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Why are young male actors in their 20s, devalued and infantilized?

posted 8 years ago by HoneyBlonde
8 replies | jump to latest

I noticed young actors in their 20s, especially in their early 20s get looked down on or not taken as seriously. Whenever a role calls for an actor to be in his 20s, people always suggest these men who are well in their 30s or even early 40s. It's like did you not get the memo. The character is only supposed to be in their 20s. Women in their 20s are typically paired with older men not in the twenties. You rarely see a film where a 25 year dude is in a romantic relationship with someone 10 plus years older. Why are people saying Dylan is too young when the character is supposed to be like 23? Why are 20 something male actors seen as "children"?

[–] coljjr 8 years ago

Because on the whole actors in their 30s-40s have been around longer and had more films therefore they're suggested more for roles as they're known more. it's why people like Clive Owen and stuff get put forward for James Bond etc because they've been around longer and so people associated them more with roles unlike newcomers or unknowns. then again in this case fans like myself are used to mid 30s-40s Mitch Rapp so props why you see people not liking the casting around the internet.

[–] eahmouse 8 years ago

coljjr - but it's not the same for women. In fact it's the other way around. Women very quickly become "too old" to play roles their actual age and instead they cast younger prettier women.

[–] coljjr 8 years ago

I know I was referring to the question of why people think Dylan is too young for the lead and not taken seriously/as well known. With the actresses/actors thing unfortunately its the way Hollywood works especially in action or thriller films that they bank on having a well known 30-40s male who both men like and women swoon at and then a younger woman who the men will ogle. its not right but the studios dont care when all they need is commercial value

[–] JakeHelmer 8 years ago

The real problem is Hollywood hiring skinny jeans-wearing metrosexuals to play men. Never works. Hollywood is awful

[–] hollygirl32295 8 years ago

Hahahaha I've barely commented in years but you've forced me to interject. Please, enlighten me: Provide me with a picture of Dylan wearing skinny jeans.

You think Dylan O'Brien is the "skinny jean" wearing type? That kid only wears khakis and his adidas lol. I can't even think of an instance where he was dressed in skinny jeans by a stylist for an event.

The only time I believe Dylan put on a pair of skinny jeans was for his character in The Internship. But like I said before, Dylan would never voluntarily put on skinny jeans.

[–] creolegurl81 8 years ago

He very rarely even wears jeans, lol. He lives in his khakis. Dylan is as far away from being a metrosexual as you can find.

[–] eahmouse 8 years ago

hollygirl32295 - That was my immediate response too! Hilarious! I have never seen skinny jeans on him.

[–] eahmouse 8 years ago

Jakehelmer - As I stated earlier in response to sallygirl, I have never seen Dylan O'Brien in skinny jeans. With that being said, how a person dresses in one's personal life is irrelevant to casting for a role. See, there are wardrobe people who put actors in character appropriate clothes... Likewise, the essence of people, who they are inside, or how they chose to live their lives, is all irrelevant. If a person is a good actor, they can play a character completely unlike themselves. Back in my day, young gay boys were fabulous actors. They had to be tough macho guys to keep from getting beat up (I'm guessing from the likes of people like you). It's so great to see that the younger generation of today are much more accepting of all people who are different from them whether in sexual orientation, gender, religion, or race. I was feeling really good about America and the progress we were making as a country. It looks like we may be taking a step back before we can take two steps forward again. But we WILL take two steps forward - again, and again, and again.