Friday, March 28, 1997
Actors play age game in Hollywood movies and TV
I know suspension of disbelief is key to enjoying most movies, but sometimes they just stretch credibility too far.
Frank D'Amico (fcd101@psu.edu) is a junior majoring in journalism and a Collegian film and TV reporter.
Maybe this is not such a bad offense. And so what? They are actors
after all. But the examples sometimes get so bad they distract
from the film.
The actual ages of so many actors are just unbelievable in comparison
with the roles they play.
Sissy Spacek. In Carrie, Spacek plays the title character, a high
school student who has severe problems. These problems were probably
caused by the fact that Spacek was 26 at the time of filming.
At the end of the film, she destroys several class mates and most
of the school in a blaze of telekinetic vengeance. If I were 26
and still in high school, I would probably destroy my school in
a blaze of telekinetic vengeance.
Spacek didn't stop there. Four years later she starred in Coal
Miner's Daughter. She began the film playing a character who was
13 years old.
Matthew Broderick. Nothing against Broderick personally, but in
War Games (good film) he played a brilliant high school student.
He probably couldn't have been that brilliant though, because
he was 21 at the time. This didn't prevent him from being cast
three years later in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (also a good film)
as a high school student.
Emilio Estevez. Son of the more talented Martin Sheen and brother
of the even less talented Charlie, Estevez has experienced some
time-warp problems. In 1985 he starred in the Brat Pack special
St. Elmo's Fire. He played a recent college graduate coping with
real life. He must have a hard time because that same year he
was back in high school in The Breakfast Club.
Andrew McCarthy. An actor with considerably less talent than Estevez,
McCarthy appeared with him in St.Elmo's Fire. The very next year,
McCarthy found himself in high school again in Pretty In Pink.
McCarthy's co-star in that film was James Spader, who plays a
classmate. Spader was a young looking 26-year-old.
Kristy Swanson. She had bit parts playing high school students
in both the aforementioned Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Pretty
in Pink. Six years later she was still portraying a high school
student, although this time she was battling vampires in Buffy
the Vampire Slayer.
Maybe the reason for all these old actors playing young is that
many child actors have trouble playing adults when they actually
do become adults.
