Why adults act as teenagers?

[ctang]

Why does H&A do this? Example - Rebecca Breeds who is 22 acting as Ruby, a 16 year girl still at high school?

Cam

[haaxhaa]

Maybe its because the Adult actors have more experience therefor can do the job better?

Or maybe it's because they look young themselves?

However saying that,

Charlotte Best is 16? and She plays Annie who is a 16 year old.

[Ryan]

I've always imagined it was because hopefully an extra few years can lead to a better performer and also that sometimes I think they want to show something that they may not be able to with a 16 yo or such. For instance, would the show have been able to make Cassie strip in her first episode if she was the same age as her character.

[DinerLandlord]

Why does H&A do this? Example - Rebecca Breeds who is 22 acting as Ruby, a 16 year girl still at high school?

Cam

H&A is not the first show or movie to do this. This has been done for decades. The vast majority of teens in Hollywood or on American shows are played by 20-somethings. Just taking examples from today's pop-culture - Edward Cullen in Twilight is supposed to be a vampire who was made a vampire at 17, yet Robert Pattinson is 23; the cast of 90210 range in age from 20 to 30, yet they play 16-year-olds; the cast of Gossip girl are aged 22 to 24, yet they play 17/18-year-olds, with the exception of Taylor Momsen. That is just from today's teenage characters on TV and film, the tradition of casting actors in their 20's as teenagers goes back to the 1950's, and perhaps even before that. James Dean was 24 when he played a 17-year-old in Rebel Without A Cause in 1955. There's been 20-something actors as teens in shows and movies ever since - Happy Days, Grease, Breakfast Club, Beverly Hills 90210, Clueless, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The O.C., One Tree Hill, Veronica Mars, etc.

As Ryan pointed out, casting an older actor as a teenager can allow the writers and producers to sex the character up a bit without getting into trouble. It's very difficult for a 16-year-old to be seen as "hot" on TV, without people becoming uncomfortable, and parents getting angry, but if a 23-year-old is playing a 16-year-old, it's usually ok.

The opposite can also happen with characters who in real life would be normally in their 40's or 50's, but they are played by actors who are in their 30's. Have you noticed how many "hot" parents there have been in recent years on H&A? Jazz, Amanda, Roman, Charlie, Peter, Angie - they all appear to have had children before turning 15, which I suspect was done by the writers to make sure as many young and attractive actors are in the cast as possible. In reality, most teenager's fathers look more like Bartlett than Roman, and their mothers look more like Beth than Amanda.

[Ryan]

Wasn't there a school drama in the 50's where all the kids were about played by people who were about 40.

In BH 90210, there is a 12 year gap between actors portraying characters in the same year.

[ebrett84]

So who is the most unrealistic "teenager" in the shows history? I'd say Chris Hemsworth (Kim Hyde). I actually laughed the first time I saw him in a school uniform. Cassie was pretty bad. She was apparently 23 irl when cast as a 15/16 year old and I actually thought she was older than 23. Romeo looks like he should be arrested for even flirting with Annie. The guy who played Dylan Russell was way too old as well, although it was kind of appropriate that Angie Russell's kid looked far older than he actually was.

[DinerLandlord]

So who is the most unrealistic "teenager" in the shows history? I'd say Chris Hemsworth (Kim Hyde). I actually laughed the first time I saw him in a school uniform. Cassie was pretty bad. She was apparently 23 irl when cast as a 15/16 year old and I actually thought she was older than 23. Romeo looks like he should be arrested for even flirting with Annie. The guy who played Dylan Russell was way too old as well, although it was kind of appropriate that Angie Russell's kid looked far older than he actually was.

I found Kim a complete joke when he first showed up in his uniform. I know Chris Hemsworth was 20 at the time, which isn't too old, but he just looked so manly and mature, he was impossible to believe as a teenager. He looked the same age as Scott, Alex and Josh.

Cassie didn't bother me that much, but pairing her up as best friends with Matilda really showed her age, just like Ruby looks and seems so much older than Annie nowadays.

Romeo Casanova is totally unbelievable as a teenager, and his scenes with Annie are vomit-inducing. In real life he's older than Kirsty and Martha, and only a few years younger than Angelo!

I always thought Zac Drayson as Will was too old to play a teenager, but he was 15 when he started, which is quite shocking. I thought Will looked about 25 when he first arrived.

I hate to say this, but Ian Meadows at age 23 looked too old to pass for 17 when he played Rocco.

[ebrett84]

So who is the most unrealistic "teenager" in the shows history? I'd say Chris Hemsworth (Kim Hyde). I actually laughed the first time I saw him in a school uniform. Cassie was pretty bad. She was apparently 23 irl when cast as a 15/16 year old and I actually thought she was older than 23. Romeo looks like he should be arrested for even flirting with Annie. The guy who played Dylan Russell was way too old as well, although it was kind of appropriate that Angie Russell's kid looked far older than he actually was.

I found Kim a complete joke when he first showed up in his uniform. I know Chris Hemsworth was 20 at the time, which isn't too old, but he just looked so manly and mature, he was impossible to believe as a teenager. He looked the same age as Scott, Alex and Josh.

Cassie didn't bother me that much, but pairing her up as best friends with Matilda really showed her age, just like Ruby looks and seems so much older than Annie nowadays.

Romeo Casanova is totally unbelievable as a teenager, and his scenes with Annie are vomit-inducing. In real life he's older than Kirsty and Martha, and only a few years younger than Angelo!

I always thought Zac Drayson as Will was too old to play a teenager, but he was 15 when he started, which is quite shocking. I thought Will looked about 25 when he first arrived.

I hate to say this, but Ian Meadows at age 23 looked too old to pass for 17 when he played Rocco.

Was Chris Hemsworth only 20? I would have guessed 30. It's hilarious that Romeo is older than Kirsty as Kirsty is basically his foster mother. I can't be bothered to look it up, but I recall someone on this forum saying that the actor who played Rocco was actually older than the one who played Johnny. That can't be right can it? Agreed about Cassie and Mattie. It was even worse when Cassie and Ric were hanging out with Mattie and Henry. I didn't have a problem with Will, and I don't have a problem with Ruby. I had no idea she was 22 until I read it here. I would have guessed 18.

[DinerLandlord]

Was Chris Hemsworth only 20? I would have guessed 30. It's hilarious that Romeo is older than Kirsty as Kirsty is basically his foster mother. I can't be bothered to look it up, but I recall someone on this forum saying that the actor who played Rocco was actually older than the one who played Johnny. That can't be right can it? Agreed about Cassie and Mattie. It was even worse when Cassie and Ric were hanging out with Mattie and Henry. I didn't have a problem with Will, and I don't have a problem with Ruby. I had no idea she was 22 until I read it here. I would have guessed 18.

Chris Hemsworth is 26 now, so he would have been 20 in early 2004 when Kim arrived. Romeo being older than Kirsty in real life really is ludicrous. Ian Meadows (Rocco) is 26 and Callan Mulvey (Johnny) is 34, so that rumour is not true.

[halcyon06]

Chris Hemsworth was the most unbelievable teenager ever! I think that the reason he and Rachel were excepted as a couple was because everyone forgot he was supposed to be 19 at the time.

The whole adult playing teenager debacle is so coming these days, particulary in American teen dramas like 90210, One Tree Hill, etc. Take the OC for example. Adam Brody and Ben Mckenzie were like 26 year olds playing 16 year old Seth and Ryan, and their mother Kirsten played by Kelly Rowan was 36 at the time, meaning that the actual age difference between the two boys and their on screen mother was only 10 years!