7 Actresses Who Played High School Students In Their 20s (Or Even 30s)
Let's have a look at the actresses who were not age-appropriate for their roles.
Rose McIver, The Lovely Bones
The actress has become famous for her roles in fantasy and thrillers. She was first noticed after filming in the TV series iZombie, and now she is starring in the new comedy Ghosts. Marvel is considering her for the role of Sue Storm (The Invisible Lady) in the Fantastic Four reboot.
One of the most interesting facts about her, however, is that she played a 13-year-old girl in 2009 while being 21 herself. In the movie The Lovely Bones, she got the role of the dead younger sibling of the main character who watched the life of her family from the netherworld.
Shirley Henderson, Harry Potter film series
At the age of 36, Shirley landed the role of a 13-year-old moody ghost, Moaning Myrtle.
Henderson is the only adult actress to play the role of a student in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Three years later, Shirley was invited back to play in part four of the movie saga in The Goblet of Fire, where her character assisted Harry to pass the second test of the Triwizard Tournament. In the story, Moaning Myrtle was in love with Harry Potter, and the screen adaptation seemed accurate, despite the age difference between the actors being 24 years: now, Henderson is 55 years old and Daniel Radcliffe is 31.
Denise Richards, Wild Things
The 27-year-old Denise was chosen for the role of a schoolgirl in the movie and the reason for that was the numerous explicit scenes.
No doubt that shooting an underaged person in a highly erotic detective thriller is not ethical. However, the 50-year-old actress still looks dashing and was even shot for Playboy magazine a few years ago.
Gabrielle Carteris, Beverly Hills, 90210
When the teen show came out, the actress was 29 years old.
To receive the part of a schoolgirl, Carteris lied about her age. Soon the actress became pregnant, and the creators had to rewrite the plot to make the young heroine Andrea Zuckerman a mother. Over five years of filming, the heroine grew into a university student, while the actress herself was already over thirty.
Blake Lively, Gossip Girl
Blake Lively's character was a boarding school student Serena, nicknamed Queen S. Serena is a social and cheerful girl, and thanks to her brightness she is always surrounded by fans.
The 20-year-old actress easily entered the role of a carefree teenager, as she grew up in an artistic family.
That said, after finishing the last season of the series, Lively admitted she was happy that it was over. She even promised she would rather have 30 kids than come back to playing underaged girls. And she wasn't careless with her words: now she is a lucky mom of three adorable daughters.
Sheryl Lee, Twin Peaks
In the first sixteen episodes, the main storyline investigates the shocking murder of a high school student Laura Palmer.
The character of the town’s golden girl and the beauty queen of the local high school was portrayed by the 22-year-old Cheryl Lee. The iconic series of the 90s made the actress famous all over the world.
Jennifer Grey, Dirty Dancing
The actress received the only Golden Globe nomination of her career for her role as Baby.
It is noteworthy that Jennifer herself was ten years older than her seventeen-year-old character.
Despite such a promising start, Grey's career was not entirely successful. Supporting roles in other films didn’t manage to boost her fame. The last time she was invited to play in movies was in 2010, when she played the mother of a newborn patient in the seventh season of House M.D.