Movie Grease - 'old' actors

[Texas Proud]

OK... this has nothing to do with retirement but what the hey....


I was in the gym the other day and the movie being shown was Grease... while watching I thought.... Olivia Newton John looks 'old' to be in high school.... and then I saw Stockard Channing and thought she looked even older.... well, I was right...

Move came out in 1978...

Newton John born in 1948.... (she was not yet 30 during the movie)

Channing born in 1944... (she was 34 when released)...


Travolta was the closest of the main actors at 24...


I have seen this in other movies.... where they have these relatively old actors for a character that should be a specific age.... why do they do that


Well, I just went through a good number of the other actors and it seems like all were 'old'.... Channing was not the oldest!!!


Maybe I should put this in the pet peeve thread

 

[W2R]

I loved the singing in that movie, though! Maybe they put the music first and the ages further down on their criteria when casting.

 

[lemming]

You don't want to turn every movie into High school musical do you?
I think Glee started out with 30 somethings and kept them in high school for 6 years. Only the teacher looked young.

 

[rodi]

Random fact - a guy who went to my high school had a roll in that movie. Kelly Ward played Putzie, one of Travolta's buddies. He was a few years ahead of me though.

 

[Amethyst]

Probably because the available teenage actors didn't have as much box office pull.

Also, there is this thing in entertainment called "willing suspension of disbelief," which is why we can enjoy watching actors made up to look like public or historic figures whom they barely resemble, and 40-something overweight opera singers playing the parts of young lovers.

TI have seen this in other movies.... where they have these relatively old actors for a character that should be a specific age.... why do they do that

 

[Marita40]

Glad to see an "older" woman winning the hot young man
I liked that movie, too. Haven't seen it in ages.

 

[tmm99]

Bursting out singing (and the others joining in to sing with you while dancing in unison) is strange enough. Maybe having old looking high school students is the least of the strangeness. It must be the "willing suspension of disbelief" that Amethyst mentions.

 

[haha]

Random fact - a guy who went to my high school had a roll in that movie. Kelly Ward played Putzie, one of Travolta's buddies. He was a few years ahead of me though.

Who did he roll with?

 

[Lcountz]

How about the original "the Wiz" ( remake of Wizard of Oz)?

Diana Ross played "Dorothy" and looked like she was 45 !!!!!!

 

[Texas Proud]

I can live with having the pull of an actor in the top spots, but I was surprised that even going way down the list they were all older... but reading about it, this was Newton Johns first real movie... but it was Travolta that wanted her...

The thing is that some LOOKED older than they were and they were already older than they should have been... just sayin....

 

[pb4uski]

Just tonight I saw that Fox is going to be airing a production of Grease live on January 31. I have it set to tape.

Grease: Live - TV Series News, Show Information - FOX

Julianne Hough looks pretty hot in the promo pic. I wonder if it is possible to cool her down to play plain-Jane Sandy.

 

[Texas Proud]

Just tonight I saw that Fox is going to be airing a production of Grease live on January 31. I have it set to tape.

Grease: Live - TV Series News, Show Information - FOX

Julianne Hough looks pretty hot in the promo pic. I wonder if it is possible to cool her down to play plain-Jane Sandy.

Heck, she looks great, but she is 27 and still does not look like a high schooler... but at my age, I am not complaining...


Oh... Aaron Tveit is 32!!! Soooo, doing the same thing again...

 

[lemming]

yep they are old. And they dance old.

 

[tmm99]

Aaron Tveit looks like Jim Carrey when he was younger. ...Just sayin'.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Philliefan33]

Heck, she looks great, but she is 27 and still does not look like a high schooler... but at my age, I am not complaining...


Oh... Aaron Tveit is 32!!! Soooo, doing the same thing again...

Well, can you offer any alternative casting? People who are ~18 years old, can sing/dance the part, AND would have the name recognition to draw an audience? Because that's what the producers need...an audience.

I watched the live TV and enjoyed it. No, it wasn't as polished as the movie. But Travolta and ONJ had the advantage of multiple takes and cuts to perfect the dance scenes. And they didn't have to try to sing while being out of breath from the dancing. Sure there were some rough spots with the audio (and some of the singing). But who am I to judge? I can't carry a tune at all and my husband says I can't dance either.

 

[Texas Proud]

Well, can you offer any alternative casting? People who are ~18 years old, can sing/dance the part, AND would have the name recognition to draw an audience? Because that's what the producers need...an audience.

I watched the live TV and enjoyed it. No, it wasn't as polished as the movie. But Travolta and ONJ had the advantage of multiple takes and cuts to perfect the dance scenes. And they didn't have to try to sing while being out of breath from the dancing. Sure there were some rough spots with the audio (and some of the singing). But who am I to judge? I can't carry a tune at all and my husband says I can't dance either.

I agree that trying to draw an audience is important.... but I would think that the name "Grease" alone would be a draw for some....


As for the original movie, having named people is not always needed... there have been many films where they brought in new talent.... and it also does not say anything about all the other talent that were not known named actors but were old...

As an example, look at Star Wars.... IIRC they were not well known actors in the first movie.... and this last one did not have known actors except for the original group...