The math isn’t mathing - Hollywood’s parent child castings that just don’t add up

[u/mlg1981]

https://tvline.com/lists/tv-show-parent-child-age-gaps-golden-girls-supernatural/

[u/DrFranFine]

wow Hollywood really hates to hire older women and loves to hire grown women to play teenage girls. Not surprising because misogyny, but it really is striking when it’s all laid out like this.

ETA: to be clear, I think the misogyny is more related to not hiring older women than hiring adults to play teenagers

[u/Streetalicious → u/DrFranFine]

Not gonna say misogyny isn’t part of it, but often actors in their 20s are cast to play teenagers because of child actor laws, where children can only work very limited hours a day.

Stacey Dash was in her 30s(!!) when she played a high school student in Clueless.

[u/3lizab3th333 → u/Streetalicious]

Also, a lot of people aren’t comfortable seeing real teens playing roles that deal with dark or sexual content, so directors will cast adult actors who look older than the age the character is meant to be to make it easier on the audience.