Animals were harmed in these films
Claire Danes was 16 when she starred opposite 21-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio in this Shakespeare adaptation. It should be noted that there were scenes of clothlessness.
Carla Gugino and Antonio Banderas played retired spies with pre-teen children, but the actress was a bit too young for the role.
Foster's role was so impactful that one man became obsessed with her. We're talking about a stalker named John Hinckley Jr., who later attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in an effort to impress the actress.
Christian Bale was 13 when he starred in Steven Spielberg's iconic war movie. He had to endure very realistic scenes, which were pretty challenging for someone his age.
The actress then went on to play the role of shipwrecked girl Emmeline Lestrange in 'The Blue Lagoon' (1980). Yet another controversial role, which included clothlessness. Brooke Shields was 14 at the time.
Natalie Portman was just 11 years old when she played a girl who is taken under the wing of a hit man. Portman's character does a lot of inappropriate things for her age, including smoking and handling guns.
Kirsten Dunst, who was 11 at the time, played a young vampire in the movie. The actress had her first kiss on screen with Brad Pitt, who was about 20 years her senior. "I was a little girl and he was like a brother to me and it was very weird even though it was a peck. I was very not into it," recalled Dunst.
Dafne Keen was 12 years old when she played Laura, a character with similar powers to Wolverine. In the comics, the character is supposed to be in her twenties, but despite Laura being much younger in the movie, it is still pretty violent.
Elle Fanning was 19 when she played a young woman in a boarding school who becomes involved with a much older soldier (Colin Farrell).
The actor plays the iconic Ken in 'Barbie.' While technically the doll itself would be in his early sixties, the film portraits a youthful version of Ken.
Linda Blair was 13 when she played the possessed Regan MacNeil. The young actress was subjected to some of the most disturbing scenes in movie history at that point.
The actress was just nine when she played a smoking and drinking con artist. As inappropriate as it was for her age, the role won O'Neal the Oscar of Best Supporting Actress, making her the youngest Academy Award winner in history.
The actor was 13 when he played a disturbing character who huffed glue, was cruel to animals, and paid for intimacy with a girl with Down's syndrome.
Thora Birch was 16 when she played a teen who undresses by the window, knowing she's being watched.
You probably remember the actor best as Kevin in the 'Home Alone' movies, but in this film Culkin plays a psychopathic evil child. The actor was 12 when starred in 'The Good Son.'
This movie about teenage life set in New York City was highly controversial at the time due to its scenes involving abuse. They were all, after all, kids.
Jodie Foster was just 12 years old when she played a young worker in Martin Scorsese's film. Foster's older sister stepped in to film racier scenes, but playing a child worker is never an easy role for a 12-year-old.
A 12-year-old Dakota Fanning plays a poor Elvis Presley fan from the Deep South. Her performance included a much-criticized assault scene.
"I was at least 10 years too young for the role because I was supposed to have been a spy for 10 years, then had two children who were now 10 and 12. I was 28 years old," said Gugino.
The actress was 13 when she played comic book character Hit-Girl. Because it was so violent, the film was rated R, so, technically, Chloë Grace Moretz couldn't actually watch her own movie.
Olivia Hussey was 15 when she starred opposite 16-year-old Leonard Whiting in the 1968 version of 'Romeo and Juliet.' In 2023, Hussey and Whiting sued Paramount for child abuse over a bedroom scene.
It's never comfortable to watch such a young girl having a relationship with an older man. In this case, the actress was 14. The more graphic scenes were played by an adult body double, but still...
Sources: (IMDb) (TheRichest) (Diply) (TheThings) (BuzzFeed News)
Both actresses were 14 when they costarred in 'Thirteen.' The movie tackles many adult themes, including intimacy, substance abuse, and crime.
Angelina Jolie played Colin Farrell's mother in 'Alexander,' but in real life the actress is just one year older than him. Not quite the matriarchal figure one would expect, right?
Sally Field plays Tom Hanks' mother in 'Forrest Gump,' but the actress is just 10 years older than him.
Dakota Fanning was 16 when she played aspiring rocker Cherie Currie. A bit too young for the whole "drugs, and rock 'n' roll" lifestyle, don't you think?
Both Mariel Hemingway and her character were just aged 17. Things do get a bit weird when we realize her love interest was a 40-something Woody Allen.
The child star was only 11 when she played a girl who lives in a brothel, and whose virginity is auctioned away by her mother.
Age shouldn't be a restriction when it comes to acting. After all, acting is about playing a fictional character. Sometimes, though, the line does get crossed. There have been many examples in Hollywood where actors and actresses played roles that were clearly inappropriate for their ages. Examples include prepubescent actors shooting scenes that should be reserved for adults, or even seasoned actors playing characters that don't quite make sense, given their age.
In this gallery, we bring you a list of actors who were too young for their roles. Click through and see if you agree.
There is one scene where Abigail Breslin's character Olive Hoover enters a child's beauty pageant and performs a provocative dance. While she remained mostly clothed, it was still rather inappropriate for her age.
Actors who were too young for their roles
These characters could have been played by older actors
MOVIES Film
Age shouldn't be a restriction when it comes to acting. After all, acting is about playing a fictional character. Sometimes, though, the line does get crossed. There have been many examples in Hollywood where actors and actresses played roles that were clearly inappropriate for their ages. Examples include prepubescent actors shooting scenes that should be reserved for adults, or even seasoned actors playing characters that don't quite make sense, given their age.
In this gallery, we bring you a list of actors who were too young for their roles. Click through and see if you agree.