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Best & Worst Older/Younger Character Portrayal

acappellasaurus

acappellasaurus

Fleet Captain
Fleet Captain
Putting this in TV/Media since it could extend beyond genre.

Interested in everyone's thoughts on excellent examples of in-universe character portrayals of older/younger versions of an established movie or show character. Not so much in a reboot situation, but more when we see an older/younger portrayal of the technically same character as a different actor. So not EJ Olmos as nuAdama, but yes Anya Taylor-Joy as younger Furiosa, if that makes sense.

I'll kick it off with two of my unexpected favorites: Josh Brolin as younger Agent K in MIB III. For some reason, it lives rent free in my brain how on point his take on Tommy Lee Jones older iteration is. Also, I think Karl Urban's portrayal of young Dr. McCoy in the JJVerse is uncanny and genius casting and acting.

For a less favorite example, I'll posit really every version of younger Jean-Luc Picard in the Trek franchise. We've seen several in the series (Marcus Nash, David Birkin, Tom Hardy) - no slight to the actors work in these roles at all, but none ever evoked a younger Patrick Stewart or JL Picard. If I saw them in character with no context, I would never guess who they were portraying. As opposed to my previous example of Brolin as Agent K, he looks like both the younger character and the actor outside of context.

Other favorite examples, good and bad?
 
Obviously there’s Brando and DeNiro as Don Corleone, probably the gold standard. The sci-fi equivalent, where I’m concerned, is Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

An underrated take on it is Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese. Because the film is widely unpopular. I don’t think his take in Terminator Salvation gets enough credit - he really nails Michael Biehn’s mannerisms and speech patterns in a way that makes Jai Courtney’s lunky take in Genysis look even worse than it already is.

I recently watched Wonka and while Timothée Chalamet lacks the late Gene Wilder’s unpredictability and air of danger, it’s nonetheless a very good take on an iconic role. You can certainly believe that he grew up to be the somewhat more malevolent Wonka from the other film.

If we’re going to throw the net really wide, then the kid playing David Lee Roth in the Van Halen video for Hot For Teacher deserves a special mention!
 
A recent example, definitely for the Best category, are Wyatt and Kurt Russell as young and old Lee Shaw in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.

An older example would be Jeff East playing teenage Clark Kent to compliment Christopher Reeve as adult Clark/Superman in "Superman: The Movie". When I watched the movie growing up, I never realized it even was a different actor, thinking they just did Reeve's hair differently to make him look younger. It was only as an adult that I learned about East as teenage Clark. Though, admittedly, Reeve dubbing over East's lines probably had something to do with it (something that carried over into the German dub, with the same voice actor doing East and Reeve).
 
As well as obi-wan, Star Wars has generally cast younger very well. The prequels’ Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru come to mind and they really seemed to be aging into the roles by the time of the Kenobi miniseries. Genevieve O’Reilly is uncannily like the original Mon Mothma.

I would’ve preferred Anthony Ingruber as a young Han Solo but Ehrenreich was fine, certainly a more convincing young Harrison Ford than Sean Patrick Flannery. River Phoenix was a brilliant young Indy. There was lots of praise for Donald Glover’s Lando but he never convinced me as a younger Billy Dee Williams.

Star Trek is a mixed bunch that way. The SNW crew have, for the most part, the benefit of playing characters who previously only were briefly glimpsed or had small roles onscreen. Spock is the exception. Peck doesn’t have the benefit of Zachary Quinto’s physical resemblance but sounds more like Leonard Nimoy. Neither, for me, though, quite captures Nimoy’s unique charm and undefinable specialness that made the original an icon.

Unfortunately, for me, Paul Wesley just does not work as james Kirk, if we’re meant to accept that he will grow into the version played by Shatner. Even allowing for the fact that this is an earlier stage in his life, he doesn’t capture the charm, quirkiness and lust for life of The Shat and makes you realise just how good Chris Pine was, without ever seeming to imitate his predecessor.
 
Among the worst for me was the casting of the "young" versions of the characters on Netflix's Fall of the House of Usher. As good as the actors were, Zach Gilford looked nothing like a young Bruce Geenwood and Malcolm Goodwin looked nothing like a young Carl Lumbly. (Though, to be fair, Gilford might look a bit more like a young version of Frank Langella, who was originally cast as Roderick).
 
Greenwood was cast very late as well, and while I agree he doesn't look much like Gifford, it's hard to imagine someone else Roderrick--the lemons monologue was superb.
 
Captaindemotion said:
As well as obi-wan, Star Wars has generally cast younger very well. The prequels’ Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru come to mind and they really seemed to be aging into the roles by the time of the Kenobi miniseries. Genevieve O’Reilly is uncannily like the original Mon Mothma.

I would’ve preferred Anthony Ingruber as a young Han Solo but Ehrenreich was fine, certainly a more convincing young Harrison Ford than Sean Patrick Flannery. River Phoenix was a brilliant young Indy. There was lots of praise for Donald Glover’s Lando but he never convinced me as a younger Billy Dee Williams.

Star Trek is a mixed bunch that way. The SNW crew have, for the most part, the benefit of playing characters who previously only were briefly glimpsed or had small roles onscreen. Spock is the exception. Peck doesn’t have the benefit of Zachary Quinto’s physical resemblance but sounds more like Leonard Nimoy. Neither, for me, though, quite captures Nimoy’s unique charm and undefinable specialness that made the original an icon.

Unfortunately, for me, Paul Wesley just does not work as james Kirk, if we’re meant to accept that he will grow into the version played by Shatner. Even allowing for the fact that this is an earlier stage in his life, he doesn’t capture the charm, quirkiness and lust for life of The Shat and makes you realise just how good Chris Pine was, without ever seeming to imitate his predecessor.
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O’Reilly is wonderful as Mon Mothma, I know she's very respectful of Caroline Blakiston, but given her limited screen time O'Reilly is really the definitive Mothma now.

Zachary Quinto is a classic example that just because you physically resemble someone it doesn't mean you can play the same part as them. The script doesn't help him but of the big three he is the weak link because Pine and Urban are spot on. The more I see of Peck as Spock the more I like him. In many ways he feels like SNW's MVP (though frankly it's a show full of MVPs!) His voice, the inflection of how he speaks and how he holds himself is just perfect. Nimoy was a very unique presence though.

Wesley is growing on me as Kirk, but yeah it is difficult to envisage him as Shatner. One thing I do like about him is that he looks like he's stepped out of the 1960s. Is that a weird thing to say? (it might be because I always get a slight Dick York vibe from him)
 
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The worst has to be young DeNiro in the Irishman. Guy is supposed to be in his 20's& 30's but moves like he's looking for his walker. And what is with the like computer-y gleam on his face? Blah, terrible.
 
Worst: John Amos as and older Kunta Kinte in "Roots". Can't see LeVar growing up to be Amos

Best Vivian Lyra Blair as young Leia in "Obi-Wan Kenobi".
 
The Sopranos’ prequel The Many Saints of Newark had the late James Gandolfini’s son as young Tony and unsurprisingly he was very convincing (albeit the period in which the movie was set doesn’t really work with the age Tony was meant to be). Vera Farmiga was a surprisingly spot-on Livia Soprano and Corey Stoll also nailed the role of Uncle Junior. The actors as Pussy and Silvio were also really convincing but sadly Billy Magnusson as Paulie Walnuts (my favourite of Tony’s crew) just didn’t work. Admittedly, the late Tony Siroco was a very hard act to follow.
 
Nerys Myk said:
Best Vivian Lyra Blair as young Leia in "Obi-Wan Kenobi".
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Yes. Although I still think Millie Bobby Brown would've been fantastic as teen Leia given the chance.


In Legends of Tomorrow, Graeme McComb was very good as a younger version of Victor Garber's Martin Stein. And Lovell Adams-Gray did a very convincing job playing the young Barack Obama (though that doesn't really fit the category, since the present-day Obama was not a character in the show).

For Indiana Jones, River Phoenix in Last Crusade was uncanny as a younger version of Harrison Ford, while Sean Patrick Flanery in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was not even remotely convincing as same. I felt Corey Carrier, who played the preteen Indy, did a better job capturing Ford's personality and delivery than Flanery did.
 
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