Trying to pass as a spry 17 when your hairline suggests you're a bedraggled 29? It's called ACTING, people.
Ralph Macchio, <em>The Karate Kid, Part II</em>- Age in movie: Recent high school graduate
Actual age: 25
The age discrepancy was fairly blatant in the first Karate Kid flick, but it spiraled out of control in the second, when we're guessing the once-baby-faced Macchio likely had to shave between scenes.
John Cusack, <em>Say Anything</em>- Age in movie: 16–18
Actual age: 23
He looked and acted the part quite well, actually, and we've still got a Texas-size jones for the circa-1989 Ione Skye. But Cusack's hairline suggested nothing if not a PhD candidate trying to conserve money for pencils by having his hair cut by beauty-school trainees.
Jeremy Piven, <em>PCU</em>- Age in movie: 18–22
Actual age: "Only" 29
We all had friends who were balding prematurely during college, and we reminded them of that fact several times a day. What we lacked were friends so far down the bald highway that they had to wear a wig, as Piven appeared to be doing in PCU. Lord knows what kind of plant/thing/creature occupies his dome nowadays.
Judd Nelson, <em>The Breakfast Club</em>- Age in movie: 17–18
Actual age: 26
No wonder he portrayed an ass-kicker/DREAMY rebel so adeptly: He was at least three years older than each of his supposed peers, and nine years older than Molly Ringwald, his on-screen googly-eyed fling. Somebody had to make the on-set beer runs, we suppose. At that point in his career, Nelson could have played Anthony Michael Hall's swarthier, twitchier dad.
Ashton Holmes, <em>A History of Violence</em>- Age in movie: 16
Actual age: 27
This age discrepancy refutes Generation Y's contention that their particularly grating brand of whiny conviction can't be faked.
Stockard Channing, <em>Grease</em>- Age in movie: 17–18
Actual age: 34
She was so old at the time of filming that when her tough-gal character Rizzo mistakenly thought she'd been knocked up, we worried about the viability of the fetus. Channing wasn't the only Grease age offender, however: Her on-screen beau, Kenickie, was a grumpy 28, while Danny, 24, and Sandy, 30, would have been out of place on most college campuses.
Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, <em>Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix</em>- Age in movie: 15
Actual ages: 18 and 19, respectively
The wizard-boys looked about their age in the first two Potter installments, but by number three, puberty had clearly hit them like a barnstorm. By the fourth, the drains of Hogwarts were almost certainly clogged with pubes. Now Radcliffe and Grint are ready for the Potter version of Reality Bites, in which they grow goatees and leech off the gainfully employed Hermione. Make it happen, Hollywood. We're guessing Janeane Garofalo is available.
Gabrielle Carteris, <em>Beverly Hills, 90210</em>- Age in movie: 16–18
Actual age: 35 when she left the show
Not even her generic-dork glasses frames could obscure the sags beneath her eyes. Had Botox been in vogue when 90210 started losing steam, the show could've survived another half-decade.