History Main / HollywoodOld

When a Hollywood Old character have teenage or adult children, the age difference may become a PlayingGertrude.

Characters that are OlderThanTheyLook should not be considered HollywoodOld, as long as the difference between looks and actual age is [[AppliedPhlebotinum explained]] in one way or [[HandWave another]]. ImprobableAge can be considered HollywoodOld when not justified in [[TeenGenius one way]] or [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld another]].

** Although, i) given various sources of her birthdate, Hypatia might be as young as 45. Rachel Weisz was 39. ii) The film took aesthetic license in liberal dosage, so she might even be canonically in her 30s in the movie.
* ''Sara Dane'': At the beginning of the movie, the character is 18. The actress looks the part. However, the movie spans most of the character's life, without the actress ever showing any signs of aging. Halfway trough the movie she has drifted into Hollywood Old territory. and at the end she even has children [[PlayingGertrude who look older then she does]].
* ''TheAviator'': A classic type 2. LeonardoDiCaprio is only right for the first few scenes, then looks way too young during the rest of the movie. Makes it look like as if everything accomplished by the middle-aged Howard Hughes was actually accomplished by a man still in his twenties.
* In ''Film/{{Superman}} Returns,'' Lois Lane was the mother of a five-year-old and was experienced and established enough in her career to have won a Pulitzer Prize. She was played by then-22-year-old Kate Bosworth. However, [[YourMileageMayVary many people think]] that the role was hideously miscast for multiple reasons, not the least of which being the actress's youth.
* In one adaptation of ''AChristmasCarol'', a then 34-year-old Albert Finney playing elderly Scrooge. They do a pretty good job of making him look older, but he still looks significantly younger than Scrooges in other adaptations. [[DawsonCasting He also played the young adult Scrooge]](late teens/20's).

* In the ''{{Film/Watchmen}}'' movie, Matthew Goode was about 27 or 28 when he was filmed as Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias. Although the character was supposed to be in his forties in the story, he was also remarkably well-preserved. Veidt's age in the film is never given.
* The characters in the flash forward in [[{{Harry Potter}} Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2]] are type 2. Really? 19 years later? Really?
** It wasn't that bad. Ron and Malfoy were very obviously balding and probably looked older than they were supposed to as a result.

[[AC:Literature]]
* In a rare non-visual case of HollywoodOld, all magic users in ''The WheelOfTime'' age at a slower rate [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty upon reaching adulthood]], to accommodate their longer lifespans. But as a side effect of [[AppliedPhlebotinum an artifact]] used in their InitiationCeremony, all Aes Sedai additionally develop a botox-like face they describe as feeling "stretched" and outsiders invariably describe as "ageless," making it impossible to tell if a gray-haired 150-year-old is [[GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave twenty or forty]]. In an effect that even Hollywood actresses might cringe at, this ''also'' directly results in their careers being cut in half what more wrinkly people can manage.

* In one episode of ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Captain Picard is reunited with a woman he dated 20 or so years ago. The woman looks like she's 25, as a result of 24th century medical science. Similarly, "The Survivors" features 67-year-old John Anderson playing 85-year-old Kevin Uxbridge and 55-year-old Anne Haney playing 82-year-old Rishon Uxbridge. The pilot has 67-year-old [=DeForest=] Kelley playing 137-year-old Admiral McCoy (although he does look pretty withered).

* ''{{LOST}}'': With all the flashbacks[[spoiler:, flashforwards and time-travel]] going on, the same character can be Hollywood Old and looking too young in the same episode. In later seasons this is sometimes averted by making the same character be played by different actresses (who look really similar but with a clear age difference) in different time periods. This series contain several cases of PlayingGertrude that are NOT also cases of Hollywood Old.
* Happens a lot in the present-day scenes in ''ColdCase,'' particularly in episodes where the case in question took place prior to about 1960.
* [[http://the-tudors.maxupdates.tv/the-tudors-season-4-episode-6-you-have-my-permission/ This]] is the 50-year-old King Henry VIII according to ''TheTudors''. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hans_Holbein_d._J._074.jpg This]] is the 50-year-old Henry according to Hans Holbein the Younger.

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* In one episode of ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Captain Picard is reunited with a woman he dated 20 or so years ago. The woman looks like she's 25, as a result of 24th century medical science. Similarly, "The Survivors" features 67-year-old John Anderson playing 85-year-old Kevin Uxbridge and 55-year-old Anne Haney playing 82-year-old Rishon Uxbridge. The pilot has the 137-year-old Admiral McCoy (although he does look pretty withered).

# The character starts out in an age bracket appropriate for the actress. However, as the years go by (or are skipped by timetravel) and [[AgingTropes the character ages]], hardly anything is done to make the actress look older.

* In the ''DoctorWho'' episode "The Girl in the Fireplace", (adult) Reinette looks exactly the same no matter what year she's shown in.

* [[http://the-tudors.maxupdates.tv/the-tudors-season-4-episode-6-you-have-my-permission/ This]] is the 50-year-old King Henry VIII according to ''TheTudors''. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hans_Holbein_d._J._074.jpg This]] is the 50-year-old Henry according to Hans Holbein.

Compare HollywoodThin and similar [[HollywoodStyle Hollywood Tropes]].

* In one adaptation of ''AChristmasCarol'', a then 34-year-old Albert Finney playing elderly Scrooge. They do a pretty good job of making him look older, but he still looks significantly younger than Scrooges in other adaptations. [[DawsonCasting He also played the younger Scrooge]].

* In one adaptation of ''AChristmasCarol'', a then 34-year-old Albert Finney playing elderly Scrooge. They do a pretty good job of making him look older, but he still looks significantly younger than Scrooges in other adaptations.

In movies and television shows, an actress often tends to look younger than the age her character is supposed to be. (Yes, we're talking about yet another gender-based DoubleStandard trope here.) When the character is middle-aged or older, this is a case of Hollywood Old. A character can be "supposed to be" a certain age in two ways: Either an age is stated outright in the story, or the character is a historical person.

In itself, Hollywood Old isn't a gendered trope. However, like HollywoodHomely, Hollywood Old seems to be far more common with female characters than with male ones.

In movies and television shows, an actress often tends to look younger than the age her character is supposed to be. When the character is middle-aged or older, this is a case of Hollywood Old. A character can be "supposed to be" a certain age in two ways: Either an age is stated outright in the story, or the character is a historical person.

* In ''Superman Returns,'' Lois Lane was the mother of a five-year-old and was experienced and established enough in her career to have won a Pulitzer Prize. She was played by then-22-year-old Kate Bosworth. However, [[YourMileageMayVary many people think]] that the role was hideously miscast for multiple reasons, not the least of which being the actress's youth.

In movies and television shows, an actress often tends to look younger than the age her character is supposed to be. When the character is middle-aged or older, this is a case of Hollywood Old.

* In one episode of ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Captain Picard is reunited with a woman he dated 20 or so years ago. The woman looks like she's 25, though this could be as a result of 24th century medical science.

In itself, Hollywood Old isn't a gendered trope. However, like HollywoodHomely, Hollywood Old seems to be far more common with female characters then with male ones.

In itself, Hollywood Old isn't a gendered trope. However, Hollywood Old seems to be far more common with female characters then with male ones.

* In one episode of ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Captain Picard is reunited with a woman he dated 20 or so years ago. The woman looks like she's 25. UnfortunateImplications, anyone?
** Since it's ''StarTrek''... Aside from the ''{{Squick}}'' factor, this case can be HandWaved as a character who is into plastic surgery or stumbled upon a fountain of youth or something.
*** Entirely justified: in StarTrek, medical advances slowed down aging. [=McCoy=] was given a tour on the Enterprise-D in the TNG pilot, and though he looked old, he definitely didn't look 137. That woman could've looked 25, but she could easily be 45. Also, Future!Beverly in the series finale looked pretty much the same as Present!Beverly, only the actress wore less make-up.
* In "The Girl In The Fireplace" episode of ''DoctorWho'', (adult) Reinette looks exactly the same no matter what year she's shown in.
** Well, she didn't live to be all that old.
* ''{{LOST}}'': With all the flashbacks[[spoiler:, flashforwards and time-travel]] going on, the same character can be Hollywood Old and [[DawsonCasting Dawson Casted]] in the same episode. In later seasons this is sometimes averted by making the same character be played by different actresses (who look really similar but with a clear age difference) in different time periods. This series contain several cases of PlayingGertrude that are NOT also cases of Hollywood Old.

[[AC:Literature]]
* In a rare non-visual case of HollywoodOld, all magic users in ''The WheelOfTime'' age at a slower rate [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty upon reaching adulthood]], to accommodate their longer lifespans. But as a side effect of [[AppliedPhlebotinum an artifact]] used in their InitiationCeremony, all Aes Sedai additionally develop a botox-like face they describe as feeling "stretched" and outsiders invariably describe as "ageless," making it impossible to tell if a gray-haired 150-year-old is [[GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave twenty or forty]]. In an effect that even Hollywood actresses might cringe at, this ''also'' directly results in their careers being cut in half what more wrinkly people can manage.

When a Hollywood Old character have teenage or adult children, the age difference may become becomes a PlayingGertrude.

In itself, Hollywood Old isn't a gendered trope. However, Hollywood Old seems to be far more common with female characters then with male ones. One critic believes that the disparity is caused by mommy issues: the producer who resents his or her mother isn't likely to cast an actress who looks like Mother in a sympathetic role.