For examples of this phenomenon, keep reading to learn about teenage TV characters who were actually adult actors.
But as Winkler toldUSA Today, he was 27 when he was cast in the show.
However, portraying such an iconic character for so long left him typecast after the show concluded.
“I literally could not get hired as an actor.
People would say, ‘Oh, he is so talented and funny!
But he’s The Fonz,'” Winkler complained toUSA Today.
In fact, Carteris was a baby-faced 29-year-old when she landed the role of brainy Andrea Zuckerberg.
Producers of the show, however, had no idea she was 13 years older than character.
“I lied,” she revealed toAccess.
As long as she listed an age older than 21, she was told, it was legal.
“So, then they were printing it and I thought, ‘This is it!
I’m gonna lose the job, there’s no way,'” she shared.
However, the show’s massive success protected her.
As she toldPeople, “My character was established enough that they did not fire me.
“I actually am a couple of years older than that in real life.
But to me, age is just a number.
It’s sort of all about how you feel.”
Keiko Agena played Rory’s best friend, Lane, who was depicted as being the same age.
AstheDaily Mailpointed out, Lawson had been playing a teenager for well over a decade when she joinedPLL.
Lawson then reverted back to playing a teen inThe Vampire Diariesand thenPLL.
By the time the show ended its seven-season run in 2003, Carpenter was approaching her mid-30s.
While a 10-year age gap between actor and character is considerable, herBuffyco-star James Marsters managed to top it.
Marsters, as fans will well recall, played vampire (and Buffy’s eventual love interest) Spike.
Spike first appeared in the second season ofBuffyin 1998.
Her character, however, was still in high school.
Whatreallyfreaked her out was the weird reception she received from new co-star Katie Holmes.
I was like, ‘What?’
She said, ‘I’m just kidding!
What do you want to drink?’
and I was like, ‘Oh my god, my heart just stopped.'”
Gleemade its debut in2009, which would have placed Monteith’s age at 27 when the show premiered.
That made him quite a bit older than the character he was portraying, 15-year-old football quarterback Finn Hudson.
In Devi’s case, she sets her sights on schoolmate Paxton Hall-Yoshida, played by Darren Barnet.
This is also the case for the show’s slightly older stars.
One of these is Joe Keery, portrayer of wisecracking Steve Harrington.
In fact, he was 24 when the series debuted in July of 2016.
“It’s weird, you know?”
and I almost dropped all the groceries."
By the timeHigh School Musical 3rolled around in 2008, Coleman was 27 while Taylor wasstillin high school.
“you could tell that people are going to like this.
We never thought that it would turn into the phenomenon that it is.”
According to Carlson, Kitsch’s maturity pushed the boundaries of credulity.
He wound up leavingRiverdale, and explained the complicated situation that led to his exit in an interview withVulture.
“Thankfully, it did,” he said.
