There are plenty of people who never seem to age. Usually, though, it's thanks to the work of a very skilled cosmetic surgeon or photo editors who airbrush the life out of every magazine cover.
For these 14 stars, though, it's casting choices that have them forever stuck in time (though having a perpetually youthful complexion certainly doesn't hurt). One actress may be saddled with mom roles well before her time. Another may be playing teenagers while she's closing in on 30. And, how could Jared Leto possibly be in his 40s?
Of course, if Hollywood went strictly by an actor's age, Tom Cruise might be playing AARP-card-waving grandpas instead of action heroes who look to be anywhere between 30 and 50. Shailene Woodley and Jennifer Lawrence would be out of the YA racket, and viewers would have to accept that Viola Davis really isn't actually that old. Can you imagine?
Behold, 14 celebrities who seem to be stuck in time. Think there's some cryogenic chamber we don't know about?
Jena Malone
According to the Hunger Games wiki, Johanna Mason is in her late teens/early 20s. The actress playing her, Jena Malone, is 29, but her most memorable characters have all been teenagers. Consider this: Donnie Darko was filmed 13 years ago.
Pictured: (l) Donnie Darko, 2001; (r) The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, 2013.
Photos: Courtesy of Newmarket Films/Lionsgate.
Forest Whitaker
Here you have an actor who can basically play any age. And, Whitaker did just that in last year's Lee Daniels' The Butler, playing the title character from a young man to a senior citizen. In real life, the Oscar winner falls somewhere in the middle, at age 52. Still, his looks and characters haven't changed much since starring in 1992's The Crying Game.
Pictured: (l) The Crying Game, 1992; (r) Lee Daniels' The Butler, 2013.
Photos: Courtesy of Miramax/The Weinstein Company.
Jared Leto
Though the Jordan Catalano era and the man-bob are long gone, Leto hasn't really progressed past the 20-something characters he's played in films like Fight Club and Requiem for a Dream. Perhaps that's thanks to the actor's still-boyish good looks. The 42-year-old may have won an Oscar for playing a transgender woman in Dallas Buyers Club, but it's hard to imagine him portraying a doting father of five or middle-aged professor.
Pictured: (l) Fight Club, 1999; (r) Dallas Buyers Club, 2013.
Photos: Courtesy of 20th Century Fox/Focus Features.
Toni Collette
Need a mom who's struggling to keep it all together? Toni Collette's your gal. Though she's only 41 (younger than Jared Leto!), the Australian actress has carved out a career of playing mothers thanks to roles in The Sixth Sense, About a Boy, Little Miss Sunshine, United States of Tara, and last year's Hostages. Never mind the fact that she's just over a dozen years older than the actors playing her children.
Pictured: (l) About a Boy, 2002; (r) Hostages, 2013.
Photos: Courtesy of Universal Pictures/Warner Bros.
Justin Long
With or without the facial hair, it's hard to believe that Justin Long could be anything but underage. His current characters might not be quite as youthful as those he played in 2005's Waiting and 2006's Accepted, but they're not much older. Case in point: In the upcoming film Tusk, the 36-year-old's best friend is played by Haley Joel Osment. Yes, that Haley Joel Osment.
Pictured: (l) Waiting, 2005; (r) A Case of You, 2013.
Photos: Courtesy of Lionsgate/Lagniappe Films.
Natasha Lyonne
Litchfield-inmate Nicky Nichols may not be stressed about bras or losing her virginity, but she's not much older than the wise-cracking young women the 35-year-old Lyonne played in late-'90s films like Slums of Beverly Hills and American Pie. Will the Orange Is The New Black star ever grow up?
Pictured: (l) Slums of Beverly Hills, 1998; (r) Orange Is The New Black, 2013.
Photos: Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures/Netflix.
John Leguizamo
Go on, guess. John Leguizamo is what, 35? Try 49, not that you'd know it from his string of seemingly ageless film characters. From 1993's Carlito's Way to this year's Ride Along, the man hasn't really budged from the mid-30s bracket.
Pictured: (l) Carlito's Way, 1993; (r) Ride Along, 2014.
Photos: Courtesy of Universal Pictures.
Reese Witherspoon
In real life, Reese Witherspoon seems like a down-to-earth soccer mom who just happens to be a movie star. Her on-screen persona, however, hasn't quite caught up. In 2011, her love interest was Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson, and her two-timing character in 2012's This Means War couldn't have been much older than Elle Woods. The 38-year-old is also starring in a film adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's Wild, though Strayed herself was just 26 at the time the book's events took place.
Pictured: (l) Legally Blonde, 2001; (r) This Means War, 2012.
Photos: Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/20th Century Fox.
Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves is 49? Whoa. From Point Break to The Matrix to 2013's 47 Ronin, Reeves never quite shakes that youthful persona. One day, he'll be cast as a middle-aged dad, and we're all going to lose it.
Pictured: (l) Point Break, 1991; (r) 47 Ronin, 2013.
Photos: Courtesy of 20th Century Fox/Universal Pictures.
Zoe Saldana
Real age? Just a month shy of 36. Age, judging by films like Star Trek? Early 20s. That's just a tad older than the teenagers Saldana played in 2000's Center Stage and 2002's Crossroads.
Pictured: (l) Crossroads, 2002; (r) Star Trek, 2009.
Photos: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
Kate Beckinsale
She may be a 40-year-old with a teenage daughter, but Kate Beckinsale's roles overwhelmingly fall in the ingenue zone. In her latest movie, Eliza Graves, she plays the eponymous character, who is described as a "beautiful girl" who gets her first job. Think Beckinsale is really a vampire?
Pictured: (l) Emma, 1996; (r) Eliza Graves, 2014.
Photos: Courtesy of ITV/Millennium Films.
Tom Cruise
Forget scaling Dubai skyscrapers, one of of Cruise's greatest feats is making audiences forget that he's in his 50s. As long as the actor can keep doing his own stunts, it's unlikely that he'll be settling into any age-appropriate roles anytime soon. If Harrison Ford can do it, why can't Tom?
Pictured: (l) Mission: Impossible, 1996; (r) Edge of Tomorrow, 2014.
Photos: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures/Warner Bros.
Viola Davis
The latest Shonda Rhimes drama, How To Get Away With Murder, is sure to attract a lot of eyeballs when it debuts this year. Sure, outlandish plots are great, but the real draw is seeing Oscar-nominee Davis play a woman who seems close to her actual age (48). Her character even has a younger lover! This should be a welcome change since she regularly portrays women north of 50 in films like The Help and Get On Up.
Pictured: (l) The Help, 2010; (r) Get On Up, 2014.
Photos: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios/Universal Pictures.
Taryn Manning
Orange Is The New Black 's Pennsatucky may seem like a little-girl lost, but the actress who plays her is 35. Manning's had more than a decade to perfect the young-woman routine, having starred in Crazy/Beautiful, Crossroads, and 8 Mile.
Pictured: (l) 8 Mile, 2002; (r) Orange Is The New Black, 2013.
Photos: Courtesy of Universal Pictures/Netflix.Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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