"But he/she is SO OLD!"
I understand that I write mainly about Young Adult fiction. And with that comes a lot of young adult readers. However, I do not think youth alone allows one the folly of believing 1) that every character is 25 or younger and 2) that every character will be played by an actor or actress who is their exact age.
Some of the best "teen" characters in cinematic history have been played by actors and actresses who are decidedly NOT teenagers themselves. For your blog-reading pleasure, I have compiled a list of examples.
GLEE
- The uber talented teens on this show are ALL in their twenties. Several of them are much closer to 30 than 17. Yet they convince millions of people every week that they are, in fact, high schoolers.
EASY A- First, if you have not yet seen this movie- go do it. It is ridiculously, inappropriately funny. This is The Scarlet Letter
that way 10 Things I Hate About You
is The Taming of the Shrew
. Hilarious and awesome. Oh, and everybody is old. In addition to the kids in the picture, we have 24 year old Amanda Bynes and 28 year old Cam Gigandet playing high school kids.
Speaking of 10 Things I Hate About you, they get closer, but still no cigar.
Especially when you realize these four are supposed to be sophomores- 15 years old.
And, finally, the piece de resistance (say it with a French accent- you'll feel smarter) is Grease
. This movie is one of my all time favorites and has been since I was about 6 years old. However, the closest we get to a teenager is 20 year old Dinah Manoff, who plays Marty Maraschino ("as in cherry"). This one not only casts 20-somethings as 17 year olds, but they stretch so far as to have several 30-somethings in the supposedly high school ensemble. Plus, they tip the old "guys have to be older than the girls they date/have casual sex with" idea on its ear. 
Over in the IMDb message boards, one commenter was not very nicely debating this point (she was arguing that some beloved character of her's would be played by some of-the-moment 17 year old actress) and eventually said: "You can just tell when the actress is not a teenager anymore. I mean, it's still a really good movie, and they do a really good job and they can be the perfect pick, but they're not a teenager."
And, that, folks, is what it sounds like when somebody grudgingly agrees with you, and you win the argument.
Please post your ideas in the comments- whether you agree with me or not!
