16 Actors Who Played The Same Character But At Different Ages

In cinema art, movies often show us the life of a character from the beginning when they are still a child until they grow into an adult. The transitions from one stage of life to another when done right can make the audiences feel like they’re following a real-life story of a real person, rather than just sitting in a theater and watching a movie. So to nail those scenes, actors who played the same character need to be very talented.
They had to be completely in tune with their character. They might be different people in real life, but they’re the same person in the movie. Both interpreters of the character also need to have a certain resemblance to each other, otherwise, the transition won’t make any sense. So here are 16 actors who played the same character at different stages in their life with amazing accuracy.

1. Gloria Stuart And Kate Winslet As Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic

Source: © Titanic / Twentieth Century Fox and co-producers

At the beginning of the movie, Rose was played by the wonderful actress Gloria Stuart. As the story unwinds, the younger version of her character was played by the beautiful Kate Winslet. There is a big gap between the age of the actresses, but somehow they still have a lot of physical resemblances to make them look like the same person, just older or younger.

2. Patrick Stewart And James McAvoy As Professor X in X-Men

Source: © X-Men: Days of Future Past / Twentieth Century Fox and co-producers

The X-Men saga takes us on a journey through the present, the past, and the future of the characters. During these movies, we get to see both the younger and the older versions of some of the beloved protagonists, such as Professor X. Patrick Stewart did an amazing job portraying the older version of Xavier in the first films. James McAvoy also nailed his role as the younger version of the professor in the later films.

3. Rebecca Romijn And Jennifer Lawrence As Mystique in X-Men

Source: © X-Men / Twentieth Century Fox and co-producers

Speaking about X-Men, Mystique is one of the most popular characters in the franchise. For the first three parts, she was played by actress and model Rebecca Romijn. However, we get to meet the younger version of the shapeshifter in the fourth movie, which is played by Jennifer Lawrence. Lawrence and Romijn might not share a lot of common features in real life, but they both made amazing Mystique on screen.

4. Sir Alec Guinness And Ewan McGregor As Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars saga

Source: © Star Wars / Lucasfilm and co-producers

When Obi-Wan is first introduced in Star Wars, he is a mysterious, lonely man living in the desert played by British actor Sir Alec Guinness. His younger version is played by the Scottish actor Ewan McGregor.

5. Harrison Ford And River Phoenix As Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Source: © The Notebook / New Line Cinema and co-producers

Before Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford and River Phoenix worked together in The Mosquito Coast and they were cast as father and son. Noticing the striking resemblances between them, Ford recommended the young actor to play his younger version in Indiana Jones. Thanks to Ford’s recommendation, we get to see a young and very curious Indiana played by River Phoenix.

6. Ryan Gosling And James Garner As Noah Calhoun in The Notebook

Source: © The Notebook / New Line Cinema and co-producers

The Notebook tells the love story between Allie and Noah throughout the years. Handsome Canadian actor Ryan Gosling nailed his role as the young Noah, and James Garner also did an amazing job portraying the older version of the same character.

7. Jaeden Martell And James McAvoy As Bill Denbrough in It: Chapter Two

Source: © It Chapter Two / New Line Cinema and co-producers

In the first movie, Jaeden Martell played the child version of the brave Bill Denbrough. He and other members of the Losers’ Club would confront and defeat the evil Pennywise, or so they thought. In fact, the cunning clown was still alive. So when the adult Bill, who is played by James McAvoy, came back, Pennywise had a new plan for him.

8. Matthew Perry And Zac Efron Mike O’Donnell in 17 Again

Source: © 17 Again / New Line Cinema and co-producers

In this comedy movie, the protagonist Mike O’Donnell was magically turned back into his teenage self and became a popular kid in his daughter’s high school. Matthew Perry played the grown-up version of O’Donnell while Zac Efron played the teenager. During the filming process, Zac would ask Matthew for advice with his dialogue to make their performance as convincing and coherent as possible.
Those are 16 actors who played the same character at different stages of life. Speaking about age differences between the actors and their characters, here are 15 more actors who nailed their roles despite being much older or younger than the person that they played.