Emma Stone Was 29 Years Younger Than Colin Firth When They Played Love Interests, And 16 Other Casting Decisions That Prove Hollywood Has A Thing For Younger Women
Fiyin Olowokandi
6 min read
Emma Stone Was 29 Years Younger Than Colin Firth When They Played Love Interests, And 16 Other Casting Decisions That Prove Hollywood Has A Thing For Younger Women
Recently, I wrote a post about women in Hollywood who have spoken out about their experiences of ageism.
Let’s take a look at some casting decisions that ~really~ back them up. Here are 17 examples that show Hollywood’s obsession with casting younger women – from pairing them with much older actors, to casting older women to play the mothers of men practically the same age as them!
First up, here are some of the most off-kilter love interests…
1. Margot Robbie – The Wolf of Wall Street
Paramount PicturesIn Hollywood, men are seemingly allowed to be “young” for A LOT longer than women are. The fact that at 28 years old, Olivia Wilde was “too old” to play Naomi Lapaglia – the wife of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in The Wolf of Wall Street – exemplifies this. Leo was 39 at the time, and what makes things even worse is that the part eventually went to Margot Robbie who was only 23!
2. Tuppence Middleton – Mank
NetflixAlmost unbelievably, Tuppence was cast to play Sara Mankiewicz, the wife of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz in the 2020 biographical drama about Herman’s life and career. In real life, Sara and Herman were the same age, but Tuppence was only 33 when she starred opposite a 62-year-old Gary Oldman! Writer Emily Nunn tweeted about the movie, saying “there doesn’t seem to be a single woman over 40 in [this] cast… We don’t feel invisible. You erase us.”
3. Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook and Joy
The Weinstein CompanyJen has been aged up from the very start of her career; in fact, her Academy Award for Best Actress came at just 22 years old when she portrayed a widow in Silver Linings Playbook who becomes romantically involved with Bradley Cooper’s character. He was 37 years old at the time.
Three years later, Jen was playing a porced mother of three in her thirties in Joy, which is completely wild. While her acting is undoubtedly up to snuff, it seems unfair that Jen be aged up so quickly, and for these kinds of roles to not be offered to women who are actually of a similar age to a character.
4. Scarlett Johansson – Lost in Translation
Focus FeaturesScarlett was only 17 years old when she played Charlotte, a 22-year-old college graduate. While a five year difference between herself and her character isn’t that bad, what makes things even more peculiar is the giant age difference between Scarlett and her co-star Bill Murray, who played Bob Harris.
Bill was 52 at the time, and even though the age difference was a part of the plot and they weren’t strictly lovers, the decision to cast a 17-year-old Scarlett instead of someone more age-appropriate only accentuated the age gap.
5. Emma Stone – Magic in the Moonlight
Sony Pictures ClassicsEmma was 25 when she took on the role of spiritualist, Sophie Baker. I don’t believe 25 is outrageously young to be a spiritualist in the 1920s, it’s the 29 year age gap between Emma and Colin Firth that gets me! Is it just me, or does Hollywood seriously think that women and men age at different rates?
6. Gwyneth Paltrow – Se7en
New Line CinemaI know what you’re gonna say – “but they were together in real life.” It’s true, the pair met on the set of Se7en when Gwyneth was only 22 and she was cast as Brad’s wife. Despite being nine years older than her, they eventually coupled up but their age gap was actually the reason why they never settled down together! I guess it’s not suuuper unrealistic for these two to be together, but it somehow is to expect a 30-year-old woman to play a 30-year-old character!
7. Beyoncé Knowles – Austin Powers in Gold Member
New Line CinemaIn Beyoncé’s debut film role, she played the undercover spy, Foxxy Cleopatra – the partner and love interest of Austin Powers. The whole movie is obviously very tongue-in-cheek, so authenticity wasn’t exactly necessary. However, it’s worth noting that Beyoncé was just 19 at the time the movie was made, and Mike was 36!
8. Blake Lively – Green Lantern
Warner Bros. PicturesEven though the 11-year age gap between Blake and Ryan proved not to be a problem IRL, fans still weren’t happy that Blake – aged just 22 – was cast to play Carol Ferris. The character had been written as older in the comics, and closer in age to Green Lantern, who was played by a 33-year-old Ryan. Fans criticised the casting by saying, “[according] to Hollywood, guys in their 30s & 40s are still vital and sexy, while there’s a preference for their female counterparts to be in their 20s.”
9. Kate Bosworth – Superman Returns
Warner Bros. PicturesThis sequel takes place five years after Superman has left earth. Since then, his former partner – Lois Lane, played by a 22-year-old Kate – has had Superman’s child and become a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist. I’m sorry, but this is NOT the life of someone aged 22! What’s worse is, Kate wasn’t aged up visually, so she kind of looks more like the kid’s sister than his mother.
10. Lindsay Lohan – Just My Luck
20th Century FoxLindsay was only 18 years old when she starred as Ashley, the unluckiest woman in the world. Although Lindsay was an established star by this point, she’d only really played school and high school-aged characters. Here she was portraying a successful PR woman who lived in the city. She starred opposite Chris Pine, who was also unrealistically young to be playing a band manager, TBH.
11. Anne Bancroft – The Graduate
United ArtistsAt 35, Anne played a character at least 10 years older than herself when she appeared opposite Dustin Hoffman in the 1967 classic. This casting really shows off Hollywood’s double standards, as Hoffman was 29 but he was playing a 21-year-old! What was supposed to be a 20-year age gap on screen was actually equal to six years between the actors in real life.
Moving on… Let’s look at the phenomenon of women playing the mothers of actors who are ~definitely~ not young enough to be their sons.
This highlights two massive problems… Firstly, women are seen as “mums” and “old” longggg before men are. Secondly, women who ARE age-appropriate for mother roles are often overlooked in favour of younger actors.
12. Sally Fields – Forrest Gump
Paramount PicturesThis one sums up the VERY different ageing rate of men and women in Hollywood. The one and only Sally Field went from playing Tom Hanks’ love interest in the 1988 film Punchline, to portraying his mother in Forrest Gump a mere six years later!
13. Angelina Jolie – Alexander
Warner Bros. PicturesBizarrely, Angelina was once cast to play Colin Farrell’s character’s mother in Alexander. What’s strange is that Angelina is only one year older than Colin, and frankly looks the same age if not younger than him in the film, which begs the question – why didn’t someone older get the part?!?
14. Winona Ryder – Star Trek
Paramount PicturesWinona Ryder herself has discussed the way Hollywood sees women, commenting that, “actresses have a tough time because of their age — they’re just not getting hired. I know it exists… You’re the girlfriend, then you’re the mother.”
Winona has dealt with Hollywood’s distorted view of age herself. In Star Trek, she played the mother of Spok who was portrayed by Zachary Quinto, a man only seven years younger than her!
15. Melissa Leo – The Fighter
Paramount PicturesWhen Melissa played the mother of two in The Fighter she was 49 – a fair age for a mother of two, right? The thing is, she was playing the mum of two characters played by Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, who were 38 and 35 respectively at the time!
16. Charlayne Woodard – Glass
Rodin Eckenroth / FilmMagic / Via Getty ImagesYou know something is up in Hollywood when a 65-year-old (Charlayne) is playing the mother of a 70-year-old (Samuel L. Jackson). While it was only a minor role, it’s still indicting of an industry that attempts to cast younger women as MUCH as possible.
17. Nicole Kidman – Aquaman
Warner Bros. PicturesThe iconic Nicole plays the mother of Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, despite being 12 years older than him IRL. I think it does speak to the perception of women vs. men in the industry that Jason’s former wife, Lisa Bonet, is actually the exact same age as Nicole.
I guess you could argue that ageing works differently in Atlantis, but given the rest of these examples and the many more out there in Hollywood, I’m not going to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.
Are there any other casting decisions that highlight ageism in Hollywood you know of? Feel free to add them in the comments below, and get pissed off about the injustice.
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