1. Darren Barnet is currently 30 playing 16-year-old Paxton on Never Have I Ever . Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
2. Stockard Channing was 33 when she played Rizzo in Grease. Paramount / Courtesy Everett Collection
3. And Michael Tucci was 31 when he played Sonny in Grease . Paramount Pictures
4. Gabrielle Union was 27 when she played a high school senior in Bring It On . Universal / Courtesy Everett Collection
5. Emma Thompson was 36 when she played 19-year-old Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility . Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
6. Stacey Dash played 16-year-old Dionne in Clueless when she was 28. Paramount / Courtesy Everett Collection
7. Chad Michael Murray played a high school senior in A Cinderella Story despite being 22 at the time. Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection
8. Judd Nelson was 25 when he played the eternally angsty Bender in The Breakfast Club . Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
9. Jennifer Grey was a full decade older than 17-year-old Baby when she filmed Dirty Dancing . Artisan Entertainment / Courtesy Everett Collection
10. Tobey Maguire was 26 when he played 17-year-old Peter Parker in Spider-Man . Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
11. Meanwhile, Andrew Garfield was 29 when he put on the spider suit in The Amazing Spider-Man . Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
12. Tom Holland was the most appropriately aged Peter Parker, but he was still 21 playing 15 in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
13. Rachel McAdams was 25 when she played Regina George in Mean Girls . Paramount / Courtesy Everett Collection
14. At 29, Alan Ruck was much too old to be skipping school in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off ! Paramount / Courtesy Everett Collection
15. Despite being 28, Chase Stokes plays 16-year-old John B on Outer Banks . Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
16. Cole Sprouse was 25 when he first started playing 15-year-old Jughead Jones on Riverdale . The CW / Courtesy Everett Collection
17. Winona Ryder played 18-year-old Susanna in Girl, Interrupted when she was 28. Kushner-Locke Co. / Courtesy Everett Collection
18. Ralph Macchio was 22 when he played Daniel Laruso, so The Karate Kid was actually a karate adult! Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
19. Nicola Coughlan is 33 playing a 16-year-old on Derry Girls . Channel 4 / Courtesy Everett Collection
20. Gabourey Sidibe was 26 when she played 16-year-old Precious in Precious . Lions Gate / Courtesy Everett Collection
21. Channing Tatum was 26 when he played Duke Orsino in She's the Man . Dreamworks / Courtesy Everett Collection
22. Daenerys Targaryen was supposed to be 15 years old at the start of Game of Thrones , but Emilia Clarke was 25. HBO
23. Leonardo DiCaprio played a 17-year-old con artist in Catch Me if You Can when he was 28. DreamWorks / Courtesy Everett Collection
24. Barbra Streisand played a 17-year-old in Yentl , despite being 41 at the time of filming! Everett Collection / Everett Collection
25. Tom Welling starred as 14-year-old Clark Kent even though the actor was 24 when Smallville premiered. Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection
26. Henry Winkler was 28, a full decade older than the Fonz, on Happy Days . Paramount / Courtesy Everett Collection
27. Ncuti Gatwa is 28 but currently plays 17-year-old Eric on Sex Education . Netflix / Courtesy: Everett Collection
28. Francia Raisa was certainly "grown" when she played a first-year college student at the age of 31 on Grown-ish . Freeform / Courtesy Everett Collection
29. Timothy Granaderos was 31 when he played 16-year-old Monty on 13 Reasons Why . David Moir / Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
30. Rebel Wilson played 18-year-old Fat Amy in Pitch Perfect when she was 32. Universal / Courtesy Everett Collection
31. Annie was 19 in Season 1 of Community , but Alison Brie was 27 when the show began. NBC / Courtesy Everett Collection
32. Ashleigh Murray was 28 when she started playing Josie McCoy on Riverdale . The CW Network / Courtesy Everett Collection
33. Dominique Fishback was 29 when she played the street-smart teenager Robin in Project Power . Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
34. Florence Pugh played 13-year-old Amy March in Little Women at 22. Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
35. Wood Harris played a teen football star in Remember the Titans when he was 31. Buena Vista Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
36. Keiko Agena was 27 when she started playing 16-year-old Lane on Gilmore Girls . The CW / Courtesy Everett Collection
37. Mae Whitman played a high school senior in The Duff when she was 26. Lionsgate / Courtesy Everett Collection
38. Antwon Tanner started playing 16-year-old Skills on One Tree Hill when he was 28. The CW / Courtesy Everett Collection
39. Shirley Henderson was 37 when she first appeared as 14-year-old Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets . Warner Bros. Pictures
40. Crystal Reed was 27 when she played 16-year-old Allison Argent in Teen Wolf . MTV
41. Taylor Kitsch was 25 playing a sophomore in high school on Friday Night Lights . NBC / Courtesy Everett Collection
42. Jessica Barden was 28 when she played 17-year-old Alyssa on The End of the F***ing World. Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
43. Jason Earles was 28 when he started playing 15-year-old Jackson Stewart on Hannah Montana . Disney Channel / Courtesy Everett Collection
44. Ross Butler was 10 years older than his 13 Reasons Why character at the start of Season 1. Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection
45. Bianca Lawson was 33 when she played 17-year-old Maya St. Germain on Pretty Little Liars . Randy Holmes / Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
46. Alexa Demie was 29 when she played 17-year-old Maddy Perez on the first season of Euphoria . HBO
47. Cory Monteith was 27 when he first started playing 16-year-old Finn Hudson on Glee . 20thCentFox / Courtesy Everett Collection
48. Jesse Metcalfe was 28 when he played the serial cheater John Tucker in John Tucker Must Die . 20thcentfox / Courtesy Everett Collection
49. Drew Seeley was 26 when he played a high school senior in Another Cinderella Story . Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection
50. And finally, Meredith Monroe played high school sophomore Andie McPhee on Dawson’s Creek when she was 29. Sony Pictures Television / Courtesy Everett Collection
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