Aging Stars No Problem, Film Expert Says

A BBC article today quotes the editor of Empire magazine and the features editor of Total Film on the question of whether the stars of the Potter films are outgrowing their roles.

“Actors have been ‘acting-up’ in age and ‘acting-down’ for 100 years,” says Colin Kennedy, editor of film magazine Empire.

“I don’t think that the problems of additional make-up or forced perspective, to keep them all the same height, are as significant as finding a new Harry and introducing him to the established audience. “

The article also points out that Michael J Fox was 23 when he was cast as Marty McFly in Back to the Future, and was pushing 28 when he made the last film in that trilogy, even though Marty was still 17, and that Stockard Channing was 33 when she played 18-year-old Rizzo in Grease.