It’s no surprise that some celebrities look shockingly alike. Natalie Portman and Keira Knightly. Rupert Grint and Ed Sheeran. Daniel Radcliffe and Elijah Wood. However, it’s uncanny when we see almost perfectly identical younger versions of older actors appear on the screen.
It’s like they’re the same person, just, well, younger. In fact, some of the actors look so similar, some of us are guilty of not even thinking that the younger and older versions could be played by different people. For example, I personally thought that the kid and teenager versions of Sabrina from The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina were played by the same actress. Turns out, I was wrong.
Hollywood expert and insider Mike Sington told Bored Panda that it's not at all difficult to find the 'perfect' young actor to play their older counterpart. "The reason? The pool of actors is just so large to cast from, even of child or teen actors. And the talent pool is worldwide now. Hollywood is more than willing to look beyond its own borders to find the perfect candidate," Mike explained. Scroll down for the rest of our interview with the expert who gave us a glance at how Hollywood casting works behind the scenes.
#1 Sabrina In The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina (Played By Mckenna Grace As A Kid And Kiernan Shipka As A Teenager)
Image credits: Netflix
#2 Snow In Once Upon A Time (Played By Bailee Madison As A Kid And Ginnifer Goodwin As An Adult)
Image credits: ABC
#3 Theo In Haunting Of Hill House (Played By Mckenna Grace As A Kid And Kate Siegel As An Adult)
Image credits: Netflix
"I know of no instances where a production had any big problem finding a young act to play an older counterpart. It’s all about the 'look' first. Casting directors start there. The look has to be right for the audience to believe that this is the younger version of the character. Once you have that 'buy-in,' you’re mostly there. The young actor’s talent then becomes important for complete believability," Mike explained.
According to the Hollywood insider, Tinseltown almost exclusively focuses on finding people who have acting experience. Even in the case of young actors.
"It’s a rare situation to cast an inexperienced actor, and work with them during production. That would slow down the production, and of course 'time is money' which is especially true in Hollywood."
Mike added, "Most productions are working under tight budget and time constraints, and there is an unwillingness to work with new talent. An exception would be an actor that is so 'special,' the production would be willing to put in the extra time and effort to make it work. That would be a rare exception, however."
#4 Loki In Thor (Played By Ted Allpress As A Kid And Tom Hiddleston As An Adult)
Image credits: marvel
#5 Nemo From "Mr Nobody" (Thomas Byrne As Young Nemo, Jared Leto As Older Nemo)
Image credits: Pan-Européenne
#6 Allie Calhoun From "The Notebook" ( Rachel Mcadams As Younger Self And Gena Rowlands As Older Self)
Image credits: Warner Bros
There are many possible reasons why younger and older actors look alike. Probably the most important thing is that they have similar facial features. Though that creates a huge challenge: you have to find not only someone who looks like the younger actor but also someone who’s a capable actor in their own right.
Other things that make actors look similar to one another are similar hairstyles and dressing them up in clothes of the same style.
What’s more, if young actors are taught to mimic the movements and speech patterns of their older counterparts, you might genuinely think that they’re one and the same (unless the age gap is really big, of course).
#7 Margot In Paper Towns (Played By Hannah Alligood As A Kid And Cara Delevingne As An Adult)
Image credits: 20th Century Fox
#8 Cece In New Girl (Played By Jaidan Jiron As A Kid And Hannah Simone As An Adult)
Image credits: fox
#9 Thor In Thor (Played By Dakota Goyo As A Kid And Chris Hemsworth As An Adult)
Image credits: Marvel
Hadley Freeman writes in The Guardian that there are some other reasons why celebrities tend to look very similar.
According to Freeman, older actresses were very similar because they either had the same plastic surgeon or had the same procedures done. What’s more, stars used to have the same high-profile stylists and makeup artists.
But those aren’t the only reasons. Celebrity publicists are very image-conscious when it comes to their stars. So they’ll ‘allow’ only certain looks that change over time with trends.
That’s not to say that this is necessarily a bad thing; however, that does mean that actors have less of a chance to stand out and be original.
#10 Shirley In Haunting Of Hill House (Played By Lulu Wilson As A Kid And Elizabeth Reaser As An Adult)
Image credits: Netflix
#11 Emma In Once Upon A Time (Played By Abby Ross As A Teenager And Jennifer Morrison As An Adult)
Image credits: ABC
#12 Lucy In 13 Going On 30 (Played By Alexandra Kyle As A Kid And Judy Greer As An Adult)
Image credits: Sony Pictures Releasing
#13 Gamora In Guardians Of The Galaxy (Played By Ariana Greenblatt As A Kid And Zoe Saldana As An Adult)
Image credits: Marvel
#14 John In Ted (Played By Bretton Manley As A Kid And Mark Wahlberg As An Adult)
Image credits: Universal Pictures
#15 Stanley In "It" (Played By Wyatt Oleff As A Kid And Andy Bean As An Adult)
Image credits: Warner Bros. Pictures
#16 Richie Tozier From "It" (Finn Wolfhard As Kid And Bill Hader As Adult)
Image credits: Warner Bros. Pictures
#17 Kate From "This Is Us" (Mackenzie Hancsicsak As Kid, Hannah Zeile As Teen And Chrissy Metz As Adult)
Image credits: ABC
#18 Charles Xavier From "X-Men" (Younger As James Mcavoy And Old As Patrick Stewart)
Image credits: 20th Century Fox
#19 Caroline In The Vampire Diaries (Played By Mckenna Grace As A Kid And Candice Accola As A Teenager)
Image credits: The CW
#20 Jenna In 13 Going On 30 (Played By Christa B. Allen As A Kid And Jennifer Garner As An Adult)
Image credits: Sony Pictures Releasing
#21 Jean Gray In Dark Phoenix (Played By Summer Fontana As A Kid And Sophie Turner As A Teenager)
Image credits: 20th Century Fox
#22 Joe In You (Played By Gianni Ciardiello As A Kid And Penn Badgley As An Adult)
Image credits: Netflix
#23 Diana In Wonder Woman (Played By Lilly Aspell As A Kid And Gal Gadot As An Adult)
Image credits: Warner Bros. Pictures
#24 Bill Denbrough From "It" (Jaeden Martell As Kid And James Mcavoy As Adult)
Image credits: Warner Bros. Pictures
#25 Nell In Haunting Of Hill House (Played By Violet Mcgraw As A Kid And Victoria Pedretti As An Adult)
Image credits: Netflix
#26 Camille From Sharp Objects (Played By Sophia Lillis As A Kid And Amy Adams As An Adult)
Image credits: HBO
#27 Ed Bloom From "Big Fish" (Ewan Mcgregor As Younger Self And Albert Finney As Older Self)
Image credits: Sony pictures
#28 Maddy In Euphoria (Played By Keilani Arellanes As A Kid And Alexa Demie As An Adult)
Image credits: HBO
#29 Cassie In Euphoria (Played By Kyra Adler As A Kid And Sydney Sweeney As A Teenager)
Image credits: HBO
#30 Jordan In Little (Played By Marsai Martin As A Kid And Regina Hall As An Adult)
Image credits: Universal Pictures
#31 Latika In Slumdog Millionaire (Played By Tanvi Lonkar As A Teenager And Freida Pinto As An Adult)
Image credits: Pathé Distribution
#32 Eddie Kaspbrak From "It" (Jack Dylan Grazer As A Kid And James Ransone As Adult)
Image credits: Warner Bros. Pictures
#33 Beverly Marsh From "It" (Jessica Chastain As Kid And Beverly Marsh As Adult)
Image credits: Warner Bros. Pictures
#34 Mike Hanlon From "It" ( Chosen Jacobs As Kid And Isaiah Mustafa As Adult)
Image credits: Warner Bros. Pictures
#35 Kevin From "This Is Us" ( Parker Bates As Kid, Logan Shroyer As Teen And Justin Hartley As Adult)
Image credits: ABC
#36 Randall From "This Is Us" (Lonnie Chavis As Kid, Niles Fitch As Teen And Sterling K. Brown As Adult)
Image credits: ABC
#37 Agent K From "Man In Black" (Josh Brolin As Young Agent K And Lee Jones As Older Self)
Image credits: Columbia Pictures
#38 Don Vito Corleone From "The Godfather" (Robert De Niro As Young Vito, And Marlon Brando As Older Self)
Image credits: Paramount Pictures
#39 Elena In Little Fires Everywhere (Played By Annasophia Robb As A Young Adult And Reese Witherspoon As An Older Adult)
Image credits: Hulu
#40 Magneto From "X-Men" (Younger As Michael Fassbender And Old As Ian Mckellen)
Image credits: 20th Century Fox
from Bored Panda https://bit.ly/2YWFCEv
via Boredpanda
