18 Pop Culture Facts That — I Guarantee You — Will Make You FEEL Old, Because We ARE Old

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

1.Ross Geller was 26 during Season 1 (1994) of Friends, when he had his son Ben.

Ross at the hospital with the moms after the baby is born
Warner Bros.

In the later seasons of Friends, Cole Sprouse played the role of Ben...

Ross and Ben in a kitchen
Warner Bros.

...and Cole will turn 30 next month:

Adult Cole Sprouse in a suit
Randy Shropshire / Getty Images for InStyle

2.Also on Friends, Ross and Rachel's daughter Emma Geller-Green was born on April 4, 2002 — so she's 20 now!

Ross and Rachel with a newborn in the hospital
Warner Bros.

Just for some context, this means, for example, Olivia Rodrigo (born February 20, 2003) wasn't alive when Emma was born.

A closeup of Olivia Rodrigo at an event
Karwai Tang / WireImage

And here's what Cali and Noelle Sheldon, the twins who played her, look like now — they'll be 20 this month:

the twins as adults smiling and standing together
Gregg Deguire / FilmMagic

3.Jackée Harry was 38 when she started playing Tia and Tamera's mother Lisa Landry on Sister, Sister in 1994...

the daughters and mom on Sister, Sister smiling
Warner Bros.

...Tia and Tamera Mowry are now 44.

4.Moira Kelly was 35 when she started playing Lucas's mom Karen on One Tree Hill in 2003...

a woman and her son talking
Warner Brothers

...Chad Michael Murray is now 40 — and he even played a father (or, well, father figure/cult leader) on The CW's Riverdale:

Chad Michael Murray pointing and looking serious
CW

5.Bob Saget was 31, John Stamos was 24 (!!!!), and Dave Coulier was 28 when Full House premiered in 1987:

the men in Full House
ABC Photo Archives / Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

Naturally, all of the Tanner girls are significantly older now than their father figures were on the show.

the Tanner girls sitting next to each other with ages 36, 40, and 46
Abc Photo Archives / Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

But the part that's pretty wild to me is that Blake and Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit, who played Alex and Nicky, are 31 now, which means they're older than John Stamos and Dave Coulier and the same age that Bob Saget was during Season 1.

John Stamos with twin boys
Bob D'amico / Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

Here's what Blake looks like now:

And here's Dylan:

6.Natasha Richardson was 35 when she played Elizabeth James in The Parent Trap in 1998...

Natasha Richardson and Lindsay Lohan in The Parent Trap
Courtesy Everett Collection

...and Lindsay Lohan just turned 36 this summer:

7.Tina Fey was 34 and Amy Poehler was 33 when they played Ms. Norbury and Regina's mom in Mean Girls in 2004...

  Everett Collection/Paramount Pictures
Everett Collection/Paramount Pictures

...and all of the Plastics (aka Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, and Amanda Seyfried) are now old enough to be camcorder-carrying moms themselves:

the four girls with the ages 36, 36, 39, and 43 printed on them
Everett Collection/Paramount Pictures

And here are all the Plastics "reunited" on Zoom in 2020:

the four women on Zoom together

8.Alexis Bledel is now 40, which is the same age that Lauren Graham was when Gilmore Girls ENDED in 2007.

the Gilmore girls smiling and sitting next to each other
Warner Bros.

Here they are most recently photographed together in 2016:

Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham at an event
Jason Laveris / FilmMagic

9.Zuzanna Szadkowski, who played Dorota on Gossip Girl, was 29 during her first appearance in 2007...

Dorota on "Gossip Girl"
Warner Bros.

...Leighton Meester just turned 36 this year.

Leighton Meester on "Gossip Girl"
Warner Bros.

10.In the original Rugrats series, Stu and Didi Pickles are supposed to be 33 and 32 years old.

the Pickles with their babies
Paramount /Courtesy Everett Collection

According to the original timeline, Tommy Pickles just turned 32 this summer. So he's...really all growed up!

baby Tommy Pickles pointing with the words "now a 32-year-old man"
Paramount / Courtesy Everett Collection

11.This one went viral last year, but the women of Golden Girls...

the cast of Golden Girls with the words "in their 50s"
Touchstone Television /Courtesy Everett Collection

...are essentially the same ages as the women of And Just Like That...:

Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Cynthia Nixon on a sidewalk with their ages: 54, 55, and 54
James Devaney / GC Images

12.James Avery was 45 when he first started playing Uncle Phil on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1990...

James Avery talking to Will Smith in "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"
Courtesy Everett Collection

...Will Smith is now 53 years old:

Will Smith at an event
Albert L. Ortega / Getty Images

13.Caroline Rhea was 32 and Beth Broderick was 37 when Sabrina the Teenage Witch premiered in 1996...

the cast of Sabrina the Teenage Witch smiling

Of course, actual Aunt Hilda and Zelda were hundreds of years old.

Everett Collection/Viacom

...Melissa Joan Hart is now 46 years old, and here they are all reunited in 2022:

the three women sitting on a couch with mics
Brian Stukes / Getty Images

14.Catherine O'Hara was 36 when she played Kevin's mom in Home Alone in 1990...

Catherine O'Hara and Macaulay Culkin in "Home Alone"
20th Century Fox

...Macaulay Culkin is now 41, so five years older than his onscreen mom was at the time. Here he is in a mildly terrifying Home Alone mask:

15.In less than two years, Zac Efron (who is 34) will be 36, the same age that Bart Johnson was when he played Coach Bolton in High School Musical:

Bart Johnson and Zac Efron in "High School Musical"
Disney Channel

Here's Zac revisiting him HSM days...perhaps he'll be the next Coach Bolton:

16.Carla Gugino was 30 (which is WILD) when she played Ingrid Cortez in Spy Kids in 2001...

a woman, a man, and two kids holding up their fists

Antonio Banderas was 39.

Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection

...now, Daryl Sabara is 30, and Alexa PenaVega is 33:

closeups of Daryl Sabara and Alexa PenaVega as adults
Getty Images

17.Katie Holmes' daughter, Suri Cruise, turned 16 this year...

Katie Holmes holding hands with her daughter onstage

Here she is with her mom back in 2017.

Theo Wargo / Getty Images for iHeartMedia

That means she's a year older than Katie's character Joey Potter (who was 15 and a sophomore in high school) was in Season 1 of Dawson's Creek in 1998:

Joey in "Dawson's Creek" performing in a pageant
Columbia Tristar / ©Columbia Tristar/Courtesy Everett Colle / Everett Collection

18.Finally, Christa B. Allen, who played Young Jenna Rink in 13 Going on 30 in 2004, recently ACTUALLY turned 30 (and is flirty and thriving) in real life:

Christa Allen in 13 Going on 30
Columbia Pictures

Here she is side by side with Jennifer Garner, proving how AMAZING this casting was:

Jennifer Garner in the movie; Christa B Allen at 30
Everett Collection/ Columbia Pictures/TikTok