My new favorite site: Actual teen vs real teen

Ever wonder what all the actors playing teenagers really looked like as teens? I've been introduced to a new tumblr about just that: Actual Teen vs Adult Teen. Ann Foster created this tumblr placing photos of actors at a particular age they played next to the actor at the age. The difference is sometimes startling. Here are some highlights:

Left: Judy Greer, age 18
Right: Judy Greer playing highschooler Fern in Jawbreaker at age 23

Left: Rooney Mara yearbook photo, age 16
Right: 23-year-old Rooney Mara playing 16-year-old Taggerty in Youth in Revolt

Left: Luke Perry yearbook photo, age 18
Right: 24-year-old Luke Perry as 16-year-old Dylan in 90210 (seriously??)

Sometimes the differences are especially striking because of how exaggeratedly young the actors looked as teens.

Left: 17-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio as Luke on Growing Pains (17!)
Right: 28-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio as 17-year-old Frank in Catch Me If You Can 

Left: 16-year-old Ryan Gosling as Bret in Road to Avonlea
Right: 24-year-old Ryan Gosling as 17-year-old Noah in the Notebook 

I think it also shows the effect of styling and makeup. Comparing yearbook photos to movie/TV photos is totally different from comparing tv/movie photos with tv/movie photos. Just look at this one:

Left: Shay Mitchell modeling jeans, age 17
Right: 24-year-old Shay Mitchell playing 17-year-old Emily in Pretty Little Liars

Sometimes the differences are barely noticeable

Left: Matthew Broderick at 18
Right: 23-year-old Matthew Broderick playing 17-year-old Ferris Bueller

I sometimes lament that movies like Hunger Games and Ender's Game are cast with older actors.

Left:  16-year-old Jennifer Lawrence on Cold Case
Right: 21-year-old Lawrence as 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen.

Left: 15-year-old Josh Hutcherson in Journey to the Center of the Earth
Right: 19-year-old Josh Hutcherson as 16-year-old Peeta 

Can you imagine if the you were watching those teenage baby faces? And they were the older tributes? (Though, admittedly, Hunger Games's casting is pretty darn good even with the age differences.)

For Ender, it's more like Teen Child vs Actual Child:

15-year-old Asa Butterfield as Ender Wiggan

In the book, Ender is 8-9. I think in the movie they're not even playing it that way. Ender's supposed to be middle school age, which 15-year-old Asa passes for pretty well. But can you imagine if the cast were actually children?? Here's Asa at age 10 (a year older than Ender):

Asa Butterfield as 9-year-old Bruno in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Wow.