1.
In Wicked, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and Jonathan Bailey are supposed to play first-year college students, although they’re all in their 30s.
2.
In Grown-ish, Francia Raisa and Yara Shahidi are both supposed to be playing 18-year-olds at the beginning of the series, but IRL, Francia is 12 years older than Yara.
3.
In Little Women, Florence Pugh played 13-year-old Amy March even though Florence was 23 in real life.
4.
In Alexander, Angelina Jolie played Colin Farrell’s mother, even though she’s only a year older than Colin in real life.
5.
In Apocalypse Now, Laurence Fishburne played a soldier fighting in the Vietnam War, even though he was only 14 years old at the time.
6.
In The Vampire Diaries, Sara Canning was 22 when she started playing Aunt Jenna. Nina Dobrev, who played her niece, was just two years younger.
7.
In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Andrew Garfield was 31 years old, while his character, Peter Parker, was just graduating from high school at 18.
8.
In The Karate Kid, Ralph Macchio was 23 when he started playing 17-year-old Daniel LaRusso. He’s actually four years older than William Zabka, who was only 19 at the time.
9.
In Orange Is the New Black, Elizabeth Rodriguez played Dascha Polanco’s mother, despite being only two years older than Dascha in real life.
10.
In Riverdale, Ashleigh Murray played 16-year-old Josie McCoy but was in her 30s IRL.
11.
In Derry Girls, Nicola Coughlan began playing 16-year-old Clare Devlin when she was 31 in real life.
12.
In Never Have I Ever, Darren Barnet played 17-year-old Paxton Hall-Yoshida, but in real life, Darren was 30 years old.
13.
In Hannah Montana, Jason Earles began playing 16-year-old Jackson Stewart when he was 29 years old.
14.
In Pretty Little Liars, Sasha Pieterse was 13 years old at the beginning of the series, meanwhile the rest of her castmates were in their early 20s.
15.
Also, in Pretty Little Liars, Bianca Lawson played 16-year-old Maya St. Germain, despite being 31 years old in real life.
16.
In Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Cher played Meryl Streep’s mother, even though, at the time, Cher was 72 and Meryl was 69.
17.
In Happy Days, Henry Winkler played 19-year-old Fonzie but was actually 29 in real life — he was about 39 years old when the series ended.
18.
In Community, Britta is supposed to be eight years older than Annie, but in real life, Gillian Jacobs is only two months older than Alison Brie.
19.
In Gilmore Girls, Keiko Agena played Rory’s best friend, Lane, and fellow high schooler, despite being 27 when the show aired.
20.
In Sense and Sensibility, Emma Thompson played 19-year-old Elinor Dashwood but was 35 in real life.
21.
In Mean Girls, Amy Poehler played Rachel McAdams’ mother, even though she is only seven years older than Rachel in real life.
22.
In Golden Girls, Estelle Getty played Bea Arthur’s mom, even though Bea was actually a year older than Estelle in real life.
23.
And finally, in Grease, although they all played high schoolers, none of the cast was even remotely close to their character’s age.
