MovieChat Forums > Stranger Things (2016) Discussion > All of the "high school" kids are actual...

All of the "high school" kids are actually college age or older.

posted 7 years ago by Wesley93 (164)
20 replies | jump to latest

Steve, Nancy, Jonathan and Billy are all played by actors in their twenties, in or around college age. This annoys me. Why can't high school students be played by actual high schoolers? Also, when people watch shows like this, I think their ability to guess other people's ages is affected negatively. Now, when people see college-age students in their twenties, they are going to think they are teenagers and treat them as such.

[–] ATG6 (3000) 6 years ago

So, pretty much like every other movie or TV show with high schoolers then?

[–] leader (2103) 6 years ago

how disturbing.

[–] AP (5295) 6 years ago

This is very common in movies and TV shows.

In Breakfast Club, over half the cast were in their 20's. Judd Nelson was nearly 25.

On Buffy The Vampire Slayer, most of the main actors were in their mid-to-late 20's but played highschool students. Sarah Michelle Geller was the youngest but even she was 20 when the show started.

The most egregious example is in the Harry Potter films. The character of Moaning Myrtle is a ghost of a middle school student but she is played by an actress in her 40's.

[–] exatera (3966) 6 years ago

Moaning Myrtle was the only one, though, and she was a ghost, so it was hard to tell her age anyway - I don't see how that makes for an egregious example.

[–] AP (5295) 6 years ago

Because it was the largest age gap between the actor and character of all the examples I listed.

[–] halomaniac88 (1736) 6 years ago

i am 30 and people think i am 22, i just have really good skin

[–] chrisjdel (2714) 6 years ago

Twentysomething actors can play older teenagers, and - as mentioned previously by other posters - don't fall under child labor laws. Producers don't have to worry as much about hours worked, or needing to have a parent or legal guardian present on set during any filming (which is required by law when working with minors).

The younger crop of kids on this show were 11-12 during season 1. In the 13 and under range you really need actors to be the same age as the characters they play. And once they're established in the roles, that's that. Personally I don't find it that big a deal with the older high school kids. They never really fool you, but it's the story that matters so who cares? It would be hard to ignore a 19 year old pretending to be 10 though. :)