in Back to the Future Part IIand 28 in Part III (playing Marty, who was still 17 in those films).

—MarqMarw

In case you're wondering,Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson) was 19 years old,Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson) was 19 years old, andWillem Dafoe (Norman Osborn/Green Goblin) was 46 years old.

"He looks 30, and he's playing as a high school senior. He's great but a little too self-assured for a high school kid."

—hiro111

"He was 50 and 54 in those two movies. The character in the book is in his 30s and 6’5”, 235lbs."

—BCJay_

"A classic nonetheless."

—happybear777

"He was 58 to Audrey Hepburn's 33."

—RulerofHoth

Apparently, Grant actually requested script changes to make their romantic dynamic more age-appropriate and humorous (like having her pursue him instead of the other way around).

"He was almost 60 and romancing Leslie Caron, who was 33. It's still a great film and it works, but it was the last time Cary Grant played the romantic lead. He only made one more movie, Walk, Don't Run before retiring."

—CalagaxT