History ChildrenVoicingChildren / LiveActionFilms

* ''Film/LiberalArts'': 35 year old Jesse Fischer is played by 38-year-old Creator/JoshRadnor.

* Creator/AnnaMayWong was only seventeen in her film debut ''Film/TheTollOfTheSea'', based on ''Theatre/MadameButterfly'' - where the heroine is fifteen and ages eighteen by the end.

* In ''Film/AnotherCinderellaStory'', Music/SelenaGomez was 15 and playing a 15-year-old high schooler. Critics were squicked that Drew Seeley, who played her love interest, was 24, but the movie makes it clear that his character really is that age. ''Film/ACinderellaStory'' also does this with Music/HilaryDuff (whose character is 17 -- she was 16 when the film was released).

* A DeletedScene from the infamously TroubledProduction ''The Professor & the Madman'' featured a flashback to Creator/SeanPenn's teenage years. While his girlfriend was played by an actress of 22, his younger self was played by Jordan Lennon - who was only 16. And they had a kiss scene! Jordan joked in an interview he felt better about kissing an older actress because the age difference would prevent his girlfriend from getting jealous.

* ''Film/FrancesHa'': The 27 year old titular protagonist is played by 30-year-old Creator/GretaGerwig.

** The fifteen-year-old Cherie Curie was played by Dakota Fanning at sixteen. This veers into uncomfortable territory when Cherie is exploited and sexualized for her youthful looks - given the actress is the same age.

* In ''Rambling Rose'', Lukas Haas as Buddy - Buddy's 13, Haas was 13 at the time. (This got the film in trouble with the UK censors, due to the scene where Buddy sexually fondles Rose - it was trimmed for British release.)

* Creator/EvanRachelWood was fourteen when she was cast in ''Film/Thirteen2003'', the title referring to her character's age (Wood turned fifteen during filming). Considering the sex-and-drugs subject matter of the movie, probably no one would have blamed them if they had cast a baby-faced adult, so it's a notable near-{{aver|tedTrope}}sion. Her co-star, Creator/NikkiReed - who, quite impressively, also co-wrote the film's screenplay - was the same age as Wood during filming.
* Tara Steele was about ten when she played teenaged Katie in ''Mockingbird Don't Sing'', though the character was 'supposed' to look much younger than she really was.

* The Creator/Dr Seuss Films (''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'' and ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'') both feature children playing child characters: Creator/Taylor Momsen in the former and Creator/Dakota Fanning and Creator/Spencer Breslin in the latter.

The Dr Seuss Films (How The Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in The Hat) both feature children playing child characters: Taylor Momsen in the former and Dakota Fanning and Spencer Breslin in the latter.

* In Disney's ''Film/{{Maleficent}}''. As with ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'', Princess Aurora as a teen is meant to be fifteen/sixteen (the latter age being a [[DangerousSixteenthBirthday plot point]]). While the animated film modeled Aurora's design after an actress in her twenties, the filmmakers for this live-action adaptation cast Creator/ElleFanning, who at the time of filming was fourteen/fifteen. Cue RealityIsUnrealistic coming into play, with some viewers arguing Elle looked too young to play Aurora, while others defended the casting, pointing out that she ''actually is a teenager''. Funnily enough, by the time the film ''was'' released, Elle had indeed turned sixteen.

* Nikki Blonsky was 17, playing teenaged Tracy Turnblad in ''Film/{{Hairspray}}''. She had her 18th birthday on-set.

* TheFilmOfTheBook ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': Creator/KristenStewart (Bella) was actually seventeen and Taylor Lautner (Jacob) was fifteen during filming. Creator/RobertPattinson is twenty-two, in contrast to the eternally 17-year-old Edward. The rest of the actors playing the Cullens are mostly in their early twenties, but it's justified as their characters aren't even really of high school attending age to begin with.

** Aversion was also made easier by the fact that none of the core actors ended up maturing substantially (physically) by the time the final film was made, making it more plausible for them to be playing teenagers. The worst that happened was Daniel Radcliffe having a noticeable 5 o'clock shadow in the later films.

* Inverted in ''Film/MysteriousSkin'' with Brady Corbet and Michelle Trachtenberg. Corbet was 15 and playing a 17- to 18-year-old, while Trachtenberg was 18, the same age as her character.
* ''Film/StarTrek2009'': In contrast to many of the other characters (see the straight examples folder), Creator/AntonYelchin was 19 when he played the 17-year-old Chekov.

* Yet another Creator/SofiaCoppola film, ''Film/MarieAntoinette2006'', features a partial subversion -- it starts off playing the trope straight by having 23-year-old Kirsten Dunst portray the future queen of France at age 14, but Dunst continues to play her all the way into her thirties.

* Partial subversion: In the film version of Bernhard Schlink's ''TheReader'', eighteen-year-old David Kross plays main character Michael Berg from the age of fifteen into his early twenties. Considering the fairly explicit sex scenes with co-star Kate Winslet, there was very little chance of Michael being cast any younger. It is also worth noting that, although this is not mentioned in the film, the book features a brief scene in which Kate Winslet's character Hanna Schmitz expresses the false understanding that Michael is at university already when she starts having sex with him, implying that he looks several years older than he actually is.

* ''Film/TheProfessional'' features a thirteen-year-old Creator/NataliePortman playing twelve-year-old Mathilda. Which makes her love towards Leon as poignant as it's odd.

* The live-action adaptation of ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' both plays this straight and subverts it. Jackson Rathbone (Sokka) was 25 playing 15 and Dev Patel (Zuko) was 19 playing 16, but both Noah Ringer (Aang) and Nicola Peltz (Katara) were the same age as their characters during filming (12 and 14 respectively).

* Brooke Shields, in her 1980s movie appearances from age 14-17 (most famously ''Literature/TheBlueLagoon''), appeared in a variety of R-rated films that involved frontal nudity. In each case, an over-20 body double covered those moments for her.

* Inverted to the point of lunacy in ''[[Film/IronEagle Aces: Iron Eagle III]]'' - Christopher Cazenove, Horst Buchholz and Sonny Chiba (born in 1943, 1933 and 1939 respectively) play World War II aces, while Paul Freeman (born 1943) plays an ex-Nazi bad guy. Run that by me again?

* Inverted in ''Literature/IfIStay''. Mia is stated to be 18, even though Creator/ChloeGraceMoretz herself is only 17.
* Inverted in Disney's ''Film/{{Maleficent}}''. As with ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'', Princess Aurora as a teen is meant to be fifteen/sixteen (the latter age being a [[DangerousSixteenthBirthday plot point]]). While the animated film modeled Aurora's design after an actress in her twenties, the filmmakers for this live-action adaptation cast Creator/ElleFanning, who at the time of filming was fourteen/fifteen. Cue RealityIsUnrealistic coming into play, with some viewers arguing Elle looked too young to play Aurora, while others defended the casting, pointing out that she ''actually is a teenager''. Funnily enough, by the time the film ''was'' released, Elle had indeed turned sixteen.
* In ''Film/IntoTheWoods'', Red Riding Hood and Jack are portrayed by younger adults in [[Theatre/IntoTheWoods the stage versions]], they're played by actual children in the movie.

* ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'': While Mei, Miriam, and Priya are voiced by up-and-coming teen actors, Abby's voice actress Hyein Park makes her acting debut after working as a storyboard artist at Pixar for several years.

* In contrast to the above-mentioned ''Literature/AmericanGirl'' actresses, Creator/AlyviaAlynLind was actually a year younger than her character Maryellen Larkin in ''Maryellen 1955: Extraordinary Christmas''.

* ''Film/RebelWithoutACause'' is a partial exception; Creator/NatalieWood and Sal Mineo were 16, portraying teens. Creator/JamesDean, however, was 24.
* Victoire Thivisol was four years old when she played the main role in ''Ponette'', that of a four-year-old who loses her mother. She even won a Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 1996 Venice Film Festival for her heartbreaking performance.

* The live action adaptation of ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' both plays this straight and subverts it. Jackson Rathbone (Sokka) was 25 playing 15 and Dev Patel (Zuko) was 19 playing 16, but both Noah Ringer (Aang) and Nicola Peltz (Katara) were the same age as their characters during filming (12 and 14 respectively).
* Disturbingly avoided in ''Film/TaxiDriver''. Creator/JodieFoster was 12 when she played the role of a 12-year-old prostitute (except for the nude scenes, which were performed by her older sister, who was of legal age). However, according to the screenplay by the movie's writer, Paul Schrader, Iris was originally envisioned as a 14- to 15-year-old girl, played by someone older.

* Creator/KeiraKnightley also played teenagers her own age in ''Film/BendItLikeBeckham'', ''Film/PrincessOfThieves'' and ''Coming Home'' (as the [[TimeShiftedActor young version of Emily Mortimer]]). Elizabeth's age isn't stated in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'', but Keira was sixteen at the time. The character is an 18th century ProperLady who is expected to get married soon, so she could be that age too.

* {{Averted|Trope}} in ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire'': eighteen-year-old Creator/DevPatel plays eighteen-year-old Jamal Malik.

* In ''Film/AnotherCinderellaStory'', Music/SelenaGomez was 15 and playing a 15-year-old high schooler. Critics were squicked that Drew Seeley, who played her love interest, was 24, but the movie makes it clear that his character really is that age. ''Film/ACinderellaStory'' also averts this with Music/HilaryDuff (whose character is 17 -- she was 16 when the film was released).

* While a number of the cast members who play tributes in ''Film/TheHungerGames'' are borderline cases, it's definitely averted by Isabelle Fuhrman (Clove), Jacqueline Emerson (Foxface) and Amandla Stenberg (Rue) -- aged 15, 17 and 13 respectively at the time of release.

* Mostly averted with ''Film/HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater'', rare for a slasher film. The film had 17-year-olds MichelleWilliams and JosephGordonLevitt and 16-year-old Adam Hann-Byrd playing high school students. Played only slightly straight with 19-year-olds Josh Hartnett and Jodi-Lyn O'Keefe, and completely straight with 24-year-old Branden Williams.

* Mostly averted by ''Film/LordsOfDogtown'', in which Victor Rasuk (age 19), Emile Hirsch (age 18) and John Robinson (age 18) convincingly play teenage Tony Alva, Jay Adams, and Stacy Peralta, respectively. However, in real life Peralta and Alva were four years older than Adams, who is portrayed in the movie as being approximately the same age as them. Likely Hirsch was cast due to the difficulty of casting a real 13-year-old for the part.

* Averted in ''Film/IntoTheWoods'' - where Red Riding Hood and Jack are portrayed by younger adults in [[Theatre/IntoTheWoods the stage versions]], they're played by actual children in the movie.
* While the other main performers playing teens in ''Film/TheDuff'' play this trope straight, it's averted by Creator/BellaThorne (16 during production). Interestingly, [[CanonForeigner her character isn't in the book the movie's based on]].
* In the movie ''Film/SnowDay'', Mark Webber was 19, Schuyler Fisk was 17, and J. Adam Brown was 16 when they played their characters. Also, Zena Grey was 11 and playing a 10-year old. However, the movie plays this straight with Emanuelle Chriqui and David Paetkau, who were 24 and 27 years old and playing teenagers, and Josh Peck and Jade Yorker, who were 13 and 14 and playing elementary school-aged characters.
* Averted with the casting of Jacob Lofland and Katherine [=McNamara=] in ''Film/MazeRunnerTheScorchTrials'', who were both roughly 18 at the time of filming.
* Averted in ''Rambling Rose'' with Lukas Haas as Buddy - Buddy's 13, Haas was 13 at the time. (Which got the film in trouble with the UK censors, due to the scene where Buddy sexually fondles Rose - it was trimmed for British release.)
* In TheFilmOfTheBook of the Dutch childrens book series ''Literature/AlfieTheWerewolf'', the role of 7 year old Alfie was played by the actually 7 year old Ole Kroes. This was a deliberate choice from director Joram Lürsen since he feared the audience would notice the age difference if they were to cast an older child actor in the lead role.

* Jake Gyllenhaal was 26 when he filmed ''Film/{{Zodiac|2007}}'' but his onscreen character Robert Graysmith is in his 30's for most of the story, and early 40's by the end. The trope is both played straight and inverted with Mike Mageau, who at age 19 is played by 25-year old Lee Norris, and at age 41 is played by 31-year old Jimmi Simpson. The two actors are only 6 years apart despite playing the character separated by 22 years.
%%* In a film (title?), a woman is dealing with her conflicting feelings about having been involved in a sexual relationship with an older couple one summer back in her teens. In an odd example of a RashomonStyle film entirely about one character's memories, the earlier flashbacks play the trope straight and have the main character's younger self portrayed by a mature-looking young actress. Then [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall her mother interrupts the flashback to point out]] she didn't look that grown up at all when she was that age. [[OnceMoreWithClarity From then on we see her as she really was]]: a 13 year old little girl and suddenly the {{squick}} gets a lot harder to ignore.
* ''Film/MrsDoubtfire'' averted this with Lydia Hillard, played by then 14-15-year-old Lisa Jakub.

** In the sequel ''Film/Goosebumps2HauntedHalloween'', Jeremy Ray Taylor, Caleel Harris and Peyton Wich, who are 14-15, play the role of middle school students while Bryce Cass and Creator/MadisonIseman, who are both in their early 20s (both 20 and 21 respectively) play high school students.