Hollywood movies and TV shows seem glamorous from the outside, but underneath the smoke and mirrors is an ordinary reality. Makeup artists, photoshop wizards and special effects gurus manipulate the world around them to fit the fantasies of their viewers. But is it too far to cast actors in their late 20s or early 30s as 16- or 17-year-old high school students?
T.V. shows like Glee, The Vampire Diaries, and Pretty Little Lairs all regularly cast 25-year-olds, and sometimes even older actors, to play the parts of high school students. Glee is the prime TV series offender, and continues onto the fifth season this May using the same actors the show started out with—who were too old even then. Currently, characters Mike Chang and Noah Puckerman are played by, respectively, Harry Shum Jr. and Mark Salling, both 31-year-old actors playing 18- and 19-year-olds.
Despite vampires and werewolves being “in” as teenage heart-throbs, the 28-year-olds hired to play them on The Vampire Diaries could hardly be considered teenagers. Matt, Taylor, and Stefan are 17 to 19 years old on the show, but respective actors Michael Trevino, Zack Roerig, and Paul Wesley are 29 to 31 years old.
Casting people who are in their prime to represent gawky, far-from-perfect teenagers sets unrealistic, near-impossible body expectations for audiences. Actors who are more mature than the parts they play—and have the magic of Hollywood to iron out the remaining kinks—exacerbate body image issues in both men and women. Now, teenagers have not only other teenagers to compare themselves to, but also 30-year-olds who could pass as the dream high school student.