15 Actors With Weird Age Gap Between Them And Their On-Screen Kids

This is completely normal in Hollywood.

Damjan

• Published in Film & TV
• June 23, 2022

While it's foolish to believe that everything we see in movies is true, some of the deceptions they pull off are remarkable. This is best demonstrated by the actual age differences between some of the performers portraying parent and child.

And this isn't a one-time occurrence; it happens more frequently than you may realize. But don't worry; we're here to help you see things.

We've prepared a list of on-screen relatives with absurdly tiny age gaps in real life, so sit back and keep scrolling to get a better understanding.

It's rather typical for actors to play characters who aren't exactly their age, especially when it comes to women because Hollywood's youth still reigns supreme. Because male performers are not subjected to the same scrutiny as female actors, many onscreen couples have significant age disparities that are completely ignored by the plot.

For instance, you have films such as The Graduate, which cast Anne Bancroft as the “older woman” who seduces Dustin Hoffman’s character Benjamin, when in actual fact she was just six years older than Hoffman at the time.

The actress who played her daughter was only nine years younger than her. Take a look at our list of weirdest age gaps, and you will see how twisted the situation is:

1. Carla Gugino played Ingrid Cortez, Carmen and Juni's mother, in Spy Kids.

She was only 29 years old when the film was released.

Daryl Sabara, who played Juni, was nine years old when the film was shot, and Alexa PenaVega, who played Carmen, was thirteen.

2. In Mean Girls, Amy Poehler played Regina George's mother, June George.

She was 32 at the time of filming, whereas Rachel McAdams was 25

3. For the first three seasons of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Janet Hubert played Aunt Viv.

Janet was 34 when the sitcom first aired, but her onscreen daughter, Karyn Parsons, was only ten years her junior.

4. Jennifer Robertson played Jocelyn Schitt, the mayor's wife, in Schitt's Creek.

She was 43 when the show aired.

Her son Mutt, played by Tim Rozon, is only five years her junior.

5. Jennifer Lawrence played Joy Mangano, an inventor with two children, in the film Joy.

She was just 24 when she played a role of a 34-year-old

6. In Jane the Virgin, Andrea Navedo played Xiomara Villanueva.

Andrea was 36 when the drama began production, but Gina Rodriguez, who plays Jane, is only seven years her senior.

7. Angelina Jolie portrayed Queen Olympias, Alexander the Great's mother, in the film Alexander.

When the film was released, she was 29 years old, while Colin Farrell, who plays her son, was 28.

8. Phylicia Rashad played Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show.

She was 36 when the show premiered, and she was portraying a mother of five children, one of whom was a sophomore in college.

9. Elizabeth Rodriguez played Aleida Diaz (Daya's mother) in Orange Is the New Black.

She was 32 years old when the show first aired.

Dascha Polanco, the actress who played her daughter, is only two years her junior!

10. In Little Miss Sunshine, Toni Collette portrays Sheryl Hoover (Olive's and Dwayne's mother).

She was 32 when filming began, and Paul Dano, who plays her adolescent son, was 21.

11. Mrs. Robinson, the "older woman" in The Graduate, was played by Anne Bancroft.

When the film was released, she was 36 years old.

The actress who played her daughter, Katharine Ross, is only 9 years her junior.

12. Mrs. Price (Elijah's mother) was played by Charlayne Woodard in M. Night Shyamalan's Glass.

She was 63 at the time of filming. 

Samuel L. Jackson, who played her son, is actually five years her junior!

13. Ann Morgan Guilbert played Yetta, Fran's grandmother and Sylvia's mother, in The Nanny.

She was just 65 when the show aired.

Ann is four and a half years younger than Renée Taylor, who played Sylvia.

14. In the George Lopez programme, Belita Moreno played Benny (George's mother).

When the show aired, she was 52 years old.

She is only 11 years George's senior.

15. In Golden Girls, Estelle Getty portrayed Sophia Petrillo. In order to seem 80, she went through a lengthy makeup process and sported a white wig.

When the show first aired, she was 62 years old.

Bea Arthur, who played Estelle's daughter, was actually a year younger than Estelle!

You’ve probably noticed that we have only actresses on our list. There is a reason for this.

The weird age gap between on-screen parents and kids is not so common for male stars. That’s probably because Hollywood still goes with the logic that a woman must look nice.

So, they will choose a 50-year-old actress to play a 60-year-old woman. A 40-year-old woman will be played by a 30-year-old actress, etc.

We have come a long way as a society, but unfortunately, some things still haven’t changed.

Damjan