We discovered long ago that a lot of the actors who played teenagers in the teen movies and TV shows we all know and love were actually a lot older during filming than the characters they played. It's a good thing, too, because so-called teen movies and shows can get pretty racy. Just think about American Pie, Pretty Little Liars, or even the new Fear Street trilogy. As parents, we definitely don't want to think about real-life teenagers doing any of the things a lot of those characters did!
We're not naive, and we know kids get into stuff, but just imagine being the parent of a teen actor in a graphic sex scene. Yeah … no. We bet it's kind of difficult for casting directors to find actual teens whose parents will let them do some of the things we see in so many teens movies and shows, whether it's emulating sex, doing drugs, or drinking.
It's got to be much easier to hire actors that are of age, so we're not too surprised that a lot of the "teens" we see in movies are actually full-fledged adults. What is surprising, though, is that some are a lot older than they look. Like, we get it if the actor is, say, between 21 and 23, but some actors are playing teens into their 30s — which sounds crazy, but it's true. Keep reading to find out some of the oldest actors to play teens on the screen.
Stacey Dash
Stacey Dash played a high school "it" girl in the Clueless TV series, but she was far from a high schooler by that point. In fact, Stacey was on the show (which ran for three seasons) when she was between the ages of 28 and 32. So yeah, by the end she was playing a character nearly half her age. Considering the original film came out just a year before the series, that means she was also well past adolescence when she debuted the role of Dionne.
Rachel McAdams
Regina George is iconic. The Mean Girls character played by Rachel McAdams is the epitome of a high school queen bee, but Rachel herself graduated high school years before she nabbed the role. Rachel was almost 30 when she played Regina, and interestingly her character in The Notebook — which came out the same year — was also a teenager.
Gabrielle Union
Gabrielle Union looks amazing at almost 50 these days, so it's no surprise that she was able to pull off playing a teenager when she was nearly 30. She was 27 when she was in the teen film 10 Things I Hate About You with Larisa Oleynik, Julia Stiles, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, all of whom were actually teenagers at the time.
Tobey Maguire
With his baby face, we never would have guessed that actor Tobey Maguire wasn't a teen when he starred in the Spider-Man movies. He was already 26 by the time he made the first live-action Spider-Man film, which came out in 2002. He honestly looked like he could have been 19 or 20 at the oldest.
Cole Sprouse
Cole Sprouse plays a teenager who is far more mature than the average high schooler in Riverdale. Perhaps he pulls it off so well because he was actually already 24 years old when the series premiered in 2017. The show is still running and he's now 29! Crazy, right? Since we all grew up watching him as a child star, maybe he makes it work simply because we still think of him as a kid.
Andrew Garfield
If you asked us, we'd say we didn't think actor Andrew Garfield was much older than a teenager right now, but that's actually far from the truth. When he starred in The Amazing Spider-Man all the way back in 2012, he was 28! We never would have guessed, but almost 10 years later, Andrew's pushing 40.
Keiko Agena
Keiko Agena may have found the fountain of youth. Back in the early oughts when she first played Rory's best friend, Lane, on Gilmore Girls, she was already in her late 20s, and by the time the series came to a close in 2007, she was 34. Alexis Bledel, who played Rory, is almost 10 years her junior, but they definitely looked the same age.
Charisma Carpenter
You know how Charisma Carpenter always seemed like the sexy, mature one on Buffy the Vampire Slayer? That's because she was the sexy, mature one. She was 27 by the time she appeared on-screen as Cordelia Chase, and when the series came to a close in 2003, she'd already seen her 30th birthday. Impressive.
Gabrielle Carteris
Gabrielle Carteris played the brainy, kind of geeky Andrea Zuckerman on Beverly Hills, 90210 back in the 1990s, so her advanced age was actually an asset to the character. She was 29 when she started on the show and 33 when it ended a few seasons later. She'd already experienced so much in life at that point, it makes sense she was able to play the serious one so well.
Nicola Coughlan
Between Derry Girls and Bridgerton, we never would have guessed that Nicola Coughlan isn't a teenager herself. Believe it or not, she's actually 33. She has such a youthful face, we kind of wish she'd throw us a skin care tutorial. We have a feeling she'll be able to keep nabbing roles as a teen for years to come.
Cory Monteith
The late Cory Monteith was a full-on adult when he played Finn Hudson on Glee, which of course was a breakout role for him. He was 27 when he started playing the high school football star, and 31 when the series ended a few years later. He had such a baby face, it didn't take too much convincing to believe he was a teen.
Bianca Lawson
Remember Maya from Pretty Little Liars? Well, Bianca Lawson, the actor who played her, wasn't even close to the age of her high school character. She was 31 when she appeared in the first season. It's hard for us to believe she's 31 now, let alone all those years ago. We do remember seeing her in movies and shows years before PLL, though, so it adds up.
Stockard Channing
Listen, no one who starred in the 1978 classic Grease looked like a teenager. It didn't even seem like anyone was trying to hide John Travolta's full-on beard, but Stockard Channing, who played Rizzo, was actually a full decade older than John at the time. She may have played a high school senior, but Stockard was 34 when Grease premiered.
Henry Winkler
Evidence is mounting that age really was just a number in the 1970s. When Henry Winkler played the iconic character "The Fonz" on the series Happy Days, he was already nearly 30. The show ran for 10 years, so by the end he was practically middle-aged. No one else could have pulled it off, though.
Michael J. Fox
Maybe it's his short stature, but we never would have guessed that Michael J. Fox was in his mid-20s when he played high schooler Marty McFly in the first Back to the Future film. By the time the third installment in the franchise came out, he was 29. Marty hadn't aged, but Michael definitely had. Wonder if he ever wished he had a time machine IRL.
Sean Patrick Thomas
There's no way anybody could have convinced us that actor Sean Patrick Thomas was actually a 30-year-old man back when we were teens and tweens watching Save the Last Dance on repeat. It is absolutely true, though. He may have played a teenager, but Sean was far past that point in real life. His costar Julia Stiles is 10 years younger than him, but thankfully she was at least of age.
Paul Rudd
This one is pretty funny because honestly, actor Paul Rudd genuinely looked close to his real age when he starred as a teenager in Wet Hot American Summer in 2001. He played a selfish, lazy teen camp counselor and totally pulled it off. We're guessing he must have relied heavily on his own teen years to inform his performance.
Jordan Alexander
The 2021 Gossip Girl reboot came out just before Jordan Alexander's 28th birthday. Jordan of course plays the show's lead character, Julien, who is a senior in high school. Girl looks good, but she definitely doesn't look 17. She has a full decade on some of her costars, including Whitney Peak, who plays her younger sister.
