There might be hundreds of shows dedicated to the life of the teenager, with all the emotion and drama that comes with it, but many viewers are growing increasingly tired of seeing actors in their twenties take on the role of a fifteen-year-old high schooler. In this feature for The Indiependent, Jennifer Cartwright takes a look at the difficulty that comes with casting teens as teens.
Growing up, I loved watching teen TV. However, my life never seemed to match up to those of the characters who were supposedly the same age as me. Of course, these shows exaggerate reality to entertain and even people with ‘main character energy’ cannot compete with the drama of a teen TV storyline. Despite this, I thought, especially as a young teen, that TV would try to display what being a teenager was somewhat like. Yet, as these shows repeatedly cast actors in their twenties to play teenagers, it was no wonder finding relatability was so difficult. I was never going to have a growth spurt at 17 that made me look 25 and I was still in the awkward phase that many of these actors had already far passed. The ‘TV teenager’ is very rarely like the real one, meaning that, they are often not a teenager at all.
So why does TV often favour the adult actor for the teenage role? One simple answer? Admin. Labour laws complicate hiring teenagers; requirements of chaperones and tutors on set add extra people to already crowded productions, while limited working hours for young actors also means less filming time and fewer chances to get that perfect take. These laws exist to protect the teen actor but they also often lead to the unemployment of the teen actor. On paper, adults are far easier to work with.
As well as this, actors age faster than characters. A new season may be set just a few weeks after the previous but it may take months or years to write, film, and edit. Choosing older actors who are less likely to have dramatic changes in appearance can be an asset to consistency, even if this means the ‘teenager’ remarkably never grows taller, never gets a spot, and never has a voice break. Take a look at the Stranger Things dilemma. The hit sci-fi series began season one in 2016 with a main cast of tweens playing tweens (because though 20 may be the new 16, it’s not quite the new 12). Across the four seasons currently released, the characters have only aged by three years but the actors by eight; when binge-watching, the growing age discrepancy between actor and character is obvious. By casting older, TV shows don’t have to race against a teenager’s inevitably limited time, and won’t end up with a 19-year-old Finn Wolfhard still trying to play a 14-year-old Mike Wheeler. To sum it up, it’s simply more efficient.
However, I think the reasons why we don’t often see teens on screen extend beyond practicality. It is this: teen TV isn’t always interested in teenagers. A high school setting and a teen protagonist draw you in with the presentation of an ‘achievable idealism’, a statement that this life could be yours. However, repeatedly, teen TV shows adultify adolescence with plotlines far more fitting for college than high school. For example, in Euphoria, sex, drugs, and parties far bigger than the average teen budget, present teenage characters as far more mature than they are. However, because the actors are in their twenties, you grow numb to how young they are meant to be. This is not to say that young people never have sex, do drugs, or party, but I think Euphoria prioritises voyeurism over accuracy. To see actual teen actors in some of these positions would be horrifying because it would show how dark they really are. See the reaction to the erotic thriller Miller’s Girl, starring Jenna Ortega as a student fantasising about an affair with her teacher (Martin Freeman). Ortega is not a teen actor but she used to be (Stuck in the Middle, Wednesday, etc.), and she looks younger than much of Hollywood. Because of her youthful appearance, the explicit scenes feel uncomfortable because you cannot ignore how young the character is meant to be, especially when juxtaposed with a much older Freeman. Here, the teacher/student fantasy is no longer cute, like it has been treated in teen shows such as Pretty Little Liars in the past. Instead, it looks how it should: creepy.
It would be exploitative for Euphoria to cast teen actors and maintain the same level of grit. It would be asking actors to do far too much far too young. But this means that the show presents teenagers in situations that an actual teenage actor cannot be in. Skins, the UK’s Euphoria before Euphoria, had similar provocative scenes but a teenage cast. Casting, alongside more simplistic costume and lighting, meant that Skins was edgy but realistic. It had widespread popularity for this realism but since the end of Skins ten years ago now, former cast members such as April Pearson (Michelle) and Laya Lewis (Liv) have spoken out that they sometimes felt uncomfortable on set. In her podcast Are You Michelle From Skins?, Pearson comments that “there’s a difference between being physically and mentally old enough” to film a sex scene. Realism came at a price that I don’t know how you would begin to justify is worth it. The Skins cast may have been old enough to be in the various situations the show depicts, however, they weren’t old enough for the world to watch them.
So where are teenagers old enough to play teenagers? One place is Disney. From Olivia Rodrigo to Zendaya, many household names began as teens on Disney. Traditionally, the Disney teen show has been characterised by its exaggeration with loud lines and slapstick actions. The aim is not realism but comedy and the laugh tracks every other line will remind you of this. Gradually, Disney teen shows have become more self-aware with High School Musical: The Musical: The Series as one example. This show removes the background laughter and is instead structured more as an Office-spin-off for teens with deliberately sharp jump cuts between scenes and heavy erosion of the fourth wall. Disney is slowly aging up.
Then there are fantasy series such as Avatar: The Last Airbender or Percy Jackson and the Olympians. These shows tend to be a higher budget which means they are great practice for the teen actor and look incredibly fun to film. The coming-of-age experience may be slightly explored but this often falls secondary to the supernatural element. They are interested in the teenager, but mainly in the context of the fantasy world, and it’s a dream landscape rather than a real one.
Finally, there is the teenage dream show. Think Heartstopper, The Summer I Turned Pretty or My Life With the Walter Boys. Here, good soundtracks and nice lighting are crucial, especially for fan edits. Swearing and alcohol will be kept to a minimum to achieve a lower age rating. Some may say these shows appear more like a Wattpad imagining of teenhood rather than real teenhood.
However, I think this view does a disservice to the teenage dream show. Adult-cast teen shows such as Sex Education, Riverdale, and Gossip Girl have conditioned us to expect highly risqué portrayals of teenhood. Therefore, we are shocked when teens are cast and the drama is inevitably more innocent. But these shows deal with heavy topics such as grief, heartbreak, bullying, mental health, and sexuality. Explicit subjects may be alluded to rather than directly acted, and the darker scenes may be balanced with lighter ones to maintain optimism, yet this doesn’t mean these shows are ‘too young’ or ‘naïve’ for the teenager. Instead, they simply translate the drama in a manner that is appropriate for teen audiences to watch and teen actors to perform.
Teenagers deserve great TV. This great TV does not always need to feature teen actors to be great; sometimes adults are the best option. However, it does need to be interested in teenage life because teenage life is dramatic, fun, and entertaining as it is. Teenhood has its place on screen without the adultification we have so often seen in the past.
Over the years, TV has been learning how to toe the line between the too-innocent teenager and the too risqué. Somewhere in the middle, you can find an abundance of teen shows that entertain without dramatically compromising relatability. They strike the balance between relatability and idealism, humour and grit. They are the shows I wish I had when growing up.
Words by Jennifer Cartwright
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.