12 Pairs of Actors Who Played the Same Character but at Different Ages

Many times, movies tell us stories that relate to the life of a person, from the time they are a child until they become an adult. For that, the production has an arduous task. It is not only about finding a good actor or actress to play the role, but it is also necessary that both interpreters of the character keep a certain resemblance to each other so that everything makes sense.

Bright Side came up with a new selection of characters from movies that have been played by different actors to represent different moments in their lives.

1. Gia Carangi in Gia

HBO’s television movie was released in 1998 and it basically goes about the life of American model Gia Carangi. Back in the day, Carangi was considered to be one of the first supermodels of her generation. The movie portrays her life story and the difficulties that came along with international fame. Mila Kunis plays Carangi during her childhood years and then Angelina Jolie takes over when Carangi becomes an adult.

2. Melanie and Jake in Sweet Home Alabama

This film tells a love story full of comings and goings between 2 childhood friends: Melanie Carmichael and Jake Perry. Jake thinks they are meant to end up marrying each other while Melanie, who is played initially by Dakota Fanning, and later on, as an adult by Reese Witherspoon, isn’t convinced. At first, Thomas Curtis plays Perry then later it’s Josh Lucas who plays Perry as an adult.

3. Lila Wittenborn in Evening

This drama tells the story of the last days of a woman in which she remembers the most interesting and intense moments of her life. Lila Wittenborn is played in her youth by Mamie Gummer and in her old age by Meryl Streep. As you can see in the collage above, the physical resemblance between them is really striking. However, this is not accidental. It is because the actresses are mother and daughter.

4. Sally and Gillian Owens in Practical Magic

Witches Sally and Gillian Owens have always known they were different from other girls in town, not only because they were witches, but also because of the strange spell that haunts the women in their family and prevents them from falling in love. These beautiful sisters are brought to the big screen by Camilla Belle and Sandra Bullock who play Sally Owens and Lora Anne Criswell and Nicole Kidman who play Gillian.

5. Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic

There was no way we would leave the beautiful Rose from Titanic off of this list. In the first scenes of the film, an older Rose was played by the wonderful Gloria Stuart. However, as you might remember, in the years of her youth Rose was played by the beautiful Kate Winslet. Although there is a big age difference between both actresses, there is also an interesting physical resemblance, but in this case, there is no family link between them, which makes it all way more surprising.

6. Professor X in X-Men

The X-Men saga has left us with plenty of excellent action films. Probably, the best thing about them is that they’re all an amazing journey that explores both the present, the past, and the future of the characters. It’s thanks to these “time travels” that we have been able to know several different faces of some of the beloved protagonists. A clear example is Professor Xavier, who was played by Patrick Stewart as the older version in the first films of the saga and later, by James McAvoy, in a younger form.

7. Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars saga

The story of Obi-Wan is first introduced in Star Wars, the very first installment of the saga. He is presented as a mysterious, lonely man living in the desert. He was played by British actor Sir Alec Guinness. But we later find out he’s actually a Jedi master of the ancient Galactic Republic who guided the first steps of Anakin and Luke Skywalker. His successor in the role, playing him at a younger age, was the Scottish actor Ewan McGregor.

8. Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

In the third installment of one of the most popular adventure sagas of all time, we could see a young and already very curious Indiana played by actor River Phoenix. Harrison Ford himself was the one who recommended the young actor to play his younger version. In fact, both actors had already worked together in The Mosquito Coast. They were cast as father and son and the resemblance between them was striking.

9. Mystique in X-Men

This mutant capable of shapeshifting by imitating anyone’s appearance and voice is one of the most popular characters of the X-Men saga. It’s hardly a coincidence that she appears in all the films released so far. In the first 3 parts, Mystique was played exclusively by actress and model Rebecca Romijn. However, in the fourth installment, Jennifer Lawrence and Rebecca shared the role, and ever since then, Jennifer has been in charge of bringing this strange but charming character to the big screen.

10. Mike O’Donnell in 17 Again

This comedy tells the story of the magical return of an adult, Mike O’Donnell, to his prime years as the popular kid in high school. The role of the protagonist was played by Matthew Perry as an adult but it was Zac Efron as a teenager.

During the shooting of the film, Zac would ask Matthew for advice with his dialogue because, after all, he had to make his performance as convincing as possible. And Perry was already quite a well-known actor since he appeared in one of the most popular sitcoms in history: Friends. There’s also some irony to Perry’s casting: he once starred in a sitcom, Second Chance, where he played a teen who encounters his time-traveling future self.

11. Noah Calhoun in The Notebook

During this romantic movie, we were able to get to know the deep love story between Allie and Noah — so intense that it lasted for many years. The role of the young and handsome Noah was played by the Canadian Ryan Gosling and in his old age by the American James Garner.

12. Bill Denbrough in It: Chapter Two

In the first installment of this movie, we met the little ones who were part of what was known as the “Losers’ Club,” who confronted and defeated the evil Pennywise. Or at least so they thought back then because, in fact, the sequel tells us that unlike what the children thought, the villain was still on the prowl. However, this time Pennywise found out the hard way that the little ones were not so little anymore. In charge of the team was the brave Bill Denbrough, played as a child by Jaeden Martell and as an adult by James McAvoy.

What other pair of actors or actresses do you know who have played the same character at different ages?

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