Here are some massive age gaps between actors and their characters in teen dramas

Finn Hudson was one MATURE student

5 years ago

Trash

It’s pretty well established by now that students in teen films and Netflix shows are portrayed by people a whole load older than them – it’s going to take a long time to get over the fact that Rachel McAdam pulled off a high school student at the age of 26. But, as it turns out, the age gaps between actors and their characters in teen dramas is SO MUCH larger that we’re talking 10+ years in some instances.

So, here’s a list of the biggest teen dramas and TV shows, to show you that youth REALLY can be eternal (at least for those lucky bastards in showbiz).

Joe Thomas from The Inbetweeners

Age gap: Eight years

Joe Thomas was born in 1983. The Inbetweeners fandom shows that Simon was born in 1991, making Joe eight years older than the character he plays.

He is only 10 years younger than the man who played Neil’s dad, and a whole six years older than Emily Atack who played Charlotte.

Corey Monteith from Glee

Age gap: 12 years

According to the Glee fandom page, Finn Hudson was born in 1994. Monteith was the eldest of the student cast, being born in 1982. This made him just three years younger than the man who played his fictional teacher, Mr Schue.

It also makes him nine years older than the actor who played Kurt Hummel, who was 18.

Jason Earles from Hannah Montana

Age gap: 13 years

Jason’s age in the series was supposed to be 16 as the older brother of Hannah Montana, but in fact, he was 13 years older at 29 when they started filming.

Ross Butler from Riverdale

Age gap: 12 years

Ross Butler was supposed to be 15 years old on Riverdale, but as is the curse with all American highschool-based TV series, he was 12 years older at 27 when filming started.

Paul Wesley from The Vampire Diaries

Age gap: 10 years

Wesley starred as Stefan Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries when he was 27, but his character was supposed to be turned into a vampire at the age of 17, making him 10 years older.

Troian Bellisario from Pretty Little Liars

Age gap: Six years

Troian was cast as 18-year-old Spencer Hastings when she was 24, making a six-year age gap between the two.

Charisma Carpenter from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Age gap: 12 years

Charisma Carpenter played little miss popular, Cordelia, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This time, she was playing a 15-year-old girl, but she was in fact 27 when the show first began. Mental.

Tom Welling from Smallville

Age gap: 10 years

Tom Welling, of Cheaper by the Dozen fame, was already significantly older when he started that role, so it’s no surprise that he did exactly the same in Smallville. His character was a 14-year-old freshman, whereas he was 24 years old when he started the show.

Arden Cho from Teen Wolf

Age gap: 12 years

Cho played Kira Yukimura in Teen Wolf, and you would’ve never guessed that a character that was supposed to be just 18 years old was actually in her 30s. Yup, Yukimura was 30 when playing the role – an impressive 12 year age gap.

Antwon Tanner from One Tree Hill

Age gap: >10 years

Born in 1975, he was 28 when they started filming the show. He counts 18-year-old at the time James Lafferty (Nathan) as a buddy – and considering he was hanging out with a load of other highschoolers, this was a particularly large and weird age gap.

Bethany Joy Lentz from One Tree Hill

Age gap: Seven years

Bethany was born in 1981, meaning she was 22 at the time of filming. According to the OTH fandom page, Haley James Scott was born in 1988, which means there is a 7-year gap between the actress and character.

Courtney Cox from Friends

Age gap: Four years

Okay, perhaps not a teen drama necessarily, but you secretly wanted to know, right? In 1994 when the show started, according to this Quora answer, Monica was 26 years old. Cox was 30 when the sitcom started, making a four year age gap between actress and character.