Albert Brooks played a senior citizen doctor very well in Lumet’s Critical Care.
Lansbury played Laurence Harvey’s mother in Manchurian Candidate and Orson Welles played an old detective in Touch of Evil.
Woody Allen played the same age as Peter Falk in a nice remake of The Sunshine Boys
“You look so young”
“I’ve lost 10 years in the 5 years I haven’t seen you.”
Didn’t Orson Welles have help from the make-up department in “Touch of Evil”?
Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Iselin in “The Manchurian Candidate” is a great pick-up, Dennis. I knew there was an example of a younger woman playing an older one in there somewhere. It’s somewhat unfortunate though: it basically says Angela aged much too quickly.
Is anyone really convinced by Judy Garland at 16 playing Dorothy at 10 years of age (I believe this was the idea) in “The Wizard of Oz”? I know they tied her chest, I guess there wasn’t much else they could’ve done.
Jessie Royce Landis was born November 25, 1904. In North by Northwest she played Cary Grant’s (January 18, 1904) mother. In To Catch a Thief, she played his mother-in-law to be. Was she younger playing older or was he older playing younger?
MARK IS SUSPENDED IN GAFFA
Dustin Hoffman was pushing 30 when he played Benjamin Braddock, 21 years of age in “The Graduate.” Sissy Spacek played a high school student in both “Badlands” (she was 23 playing 15, picture below) and “Carrie” (26 years of age playing a high school senior, usually one aged 17 or 18). Ralph Macchio attempted to stay 18 forever (and made a fair effort of it) in the original “Karate Kid” trilogy that began in 1984 and finished in 1989 (Ralph was 27 he played Daniel-san for the final time). Michael J. Fox must have been hiding his own Dorian Gray style portrait somewhere in that DeLorean time machine when he starred in the “Back To The Future” trilogy during the same period when Ralph was defending himself against the Cobra Kai. Michael was already 23 when the original “Back To The Future” was released and several years older than that when the third and final chapter hit cinemas at the end of the ‘80s. Yet all the time the Marty McFly character (the version that originates from 1985) cannot be any older than 18. Alan Ruck was 29(!) when he played Cameron, a high school senior and best friend of Ferris in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” Malcolm McDowell was about ten years older than his Alexander alter ego in “A Clockwork Orange.”
These are some examples of the thread title to get you started, but remember—no cheating! The actor/actress in question cannot be aided by make-up (e.g. F. Murray Abraham in “Amadeus”), nor can the performer have undergone copious amounts of cosmetic surgery (I’ve decided not to name names). Also, please remember that a woman pushing 40 playing a 33-year old (e.g. Sally Field as Emma Moriarty in “Murphy’s Romance”) is not the same as someone aged 30-ish playing a person of 21 years (as in the Dustin Hoffman example mentioned previously). It’s more difficult for someone at 30 to pretend to be 21 than it is for someone around 40 to act early 30s. There is no significant discrepancy between 66 and 74. There is all the difference if the eight-year gap in question is between 16 and 24. Please exercise this common sense “sliding scale” when listing your performers. Remember, the key word is “convincingly.”