I’d bet there’s a ‘sweet spot’ for age where the average person watching a movie can mentally overlook the adult in a teen role, while children and elderly can’t be portrayed by a different age without it being a deliberate effect choice or farcical (though when I was learning makeup effects, I saw a ~25 year old turned convincingly into a 60+ person). Maybe it has to do with ease of an adult actor compared to a teen, or maybe it’s because there are just more of the ‘young’ adult actors in the pool than readily accessible teenage actors. Maybe the hiring team wants to ensure they have someone who can act without being taught during the production, and the slightly older actors have more proven track records?
As an example of the makeup to age someone: The actor that played “Mr. Six” in the 6 Flags commercials in the US was actually 29.
I remember a coworker saying, “I’ve heard rumors he’s not that old…” Yeah, no kidding, Angela.
(Also, while researching this comment, I came across the fact that Dan Snyder, prior owner of the team that is now the Washington Commanders, is the guy that killed that wildly popular series of commercials. Another example of his bad instincts, and demonstrating that he should leave things to the experts. Many people remember Mr. 6, but practically no one remembers the 6 Flags commercials that followed.)
I’d bet there’s a ‘sweet spot’ for age where the average person watching a movie can mentally overlook the adult in a teen role, while children and elderly can’t be portrayed by a different age without it being a deliberate effect choice or farcical (though when I was learning makeup effects, I saw a ~25 year old turned convincingly into a 60+ person). Maybe it has to do with ease of an adult actor compared to a teen, or maybe it’s because there are just more of the ‘young’ adult actors in the pool than readily accessible teenage actors. Maybe the hiring team wants to ensure they have someone who can act without being taught during the production, and the slightly older actors have more proven track records?
As an example of the makeup to age someone: The actor that played “Mr. Six” in the 6 Flags commercials in the US was actually 29.
I remember a coworker saying, “I’ve heard rumors he’s not that old…” Yeah, no kidding, Angela.
(Also, while researching this comment, I came across the fact that Dan Snyder, prior owner of the team that is now the Washington Commanders, is the guy that killed that wildly popular series of commercials. Another example of his bad instincts, and demonstrating that he should leave things to the experts. Many people remember Mr. 6, but practically no one remembers the 6 Flags commercials that followed.)