15 Times Actors Played Older Than Their Age

15. Ian McDiarmid

Ian McDiarmid was just 37 when he transformed into Emperor Palpatine, the near-90-year-old tyrant of Return of the Jedi. His gleeful sneer and crackling Force lightning electrify the throne-room climax, sealing his place among cinema’s most unforgettable villains. | © 20th Century Studios

14. Patrick Stewart

At 76, Patrick Stewart aged Charles Xavier into his 90s for Logan, showing the world’s mightiest telepath gripped by seizures and fading memories. His aching turn gives the hard-edged road story its pounding heart and a farewell fans still feel. | © Marvel Studios

13. Laurence Fishburne

Laurence Fishburne was only 14 when he slipped into the combat fatigues of Mr. Clean, a 20-year-old door-gunner on the river patrol boat in Apocalypse Now. His nervous spark drives home how Vietnam devoured its youngest soldiers and sharpens the edge of Coppola’s hallucinatory war odyssey. | © United Artists

12. Sally Field

Sally Field was just 46 when she became Mrs. Gump, a mother who ages from her 40s into her 80s while guiding Forrest’s improbable journey. Her gentle drawl and firm, homespun wisdom give the film its emotional compass, proving that life is like a box of chocolates hits hardest when Mom says it. | © Paramount Pictures

11. Guy Pearce

Guy Pearce was just 46 when he vanished under piles of latex to play 110-year-old mogul Peter Weyland in Prometheus. The eerie age makeup and his cracked, weary delivery give the film’s billionaire puppet master an unsettling edge that fuels its cosmic dread. | © 20th Century Studios

10. Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando was just 47 when he shuffled into the aging mob boss Vito Corleone role in The Godfather. His stooped posture and cotton-puffed cheeks made the Don feel decades older and lent Coppola’s crime epic its unforgettable weight. | © Paramount Pictures

9. Max Von Sydow

Max von Sydow was just 44 when he stepped into the skin of Father Merrin, a priest who seems decades older in The Exorcist. The flawless aging makeup and his steady gravitas sold the illusion so completely that studios later asked him to prove his real age. | © Warner Bros. Pictures

8. Keira Knightley

Keira Knightley was only 17 when she took on Lara, a character whose passions and heartbreak span more than 20 years, in the 2002 Doctor Zhivago miniseries. Her unpolished performance injects new energy into the sweeping epic, turning the familiar love triangle into something immediate. | © MGM

7. Christopher Lloyd

Christopher Lloyd was only in his mid-40s when he donned the wild white wig of Doc Brown, a sixty-ish inventor who sends a DeLorean through time. Every wide-eyed "Great Scott!" adds to the film’s wild energy, making his eccentric scientist unforgettable. | © Universal Pictures

6. Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson was just 17 when she entered the mid-20s disillusionment of Charlotte in Lost in Translation. Her understated, world-weary turn plays perfectly against Bill Murray’s dry wit, giving Sofia Coppola’s Tokyo story its quiet pull. | © Focus Features

5. Sophia Petrillo

Estelle Getty was only in her 50s, but she transformed into 80-something firecracker Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls. Her lightning-fast zingers and picture it yarns keep the sitcom sharp, warm, and endlessly rewatchable. | © China Star Entertainment

4. Jennifer Lawrence

At only 22, Jennifer Lawrence plays Rosalyn Rosenfeld, the much-older, unpredictable wife of Christian Bale’s con man in American Hustle. Her wild energy turns every shouting match and kitchen fiasco into the movie’s funniest moments. | © Columbia Pictures

3. Warwick Davis

At just 17, Warwick Davis became Willow Ufgood, a married farmer and father to two rambunctious grade-schoolers, in the 1988 fantasy adventure Willow. His earnest performance turns the pint-sized hero into the movie’s beating heart and shows that courage, not age, defines a legend. | © 20th Century Fox

2. Kristen Stewart

Kristen Stewart was barely 18 when she stepped into the role of Em Lewin, a recent college grad trying to survive a dead-end summer job. Her easy performance anchors the nostalgic dramedy, showing how even the worst minimum-wage grind can spark real connection and self-discovery. | © Miramax Films

1. Claire Danes

Claire Danes was only 17 when she stepped into the role of Kelly Riker, a mid-20s abused housewife who risks everything to sue her abusive husband in The Rainmaker. Her mature, quietly defiant performance grounds the legal thriller with real stakes and makes you root for justice. | © Paramount Pictures