7 actors with major age gaps to their iconic characters - including Grease legend

Many of the stars who appeared in Grease were older than the teenage greasers and schoolgirls they were playing, including Olivia Newton-John, who was 28 when filming the movie. However, the star with the largest age difference was Stockard Channing, who played Rizzo.

Even though her character was still a high school student, Stockard had graduated many years before, and was actually 33 when she took on the iconic role.

Speaking to Vanity Fair in 2016 about the cast's age discrepancies, the film's director, Randal Kleiser, joked: "I would get up close to them and see if they had any crow's-feet around their eyes, and that would show they were beyond the surreal age that we had determined would work."

While Tom Holland is undoubtedly the most age-accurate incarnation of the iconic Marvel superhero, before he suited up, it was Andrew Garfield who played the web-slinger. Peter Parker is supposed to be a high school student, with the character even graduating during the events of the second film.

However, Andrew was far from a high school student at the time, and was 27 when filming the first instalment. His co-star, Emma Stone, was five years older than her character in the movie.

Shirley Henderson starred in two Harry Potter films as Moaning Myrtle, the spirit of a 14-year-old who lost her life when she stared directly at a basilisk. However, Shirley was considerably older than the ghostly child, being 37 when she made her first appearance and 40 for her second.

The star has previously mentioned that many believe her to be younger than she actually is, and speaking to the Radio Times in 2025 about snagging the role, she said: "When I was first asked for an audition, I didn't know who Harry Potter was. But my sister, who was staying with me, had read the books. Still, I wasn’t convinced I could play a 14-year-old girl because I was in my 30s at the time.

"But I spoke to the casting director Karen Lindsay-Stewart and she said, 'I haven't told them your age'. So I went to the audition dressed as a schoolgirl — white shirt, black skirt, ponytail — thinking, 'This is ridiculous'.

"I did my wee bit for them and they thanked me. Months went by and I thought that was it, but then they phoned my agent, asked to see me again and offered me the part."

Laurence Fishburne wasn't too far off from his character's age of 17 when he appeared in Apocalypse Now. The actor was actually 14, and he admitted to lying about his age in order to land the part.

Speaking to Variety in 2024, he said: "It's very difficult to describe what that whole situation was like, because I was a young person. I was 14, I was 15, I was very impressionable. I was still developing and it was an impactful event in my life."

Love Actually is one of the ultimate Christmas movies of all time, and one of the many storylines sees Juliet, played by Keira Knightley, marry Peter, unaware that his best friend, Mark, has feelings for her. Although Juliet was conceived as being in her mid-twenties, Keira was actually just 18 - only five years older than her co-star, Thomas Brodie-Sangster.

In 2023, Fiona Weir, the film's casting director admitted to Marie Claire that Keira was "really strictly speaking, too young for the part," but added that the star brought a "wonderful, open, joyous quality" to the part.

Amy Poehler was everyone's favourite 'cool mom' in Mean Girls, but despite being the parent of a high school student, the star was only 32 when she filmed the role, a mere seven years older than her on-screen daughter, Rachel McAdams.

The beloved film saw many large age gaps, with Daniel Franzese being a whole decade older than his 16-year-old character in the film.

Smallville ran for 10 seasons, and when the show debuted, Tom Welling was playing a 14-year-old Clark Kent, based on Superman. However, Tom was significantly older than his on-screen persona, being 24 when the first season aired.