History DawsonCasting / LiveActionTV

* An ExaggeratedTrope on ''Series/Pen15'', with series co-creators Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, both 31, playing fictionalized versions of themselves as teenage best friends. The show is set in the early 2000s, a time period when both actors were actually teenagers. Every other teenage character in the show is an aversion, which serves to make the two leads seem more awkward.

-->'''Actor in his mid-30s:''' 15 can be a difficult age. And that's how old I am. 15. ''[he turns to glance at something behind him, showing the bald spot in the back of his head]''

* ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'':
** Nick and Alicia Clark were 19 and 17 at the start of the series, while Creator/FrankDillane and Creator/AlyciaDebnamCarey were five years older.
** Bailey Gavulic was 21 when she played 16 year-old Annie.
** Finch is 6 or 7 and played by 14 year-old Gavin Warren.

* In the BritCom ''Series/OnTheBuses'', ''Reg Varney'' played the role of Stan Butler, a bus driver in his late 20s, he was '''53''' years old when the series started.

* ''Series/{{Class}}'': Although playing high schoolers, nearly all of the main cast were actually in their early 20s (one even got married soon after filming ended), likely in part due to the fact several of them were required to do love scenes.

* The British Children's series ''TopsyAndTim'' featured Jocelyn Macnab (7-9 at the time of filming) and Joshua Lester (7-8 at the time of filming) as the 4–6-year-old titular characters.

* ''Series/NeverHaveIEver'': Conversed when Devi and Kamala watch ''Series/{{Riverdale}}''. Kamala expresses shock since the characters don't look like high schoolers; Devi jokes that the actors are older than her mother.
* Parodied in the ''Series/MadTV'' sketch "Pretty White Kids With Problems," a spoof of late 90's teen dramas. One of the "boys" insists he's a teenager despite his actor's receding hairline.
* ''Series/SavedByTheBell (2020)'': The seniors at Bayside were middle aged. Only Aisha notices.
* The titular town of ''Series/{{Schmigadoon}}'' parodies theater casting by having then-mid-20's Creator/DoveCameron play the sexualized FarmersDaughter character Betsy, who is [[VagueAge vaguely aged]] but heavily implied to be a teenager. Melissa points out this is common, comparing it to ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic'' casting the 16-year-old Liesl with a woman in her 20s.
* In ''Series/{{Smash}}'' when Rebecca Duvall joins the cast of ''Bombshell'' it's pointed out that she's older than Creator/MarilynMonroe was when she passed away. Duvall is played by Creator/UmaThurman, who is indeed several years older than Marilyn -- in fact, she turned 42 (Marilyn left us aged 36) the day before one of her episodes premiered!
* ''Series/MrShow'' features a sketch in which adult members of a youth outreach group play the roles of TotallyRadical teens to deliver conservative aesops. One member of the group is bald, with a full beard, and his teen character states, "I love playing those damn video games!"

* ''Series/TheOC'' is guilty of this, as mentioned in the main page quote, with teens in their late 20s and parents in their early 30s. It [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade]] on this trope, among many others, with their show-within-a-show, "The Valley."
-->'''Seth''': That guy plays high school?\\
'''Ryan''': Hollywood, man.
* In ''Series/TheLateShow1992'', there was a sketch in which Jane Kennedy parodied a young girl who was experiencing 15 minutes of fame after delivering a speech at the Olympic Games. Kennedy was in her late 20s at the time and described herself as "an 11 year-old girl...with slightly overdeveloped breasts".

* ''Series/The100'' runs on this trope: Creator/BobMorley played 23-year-old Bellamy beginning at age 29, while Creator/LindseyMorgan (24), Creator/ElizaTaylor (24), Creator/MarieAvgeropoulos (27), Creator/ChristopherLarkin (26), Creator/DevonBostick (22), Creator/RichardHarmon (22), Creator/ThomasMcDonell (27), and more played teenaged main characters. The six-year time jump between seasons four and five averts this to some extent. Meanwhile, beginning in season two, then-20-year-old Creator/AlyciaDebnamCarey as Lexa (who is in her early twenties according to {{Word of God}}) averts this trope.

* ''Series/JustTheTenOfUs'': Teen characters Marie and Connie were played by 24-year-old Creator/HeatherLangenkamp and 25-year-old [=JoAnn=] Willette.

* ''The Jeffersons'' -- Isabel Sanford (Louise) was 21 years older than Sherman Hemsley (George)!

* 31-year-old Gerard Christopher was cast as the title character in the live-action ''[[Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperboy Superboy]]'' series which ran from 1988-1992. Superboy/Clark Kent was supposed to be a 19- or 20-year-old college sophomore at the time.
* On the SoapOpera ''Series/AllMyChildren'', 15-year old Creator/SarahMichelleGellar first appeared on the show as 16-year old Kendall, the the long-lost teenage daughter of the series' main character, Erica Kane (Susan Lucci), in 1993. Since Susan Lucci had been on the show as Erica Kane since its 1970 premiere and the show said 16-year old Kendall was conceived when her mother was a teenager, timeline errors were pointed out and Gellar's character was [[SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome rapidly aged]] from 16 to her early twenties some time later (nonetheless, even after being rapidly aged, Kendall was still written as a teenager). After this, a teenage Gellar played a young adult character in her early twenties and nobody really bought it (Kendall still being written like a 16-year old didn't help much) but just wrote it off as WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief. However, Gellar was lauded in the role, called the "second coming of Erica" for her portrayal of Kendall, but decided to leave in order to pursue other opportunities. 6.5 years later, Kendall's character was recast with actress Alicia Minshew. At this time, Kendall's age was changed ''again'' with her birth year being reverted ''back to her original birth year'', making her a 16-year old girl again in 1993.
* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryMurderHouse'' - 24-year-old Evan Peters as Tate, a high school student. The five classmates that are shown are played by people in their early 20's, as well. Among the girls who bullied Violet there is 32-year-old Bianca Lawson. The only teens on the show who aren't portrayed by someone over the age of 20 are Violet and Leah, portrayed by 17-year-old Taissa Farmiga and 19-year-old Shelby Young.
* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryAsylum'', episode ''Tricks and Treats'' -- 25-year-old Devon Graye as 16-year-old Jed Potter.
* In the FX drama ''A Teacher'', 25-year-old Nick Robinson plays the 17 (later 18) year old Eric, which is {{justified}} given the show's [[TeacherStudentRomance subject matter]]. Later inverted in the finale, with the 10-year TimeSkip making Robinson be younger than his character.

* ''Series/YoungSheldon'': This applies to Sheldon's academic rival Paige Swanson. Paige is supposed to be a month younger than Sheldon, but Creator/MckennaGrace is two years older than Iain Armitage, and as of season four, is at least three years older than her character.
** Parsons himself was the same age as the high school students Sheldon went with.
* On ''Series/BigTimeRush'', Carlos Pena (21), Logan Henderson (21), James Maslow (20) and Kendall Schmidt (20) play 16-year-olds. It sort of works out, though, because of their rather boyish yet still mature good looks and their mid-pitched voices. Stephen Kramer Glickman, who played Gustavo, was 30 at the time of the show’s start, however his character was active in the ‘90s, even signing acts such as Music/GreenDay.

* Creator/SentaMoses is an actress who is very short and has very curly hair... which contributed to her playing a 17-year-old at age ''27'' on the show ''Series/{{Bull}}''. She wasn't alone on this part, however: Her 16-year-old brother was played by 25-year-old Fred Koehler.
** Similarly, she played a 16-year-old computer genius in an episode of ''Series/VengeanceUnlimited'' two years earlier (at 25).
** And in 2009, at 35, she's playing an apparently early 20-something computer tech on ''Series/GeneralHospital''.
* ''Series/{{Californication}}'' -- 22-year-old Madeline Zima as 16-year-old Mia Lewis. [[LampshadeHanging Few of the other characters can believe she is really 16.]]
* The 2018 reboot of ''Series/{{Charmed|2018}}'' had 22-year-old Creator/SarahJeffery playing college freshman Maggie Vera.
* ''Series/ClubDerRotenBander'' Most relevant examples are:
** Leo, who in series is 16 while actor Tim Oliver Schultz is 27.
** And Toni who is also supposed to be 16 but because of his Aspergers acts much younger. Actor Ivo Kortlang is 21.

* ''Series/CobraKai'': Most of the main cast members are in their 20s as high school students around the age of 16. The oldest being 22 year old Creator/MaryMouser as Samantha.

* ''Series/ColdCase'' -- In the episode "Love Conquers Al," then-22-year-old Summer Glau plays a teen athlete.

* ''Series/CriminalMinds'' - 23-year-old Creator/EvanPeters plays a 16-year-old abductee in an episode called ''Mosley Lane.''
* The ''Series/{{CSI}}'' episode "Neverland" heavily featured three fourteen-year-old characters. Two were played by actual kids of that age (one from ''Series/{{Heroes}}''). The last was played by an [[Series/ICarly actor]] who was 18 at the time.
* In ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' "Grounds for Deception", Stella Bonasera is revealed to have been born in 1975, making her character 35 at the time that Creator/MelinaKanakaredes, who portrays her, was 42.

* In ''Series/DarkMatter'', Five, stated to be 16 years old, is played by 22-year-old Jodelle Ferland.
* The 1998 MadeForTVMovie of ''David And Lisa'' has Lukas Haas (22 at the time) and Creator/BrittanyMurphy (21) as the title teens (which is nowhere near as extreme as the 1962 cinema version elsewhere on this page).

* ''Series/EightSimpleRules'': Amy Davidson, who was 25 in real-life, played a 15-year-old.
* The Mexican comedy ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'' has all of its child characters (around eight years old or so) played by adults over 30. The result is, of course, hilarious.

* Sunmer Glau was already 24 when she played 17 year old River on ''{{Series/Firefly}}''
* ''Series/{{The Flash|2014}}'''s fifth season introduces Nora West-Allen, who is the daughter of Barry Allen and Iris West-Allen that came from the future. Nora's parents are in their late 20s-early 30s, which fit their actors' ages - Creator/GrantGustin (29) and Creator/CandicePatton (31). Nora, who's still meant to only be in her mid-20s, was played by Creator/JessicaParkerKennedy, who was ''35''.

Shaquille O'Neal guest-starred as himself on ''Series/FreshOffTheBoat''. However, since the series is a mid-[[TheNineties 90s]] PeriodPiece, this meant that he had to play himself as a 23-year-old despite being in his mid-40s when the show was being filmed. This is given a LampshadeHanging when Louis is visibly shocked by Shaq's appearance, noting that he looks much bigger in real life than on TV, as he got bigger over the years. Shaq attempts to play it off by saying that all he has to do is "[[BigEater Skip third lunch]]" to get back in shape for the next NBA season.

* All the older teenage characters in the HBO adaptation of ''Series/GameOfThrones'', such as Jon Snow, Danaerys Targaryen, Robb Stark, Samwell Tarly, Theon Greyjoy, Loras Tyrell, Gendry and for Season Two Margaery Tyrell, as played by Natalie Dormer. The characters are all between fifteen (aged up roughly two years from the books) and early twenties (in Margaery's case), the actors between 23 and 29.
* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'':
** 21-year-old Creator/MillyAlcock plays Rhaenyra Targaryen, who starts the series at age 15. However, the series has a lot of timeskips which bring the age gap closer; in the final episode where Alcock plays Rhaenyra, the latter is about 18.
** Downplayed with Alicent Hightower, a woman Rhaenyra's age, who is played by 18-year-old Creator/EmilyCarey.
** Laena Velaryon, whose teenage and adult selves are each played by actresses a decade older. Her 15-year-old self is played by 25-year-old Savannah Steyn. Her 25-year-old self is played by 35-year-old Creator/NannaBlondell.
** Aegon Targaryen, at age 13, is played by Ty Tennant, who was 19. There ''is'' a scene where Aegon masturbates in the nude, which would have been impossible to film with an underage actor. When Aegon actually reaches 19 years old, he is recast with Creator/TomGlynnCarney, who was 26 at the time.
** 17-year-old Aemond Targaryen is played by 25-year-old Creator/EwanMitchell. It becomes obvious when you compare him to Jacaerys and Lucerys Velaryon, who are only a few years younger than Aemond, but are played by age-appropriate Harry Collett and Elliot Grihault, as Mitchell noticeably ''towers'' over them, and looks far older to boot (this is actually touched upon in-universe, as Jace and Luke are shocked when they reunite with Aemond after six years and see how much of a {{Hunk}} he has become).

* Lampshaded(?) on ''Gidget''. 15-year-old Gidget (played by 19-year-old Sally Field) fails to convince a job interviewer that she's 19.
* At 27 years old Keiko Agena played the then 15- or 16-year-old character Lane Kim in ''Series/GilmoreGirls''. Creator/MiloVentimiglia was 25 when he started playing 17-year-old Jess, and Liza Weil (Paris) and Shelly Cole (Madeline) were 23 and 25 respectively when they played 16-year-olds. Only Creator/JaredPadalecki (Dean) and Teal Redmann (Louise) were firmly in their teens at the beginning of the show, while Alexis Bledel (Rory) was growing out of them, at 19.
* ''Series/GinnyAndGeorgia'': Antonia Gentry was 23 playing the 15 year old Ginny when the series started. This also goes for most other teenage characters on the show.

** [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity Ensued]] with a [[MoralGuardians Parents' Television Council]] statement on the "near pedophilia" of a racy GQ shoot starring Lea Michele and Dianna Agron. Both were 24. That said, their clothes and hairstyles were clearly designed to make them ''look'' as young as possible, so the legitimacy of this accusation is in the eye of the viewer. And that's putting aside the incorrect definition of pedophilia that they were using.
** Of the season 4 additions to the cast, 20 year old Blake Jenner was playing high school sophomore Ryder Lynn.
* The TV adaptation of ''Series/{{Gossip Girl|2007}}'' is chock full of this. There were Creator/BlakeLively, Creator/PennBadgley, Creator/EdWestwick (all 20), Creator/LeightonMeester (21), Creator/ChaceCrawford and Creator/JessicaSzohr (both 22) playing teenagers. Spoofed on ''Series/TheDailyShow'' after the 2008 Olympics scandal of the Chinese gymnasts possibly being underage; Stewart questioned how qualified Americans are to judge such a thing with a shot of the ''GG'' cast.

* ''Series/HemlockGrove'': 17-year old Roman Godfrey is portrayed by then 23-year old Creator/BillSkarsgard in season 1. And although Peter Rumancek's age isn't explicitly mentioned, since they're both in their senior year he can be assumed to also be around 17-18, but Landon Liboiron was 22 at the time.
* In ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', Nicholas D'Agosto was 27 years old when he started playing high school student West Rosen.

* 25-year-old Steve Burns (of WesternAnimation/BluesClues fame) played a bullied high-school student in a 1998 episode of Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet.

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' is a minor example in that Ted, Lily and Marshall are all supposed to be the same age yet Creator/JasonSegel is nearly 6 years younger than Creator/JoshRadnor and Creator/AlysonHannigan. The age gap between Creator/CobieSmulders and Creator/NeilPatrickHarris is 9 years, as opposed to the 4 between Robin and Barney. A more obvious example is the flashbacks to scenes in college, with the characters' younger selves still played by the same actors. The same goes for the flash forward scenes, though the actors are usually heavily made up to look older. In "Time Travellers" however, 20-years-from-now Ted and Barney, who'd both be in their fifties look pretty much the same as before.
* Creator/JennetteMcCurdy began playing Sam Puckett on ''Series/{{ICarly}}'' when she was 14; by the time the series ended she was 20, and when the spinoff ''Series/SamAndCat'' ceased production she was 21. Similarly, her ''Sam & Cat'' costar Music/ArianaGrande was 20 when Nickelodeon shut it down (they turned 22 and 21 - both actresses have their birthdays on June 26 - before the network officially cancelled the show).

* The television version made in Italy in the '70s of the book ''Il Giornalino di Gian Burrasca'' (''Johnny Whirlwind's Diary'') have 30-year-old people as 6-year-old children.

** In season 2, Creator/JanetMcTeer is likely much older than Jessica's mother is supposed to be. This is justified given that she's said to have undergone extensive reconstructive surgery following the car accident.
* German actress Josefine Preuss has looked mostly the same since she was about 15. Guess which roles she’s usually casted

* ''Series/KathAndKim's'' Kim is supposed to be in her mid-to-late 20s. Gina Riley, the actress who plays her, is pushing 50.

* A 2006 episode of Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent guest-stars 21-year-old Creator/MichelleTrachtenberg as a 17-year-old known as weepingwillow17. Though apparently based on the WebVideo/Lonelygirl15 phenomenon, weepingwillow17 actually is 17.

** In ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' [[spoiler:this was gender-reversed; the conwoman was turned into a pair of paedophiles, the girlfriends were date-raped and the guidance counselor was killed when he found out]].
* 27-year-old Peta Wilson as 18-year-old Nikita in ''Series/LaFemmeNikita''. 31-year-old Marnie [=McPhail=] as her childhood friend of the same age in the second episode of the first season. [[spoiler:Though it turns out she's an imposter, but this trope is still pretty glaring until the HeelFaceTurn]].

* ''Series/LostLoveInTimes'': The princes, from oldest to youngest, are played by Gao Yi Qing (born 1983), Ji Chen (born 1981), William Chan (born 1985), Wang Ruo Lin (born 1980), Xu Hai Qiao (born 1983), Zhang He (born 1984), Gong Jun (born 1992), and Xu Jia Wei (born 1989).
* ''Series/{{Lucifer|2016}}'': Season 5 reveals that 17-year-old Linda gave birth to a daughter in 1994, meaning she was born in either 1976 or 1977. Her actress, Rachael Harris, was born in 1968.

* ''Series/{{LivAndMaddie}}: Despite playing a teenage character, Jessica Maria Garcia was 26 when the show premiered and 30 when it ended.
* ''[[Series/MADtv MADtv]]'' parodies and lampshades this repeatedly in "Pretty White Kids With Problems". The actors are obviously way too old to be playing teenagers, which they constantly make sure to point out.
-->'''Actor in his mid-30s:''' 15 can be a difficult age. And that's how old I am. 15 (he turns to glance at something behind him, showing the bald spot in the back of his head).

* The Brazilian soap opera ''Series/{{Malhacao}}'' (Young Hearts in English) is infamous for this. Most of the seasons are set in the Ensino Médio (the brazilian equivalent of High School) with adult actors in their early-mid 20's playing students of ages around 15-17 years old.

* Matt [=LeBlanc=] played underaged boys from his first appearance at age 18 on ''TV 101'', until he landed his role on ''Series/{{Friends}}''. He specialized in playing the boyfriend to underaged female characters on sitcoms such as ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' and ''Just the Ten of Us''. as the good-looking, Italian "hunk" (from some unspecified East Coast city).

* ''[=McHale=]'s Navy'' ran from 1962 to 1966. In peacetime, to find a Third or Second Class Petty Officer (E-4, E-5) in their thirties or forties, you would have to look extremely hard. Most are in their twenties. This is especially true in wartime when advancement is obscenely easy. Ernest Borgnine served in the real Navy during WWII, getting out as a First Class Petty Officer at age 28, but also played a Commander at age 45, which is not unreasonable. Another actor, Victor Mature, was in the Coast Guard in WWII, and he made Chief Petty Officer (E-7) in 14 months. Given this, some of the casting for "[=McHale=]'s Navy" was extremely egregious. Carl Ballantine (PO2 Gruber) was 47, in real world he would have been an E-7/E-8, not an E-5. Billy Sands was 51, too old for the military, peacetime or wartime. Surprisingly, most of the others were at least close to their appropriate age. I believe it was a case of the producers not caring.
* In the 1998 series ''{{Series/Merlin|1998}}'', Sam Neill (who was 51 when the film was released) played Merlin for about two-thirds of the first half of the film and all of the second half. However, it wasn't until the second half that Merlin would have been around that age in-story (because of the time skip necessary for Arthur to grow up). During the entire first half, he was less than half that age. [[JustifiedTrope The reason for this is probably because having Merlin portrayed by an actor of the appropriate age at all times would have left Sam Neil playing Merlin for only one half of the entire film]].

** Siblings Axl Heck (15 in Season 1) and Sue Heck (13 in season 1) are portrayed by actors born in 1990 and late 1991 respectively, even though both do a good job of acting and looking (almost) the right age. Brick Heck (8 in Season 1), is portrayed by Atticus Shaffer, who was 11 at the time. Shaffer was 14 playing an 11 year old, but due to his small stature (a result of osteogenesis imperfecta), he pulls it off most convincingly.

** The 19-turning-20 year old main trio, Bambang, Alan, and Prima, are respectively played by Madkucil (28, ironically playing the youngest), Rifat Sungkar (25), and Sakurta Ginting (23). In Bambang's case, people in-universe occasionally comment that he doesn't look his age.

* In the MiniSeries adaptation of Creator/ArthurHailey's ''The Moneychangers'', callgirl Avril Devereaux -- a blonde in her twenties in the novel -- is played by Creator/JoanCollins. While the hair colour can be overlooked, her being 43 years old at the time is another matter. (Then again, producer Ross Hunter was known for skewing older in his casting choices.)
* ''Series/MrBelvedere'' - Kevin is a sophomore in high school (around 16 years old) and played by 23-year-old Rob Stone, who had recently attended the University of Southern California.

** Also, the episode called "Crossroads," where the characters recount stories of their younger selves and then the middle-aged actors play the younger version of their characters in the flashback. Most notably 40-year-old Creator/MarkiePost as a 19-year-old version of Christine.

* ''Series/OnceUponATime''

** Though the age may not be explicitly stated like the Emma example, many of the actors play the younger version of their characters, at least a decade younger, for instance early 30s Ginnifer Goodwin playing Snow White as a young adult/late teens. Other people in their 30s playing much, much younger versions include Lana Parrilla and Josh Dallas.

** In the ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' arc in season 4, 29 year old Creator/GeorginaHaig is a 23 year old Queen Elsa (official ''Frozen'' tie-in material states that Elsa was 21 in the movie when she was coronated, and the flashback scenes with her and Anna take place 2 years later). Less so with 22 year old Creator/ElizabethLail playing 20 year old Princess Anna.

* In the BritCom ''Series/OnTheBuses'', ''Reg Varney'' played the role of Stan Butler, a bus driver in his late 20s, he was '''53''' years old when the series started.

* ''Series/ParkerLewisCantLose'' -- Older actors playing teens include Corin Nemic, Billy Jayne, Abraham Benrubi, Jennifer Guthrie, Harold Pruett, all in their early 20s.

** ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'' has Bridge, canonically 21 (despite the Jetix website inexplicably listing him as 17), played by 27 year old Matt Austin.

* Most of the teenagers on ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'' were played by people who were very much not in their teens. The TimeSkip to five years in the future was a smart move, given that Creator/TroianBellisario (whose character of Spencer Hastings was born in 1994) turned ''30'' in October 2015. That's not even the worst case, considering Tammin Sursok was 27 when she started playing Jenna Marshall. Troian was actually older than Drew Van Acker, who played her older brother

* ''Series/RaisingHope'' - In the 2012 episode called ''Poking Holes in the Story,'' 31-year-old ''Kara Taitz'' and 28-year-old ''Igal Ben Yair'' play teen characters ''Natalie'' and ''Robert'' who are wrestling with the decision to take each other's virginities. Natalie discusses this issue with 38-year-old Virginia (played by 42-year-old Martha Plimpton). Virginia is married to 40-year-old ''Burt'' (played by 48-year-old Garret Dillahunt), as they both have a son who is 23, who was born when they were 15 and 17.
* Actress Rachel True played teenagers when she was in her early 30s and young twenty-somethings when she was in her late 30s to early 40s.

* ''Series/TheRiseOfPhoenixes'': Ning Yi is in his late twenties, while Chen Kun was 41 during filming. Luckily he looks younger than he is.

* Inverted to the point of absurdity on ''Series/{{Rome}}'' where Vorena the Younger and little Lucius are played by children under the age of ten throughout the series, in spite of nearly 20 years passing from the pilot to the finale. Especially odd when Octavian ages properly, and when Caesarion, who is born when Lucius is at least four or five years old, appears to be played by someone ''older'' than the actor playing Lucius when he appears in the second season.

* ''Series/{{Roswell}}'': not one of the members of the younger cast (supposedly 16-17 at the start) was a teenager, with the exception of 18-year-old Majandra Delfino and (joining in mid-season) Creator/EmiliedeRavin. Creator/ShiriAppleby, Nick Wechsler and Creator/KatherineHeigl were 20, Brendan Fehr and Creator/ColinHanks were 21 and Creator/JasonBehr was a whopping 25 years old when the first season premiered.

* ''Doctor Who'' spinoff ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' features 20-year-old Daniel Anthony as 14-year-old Clyde Langer and 18-year-old Anjli Mohindra as 15-year-old Rani Chandra. Considering they had to write out two of the lead characters because their actors were taking exams, this is a rare justified example.
* ''Series/SavedByTheBell (2020)''

* Creator/SelmaBlair examples:
** ''Series/TheAdventuresOfPeteAndPete'' almost avoided this until 23-year-old Selma Blair arrived in the episode "Das Bus."
** ''Amazon High'' with 25-year-old Selma Blair as a high school student.
** ''Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane'' starring 27-year-old Selma Blair as high school student Zoe.
** The American version of ''Series/KathAndKim'' with 36-year-old SelmaBlair as twenty-something Kim (though this wasn't nearly as bad as the Australian version; see below.)
* In ''Series/SeventhHeaven'' Creator/BarryWatson was 22 when he started playing high school junior Matt Camden, though the rest of the actors playing the Camden kids were of the right age.
** Beverley Mitchell was 15 playing the 12-year-old Lucy Camden in season 1, making her ''older'' than Jessica Biel, who was around the same age as the 14-year-old Mary Camden in season 1.
* On the UK "dramedy" ''Series/ShamelessUK'' 21-year-old Fiona Gallagher was portrayed by then 33-year-old Anne-Marie Duff. In an interview, the actress herself admitted that she was surprised to have been offered the role, as she thought she was "too old to be seen for it."
** The show also gives us 15-year old Ian (played by 20-year old Gerard Kearns) and 16-year-olds Lip, Mandy and Karen, played by actors who were 22, 22 and 21 respectively.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek''

*** The best known example is Ensign Pavel Chekov, who was supposed to be 22 years old when 31-year-old Walter Koenig joined the show in 1967.

*** When first introduced, 19-year old Ziyal was played by (then) 23-year old Cyia Batten and (then) 25-year old Tracy Middendorf. During her major appearances in seasons five and six, she was around 21-22 years old and was played by (then) 34-year old Melanie Smith.

** In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Alexander Rozhenko is portrayed first by four-year-old Jon Steuer when he's supposed to be not even two, then by 9-11 year old Brian Bonsall when Alexander is 3-5, and finally by 21-year-old Marc Worden in ''Deep Space Nine'' when he should be about ''eight or nine''. The in-universe explanation is that Klingons mature more quickly than humans, but this is the only case across the franchise where this is stated to be the case, and other references seem to indicate otherwise (not to mention that Alexander is one-fourth human).
** Similarly, in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', 3-5 year old Naomi Wildman is played by 10-12 year old Creator/ScarlettPomers, who looks at least 7 at the onset of the role. As with Alexander, it's implied that her non-human ancestry causes her to age more quickly (which many fans found ironic since her mother's pregnancy was exceptionally long, a fact which was ''also'' explained by Naomi not being fully human).

* While averted for the younger cast, it's played barely straight for the teenage cast of ''Series/StrangerThings''. 24 year old Creator/JoeKeery played 17 year old Steve Harrington, 22 year old Creator/CharlieHeaton played 16 year old Jonathan Byers, 21 year old Creator/NataliaDyer played 16 year old Nancy Wheeler, all in Season 1, whereas 22 year old Creator/DacreMontgomery played 17 year old Billy Hargrove in Season 2 and 21 year old Creator/MayaHawke played 17 year old Robin Buckley in Season 3.
* ''Series/StrangersWithCandy'' -- 30-something Creator/AmySedaris plays 40-something Jerri Blank, who decides to go back to high school as a freshman. Jerri doesn't lie about her age, and this trope is mostly inverted by casting actual teens as the students to make the situation seem even more ridiculous. Until the last episode, when 30-year-old Creator/WinonaRyder played "Fran" [[AlphaBitch the coolest girl at school]].

* Franchise/SuperSentai examples:

* ''Tabitha,'' the SpinOff to ''Series/{{Bewitched}},'' follows 20-something Lisa Hartman as the 20-something Tabitha Stephens. So far, so good. Except for the intro that shows a photo album filled with images of Tabitha, sequentially to show her growing up, and focuses on one photograph in particular with the caption, "Tabitha with Jerry Goldberg at 15." The photograph becomes animated, showing 20-something Lisa in the picture, (with youthful pigtails and freckles, as pointed out in simultaneous narration), sharing a milkshake with a young man. Just one of several flashbacks in the one and only season that it lasted, though possibly justified as witches in the Bewitched franchise can alter how old they look.

* The British Children's series TopsyAndTim featured Jocelyn Macnab (7-9 at the time of filming) and Joshua Lester (7-8 at the time of filming) as the 4-6 year old titular characters.

* ''Series/{{Firefly}}''. Summer Glau's portrayal of River Tam, She was 21 (23 during the filming of ''Film/{{Serenity}}'') but River was only seventeen. And in the R. Tam Sessions, it went even further, with Glau playing River when she was ''fourteen'' years old. Surprisingly, she plays all these ages quite convincingly as she still looks very much like a teenager now.

* On ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'', 16/17-year-old Creator/RavenSymone played 14-year-old Raven Baxter and 18-year-old Anneliese van der Pol played 15-year-old Chelsea.
* ''Series/ThirteenReasonsWhy'':
** Timothy Granaderos playing 17-year-old Montgomery de la Cruz at '''32'''. Otherwise, the majority of the cast are in their mid- to late-20s, with Devin Druid (Tyler) being the youngest at 21.
** A strange example in that Chelsea Alden (Mackenzie) is 30 and Bryce Cass (Cyrus) is 22, Mackenzie being Cyrus' '''younger''' sister.

* While ''[[Series/Titans2018 Titans]]'' averted this by having 14-year-old Creator/TeaganCroft portray the teenage [[{{ComicBook/Raven}} Rachel Roth]], her love interest Gar Logan is played by 23-year-old Creator/RyanPotter, even though the character is also supposed to be a teenager around Rachel's age. This was presumably due to Gar's frequent nude scenes, which would have been more difficult to film with an underage actor.

* ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'' always employed this trope, for example 21-year-old Creator/AlysonHannigan in ''Cassie's Choice,'' 21-year-old Melissa Joan Hart in ''Angels on the Air,'' 23-year-old Lukas Behnken in ''Minute by Minute,'' and 23-year-old Joey Lawrence and 26-year-old Paige Moss in ''Fool for Love.''
* ''Series/TrueBlood'': Obviously inverted with most of the vampires, who are centuries old but are mostly played by actors born no earlier than the 1950s. Played straight, though, for Jessica Hamby. She is said to be 17 years old when she gets turned by Bill Compton. Creator/DeborahAnnWoll was 23 years old when she debuted as Jessica late in season 1, and 29 by the show's final season in 2014.
* Kal Penn was 29 when he played a high school student in Season 6 of ''Series/TwentyFour''.

* Period drama ''Series/UpstairsDownstairs'' is an interesting {{justified|Trope}} case: at the beginning of the series, Elizabeth Bellamy is 17, played by 26-year-old Nicola Pagett. But there are frequent {{Time Skip}}s forward, making the character around 29 at her final episode.
** Pauline Collins is several years older than the age of her character, Sarah, in the first few episodes, but like Elizabeth, they line up better by her last episode. It seems less egregious with an adult actor, because it's perfectly legitimate to cast someone according to the age she appears, rather than her actual age, and Collins did look younger than she was.

* ''[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/V1983 V1983]]'' - 24-year-old Blair Tefkin as 17-year-old Robin Maxwell

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead''

* ''Series/{{Webster}}'' -- Teenaged Emmanuel Lewis plays a seven-year-old.

* Creator/WillSmith was 21 when he began playing the 16-year-old titular character of ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir''. His music had already established that trend, with story songs placing him in the role of a young teen in high school even though he was in his late teens and early twenties at the time.

* ''Series/{{Popular}}'' -- A show about two opposite groups of high school sophomores, some explicitly stated as 15 and 16. From youngest to oldest, there's Carly Pope (19), Creator/SaraRue (20), Bryce Johnson (22), Tamara Mello (23), Leslie Bibb (25), Creator/ChristopherGorham (25), Tammy Lynn Michaels (25), Creator/LeslieGrossman (28). Ron Lester was 29 in the first season, therefore 30 in the second season and still playing a teen.
* In ''Creator/{{Telemundo}}'''s soap opera Marina, the main character of the same name played by Sandra Echeverría had a son called Chuy played by Alfonso Dosal and an adoptive daughter called Patty played by Ilean ALmaguer. Curiously Sandra and Ilean were the same age (23) and Alfonso just one year younger (22) when the series was filmed.
* Inverted with Maura West, who was born in 1972, playing Diane Jenkins on Series/TheYoungAndTheRestless during 2010-2012, a character that was created when West was ten years old and was already an adult of at least 25. So not only was she playing a character old enough to be her mother, but she looked young enough that she could have been more convincingly Dawson cast than play a woman in her 50s.
* A rare example from the other end of the age spectrum can be seen in ''Series/RescueMe'' when Jerry Adler joins the cast as Chief Feinberg. Feinberg is an old man, but since he is still working a regular shift in a firehouse he presumably must be a good deal younger than the 78 years Adler was when he took the part.
* In the Creator/TimAllen series ''Series/LastManStanding'' Middle daughter Mandy Baxter, who is supposed to be a senior in high school during the first season, is played by Molly Ephraim, who was 26 when the series started in 2011.
* ''Series/HeadOfTheClass'' -- Most of the cast members are in their 20s, but Dan Frischman was in his late 20s and early 30s during the show's run from 1986 to 1991. The creators and producers of the show have said this... Season One: 9th grade, Season Two: 10th grade, Season Three: 11th grade, Season Four: First semester of 12th grade, Season Five: Second semester of 12th grade. So they were all playing 14 year olds in the first season.
* ''Series/{{Tinsel}}'' has a 27-year-old playing the character of [[JailbaitTaboo 17-year-old Emil]]. Cue fans feeling the [[LikesOlderWomen romance]] between him and the older Angela Dede as TooSexyForThisTimeslot. Same show has a woman who is obviously in her twenties playing teenager Shalewa.
* On ''Series/HawaiiFive0'', Max hasn't been given a specific age, but his biomom was killed in the 80s and he has no memory of her, making it ''likely'' that's the decade he was born in; actor Creator/MasiOka was born in '74. His love interest Sabrina is played by Rumer Willis, a full ''thirteen years'' his junior and ''actually'' born in the late 80s, but they look like they could share a birthday.
** Grace Park is already an example, but a flashback takes it even further, having Park in her late 30s play Kono in her mid teens.
* Creator/DickClark, host of ''American Bandstand'' and ''New Year's Rockin' Eve'' was called "America's oldest teen." Seriously at first back in his 20s, then humorously, then fondly with headlines like [[http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/dick-clark-entertainment-icon-nicknamed-americas-oldest-teenager/story?id=16076252 America's Oldest Teen Dead at 82]]
* ''Rags to Riches'' is a 1980s TV show about a millionaire who adopts five orphan girls, each "girl" played by a woman over the age of 18, and most of whom were over the age of 20.
* A weird example happened in ''Series/TruCalling'': 22-year-old Tru is played by the 23-year-old Eliza Dushku, which is reasonable. However, she's apparently able to pass for 17 in the episode "Star Crossed".
* ''Series/WithoutATrace'': 21-year-old Creator/EvanPeters plays a high school student in an episode called ''A Bend in the Road.''
* ''Series/DarkMatter'': Five says a fifteen-year old boy is around her age. The actress playing her, Jodelle Ferland, is twenty.
* ''Series/YouCantDoThatOnTelevision,'' Christine "Moose" [=McGlade=] was kept on the show until age 23 due to her ability to "pass as 16" while most of the other actors were between the ages of 10 and 15.
* ''Series/FakingIt'': All of the teenagers in the cast are in their 20s...though their stated ages are 15 (Karma gets a 16th birthday in season 2). This not only allows them to tackle lesbian themes...and threesomes...but it also makes the first season finale extremely {{squick}}y in at least three ways (not the least of which is that the wedding party knowingly served alcoholic drinks to minors). It's also lampshaded a couple of times through Shane, who is often mistaken for a college student.
* ''Gotham'': Possible since Cameron Monaghan is 22 while his character of Jerome Valeska is 16-17.
* ''Series/{{Victoria}}'': Creator/JennaColeman was 29 (and turned 30 during production) as she portrayed Queen Victoria starting from the age of 18 in this miniseries.
* In the final season of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' two different episodes--“Spur of the Moment” and “Number Twelve Looks Just Like You”--feature a young woman who is explicitly said to be 18. In each case, the character was played by a 28-year-old actress. In ''Spur'' it could be justified since the same character, played by the same actress, [[spoiler:is also seen 25 years older]]; in ''Twelve'' it seriously weakens the point of the episode.
* 2014's short-lived ''Series/StarCrossed'' has an example that trumps even Gabrielle Carteris from 90210: Matt Lanter portrays a 16-year old (admittedly alien) boy, despite Lanter himself being only a couple of months shy of 31 years old at the time (Carteris was 29). Made more hilarious by the fact that Lanter was on the 90210 reboot, playing a teenager when he himself was in his mid-20s.
* ''Series/TheSinner'': 35 year old Creator/JessicaBiel plays Cora Tanetti, who's 26 or 27 (judging by the fact her parents said she left in 2012 at age 23, and the show is set in 2016).
* The LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek ''I Am Elizabeth Smart'' has 20-year old Alana Boden as the then 14-15 year old Smart. Completely necessary, given the numerous rapes Elizabeth suffered during her captivity, which obviously could not be depicted with an underage actress (even then, Boden actually looks like a teenager, making a RapeDiscretionShot necessary anyway).
* Accidentally drawn attention to on ''Series/TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles''. Sixteen year old Indiana Jones joins the army by lying about his age and saying he was 22. He's eventually called out on this, with a character asking how old he really was and saying he was a "very young" 22 year old. The actor playing Indy was 27 when the episode aired and looked it.
* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': Jamie Gray Hyder played a character who's about nine years younger than her. At the time she was 33, meaning she's playing a 23 or 24 year old at most.
* Parodied in the ''[[Recap/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphiaS07E05FranksBrother Frank's Brother]]'' episode of ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'', where a teenage Frank Reynolds is just Creator/DannyDeVito in a toupee despite supposedly "not looking a day over twelve".
* ''Series/FindingCarter'': Kathryn Prescott was 23 when she played a 16 year old here. The actress playing her twin sister, Anna Jacoby Heron, was 19 starting out (which is admittedly not as big of a difference).
* ''Series/TheSchoolNurseFiles'': The students of Mokryeon High were portrayed by adults. Song Hee-jun, who was casted in the role of Hye-min was 25 in 2020, and Park Hye-eun, who was casted in the role of Ara, was 23 in 2020.
* ''Series/StElsewhere'':
** Tom Hulce was 29 when he played John Doe #12 (David Stewart), who is about 16 or 17, in "Graveyard", "Release" and "Family History". Dr. Philip Chandler repeatedly refers to David as a kid. He is played by Creator/DenzelWashington, who is one year younger than Hulce.
** Creator/EricStoltz was 21 or 22 when he played the 15-year-old Eddie Carson in "Under Pressure", "Entrapment" and "All About Eve".
** The 22-year-old Lycia Naff played the 14-year-old Maddy Holmes in the Season Three episodes "Saving Face", "Give the Boy a Hand" and "Any Portrait in a Storm".
** Robert Romanus was 29 when he played the teenager Nick Meose in the Season Four episode "The Naked and the Dead".
* The early seasons of the entire ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'' franchise are praised for avoiding this trope most of the time. In fact, both in the 80s and 2000s incarnations, it was actually the producers' intention to cast real kids. Except even those weren't safe.
** In ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh'' we have 14 year old Christine "Spike" Nelson, played by then 17-year-old Amanda Stepto. However, apart from not being the biggest age gap in the world, you can't really tell. Amanda doesn't look older; in fact during the first season she looked and sounded younger than 14. But by the time ''Series/DegrassiHigh'' began filming in the spring of 1989, Amanda would have been already out of high school before her character even began it. For context, Amanda was born in 1970. ''Degrassi High'' started in 1989.
** In ''Series/DegrassiHigh'', we have Dwayne Myers played by Darrin Brown, who was only born a few months after Amanda. He too would have already been at university while his character was in high school.
** ''Next Generation'' began continuing the trend of casting real kids as a backlash to other teen dramas, but even from the beginning it veered into this trope, with Sean and Hazel's actors already being 16 playing middle schoolers. Then in season 3, there is Jay Hogart, played by 19 year old Mike Lobel, and Rick Murray, played by 18 year old Ephraim Ellis. As for Rick, he doesn't look that much older than his character. As for Jay, people have cracked jokes about him looking 25 and still going to high school.
** Starting from season 10 of ''Next Generation'', when said subtitle was dropped, we have Eli Goldsworthy, played by Munro Chambers, who was already 20. By the time his character graduated, his actor would have been of or close to the age to graduate college. There's also countless other examples. It's worth noting that this is when they switched episode formats and the timeline began to move slowly, so this trope would gradually get worse over time.
* ''Series/WhenTheySeeUs'': Yusef Salaam is about 23 years old when we first see him out of prison. He's played by Chris Chalk, who was 39 during filming.
* ''Series/SneakyPete'': In the final season, Carly is still a 17-year-old high school student, while the actress playing her was about 26 at the time of filming.
* ''{{Series/Euphoria}}'': All of the actors are older than their high school-age characters, usually by at least four years, likely due to the nature and large amount of sexual content.
* ''Literature/NOS4A2'': In the series, Vic (who's seventeen at the start) is played by twenty six year old Ashleigh Cummings. Similar age gaps exist with the actors who play other teenage characters.
* In the MiniSeries ''Queen'' (based on the life of Alex Haley's paternal grandmother), Creator/HalleBerry plays the teenaged Queen even though she was in her early 20's at the time, though this is justified by her continuing to play the part as her character aged.
* The Polish historical drama ''Crown of Kings'' has a 22 year old acctress play the 12 year old Jadwiga, King of Poland. This is deliberate to hide the UnfortunateImplications of the fact that the Jadwiga is about to marry Prince Jagiela who was 35 at the time of the wedding. Subverted with Jagiela's actor who looks to be in his twenties but is actually 34. The audience sees a couple who appear close in age and are not squicked out by the fact that the a child is about to marry someone 13 years older than her.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'':
** In "A Message from Charity", Robert Duncan [=McNeill=] was 20 when he played the 16-year-old Peter Wood while Kerry Noonan was 25 when she played Charity Payne, who is much the same age.
** In "The Toys of Caliban", David Greenlee was 26 when he played Toby Ross, who is supposed to be in his early teens at most.
** In "Joy Ride", Creator/RobertKnepper was 27 and Brooke [=McCarter=] and Heidi Kozak were both 23 when they played the teenagers Alonzo, Greg and Adrienne.
** In "Private Channel", Scott Coffey was 22 when he played the 16-year-old Keith Barnes.
** In "Time and Teresa Golowitz", Wallace Langham was 22, Grant Heslov was 23 and Creator/GinaGershon was 24 when they played Nelson Baxley, Bluestone and Laura Schuppe, all of whom are 16 or 17.
** In "Song of the Younger World", Jennifer Rubin was 25 when she played the teenager Amy Hawkline.
* With one exception, listed below, ''Series/{{Runaways 2017}}'' concerns a group of high schoolers played by 20 year olds (up to 25 in Creator/GreggSulkin's case).
* The entire cast of ''Series/AllAmerican''. Creator/DanielEzra, who plays Spencer, was 26 when filming started, and he is only 13 years younger than Creator/KarimahWestbrook, who plays his on-screen mom, Grace. Creator/BreZ (Coop) is the worst, playing a junior high school student at 31 years old.
* ''Series/{{Stargirl|2020}}'': Most of the teenage cast were already in their early twenties by the time the show began filming.
* In ''Series/SomedayOrOneDay'', this is in effect with all the high school-aged characters, though special mention with Huang Yu Xuan (27 years old) and Chen Yun Ru (17 going on 18) being quite younger than [[ActingForTwo their actress]] Alice Ke (who was 34-35 when the show was airing).

* In "[[Recap/ResidentAlienS2E5FamilyDay Family Day]]" from ''Series/ResidentAlien'', teen daughter Liza Vanderspeigle is played by Taylor Blackwell, who was in her early 20s at time of filming.
* ''Series/InFromTheCold'': Lydia Fleming, 25 at the time of the series' debut, plays teenager Becca Franklin.
* ''Series/TheDropout'' is a partial case: Creator/AmandaSeyfried and Creator/NaveenAndrews are about the same age as Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani, the real people they're playing. However, the action starts when Holmes is supposed to be 17-18 years old. Andrews' difference is not so obvious, but of course the appearance of 35-year-old Seyfried contrasts in scenes where Holmes's young age is brought up, like when she is on the phone with Balwani and wondering what is she doing at 19 with a guy his age.
* ''Series/WeAreWhoWeAre'': Fraser and Caitlin are two 14 year olds. Both their actors were at least three or four years older than that when filming occurred.

* ''Series/ThePower2023'': The teenagers on the show are as usual played by actors in their early twenties.

** Similarly, in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', 3-5 year old Naomi Wildman is played by 10-12 year old Scarlett Pomers, who looks at least 7 at the onset of the role. As with Alexander, it's implied that her non-human ancestry causes her to age more quickly (which many fans found ironic since her mother's pregnancy was exceptionally long, a fact which was ''also'' explained by Naomi not being fully human).

** Aegon Targaryen, at age 13, is played by Ty Tennant, who was 19. There ''is'' a scene where [[ADateWithRosiePalms Aegon masturbates in the nude]], which would have been impossible to film with an underage actor. When Aegon actually reaches 19 years old, he is recast with Creator/TomGlynnCarney, who was 26 at the time.

* Most of the teenagers on ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'' were played by people who were very much not in their teens. The TimeSkip to five years in the future was a smart move, given that Creator/TroianBellisario (whose character of Spencer Hastings was born in 1994) turned ''30'' in October 2015. That's not even the worst case, considering Tammin Sursok was 27 when she started playing Jenna Marshall.

* A five year TimeSkip between the fourth and fifth seasons of ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' has led to this trope being inverted for several of the characters: 23-year-old Danielle Van de Kamp and 24-year-old Julie Mayer are now several years ''older'' than the actresses playing them (19-year-old Joy Lauren and 18-year-old Andrea Bowen).

-->'''Seth''': That guy plays high school?

** Laine [=MacNeil=], 19-20, portrayed Ava, who's a 16 year old.

[[folder:Exceptions]]
* Despite being the TropeNamer, ''Dawson's Creek'' does have one exception with Michelle Williams, who really was 17 when she began work on the series. This was likely enabled by the fact that Williams was [[EmancipatedChild emancipated]] by this point, meaning that she was legally considered an adult for purposes of labor laws despite technically being under 18.
* Claire Danes (Angela) and Devon Gummersall (Brian) from ''Series/MySoCalledLife'' really were teenagers at the time of filming -- although the rest of the teenage characters were played by twentysomethings (including the aforementioned Senta Moses).
** This is a rare, possibly unique inversion, especially for an actress, as the producers knew that Danes was only 13 years old (at the start of filming) yet they still cast her to play a character two full years older than the actress, without any retcons or fudging the numbers.
** Justified with Jared Leto in the character of Jordan, who is repeating the grade the rest of the kids are in...at least for the second time.
* ''Series/BeverlyHills90210'' did manage to avoid this in a few cases: Creator/ShannenDoherty (19) and Jennie Garth (18) were borderline, but at least they were still teenagers. Brian Austin Green and Tori Spelling, both 17, were clear aversions. Douglas Emerson, who played Scott Scanlon, was actually 16, making him the only actor the same age as his character, but he was [[TonightSomeoneDies written off]] in the second season.
* Most of the original cast on ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' were close to age-correct, though there was a little leakage into the 20s by graduation from the portion of the cast not from the original ''Good Morning Miss Bliss'':
** Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who played Zack, was 14 when he started on ''Good Morning Miss Bliss'', playing an eighth-grader and was 19 at "graduation". Lark Voorhies, who played Lisa, was only a few weeks younger than Gosselaar. Dustin Diamond was ''three'' years younger than them, and the youngest in the cast, playing an eighth-grader at age 11 (and a high schooler at 12). If you were wondering why it took so long for Screech's voice to drop, that's why.
** The two kids from ''Good Morning Miss Bliss'' who did ''not'' carry over to ''Saved By The Bell'', Max Battimo and Heather Hopper, were 14 and 12 respectively.
** Mario Lopez (Slater) started out at age 16, graduating at 20; Tiffani(-Amber) Thiessen started at 15, making her the same age as Gosselaar and Voorhies. Elizabeth Berkley is the same age as the latter three.
* In general, Creator/DisneyChannel is pretty good at averting this trope.
** The ''other'' kids on ''Series/HannahMontana'', including star Music/MileyCyrus, were actually in their early-to-mid-teens when the show started, making the casting of Jackson all the more glaring -- and baffling, though that only applies when you find out his actual age. At the start of the show in 2006, he was approaching 29. This is funny in that he's more believable as a teen in ''Hannah Montana'' than he is as a grown adult in ''Dadnapped''.
** Averted in ''Series/ShakeItUp'', where the characters are supposed to be in high school. In fact, leads Creator/BellaThorne (Cece) and Adam Irigoyen (Deuce) were only 13 years old playing high school freshmen at the start of the series.
** Mostly averted with ''Series/SonnyWithAChance'' and its spinoff ''Series/SoRandom'', except for one member of the core cast, Tiffany Thornton, who was 24 years of age when she played 17-year-old Tawni Hart. The show itself pokes fun at this trope in an episode when the characters goes to an award show and the category "Best Cast of Adults Portraying Teenagers" is said to be won by ''Series/{{Glee}}''.
** Veronica Dunne is the only cast member of ''Series/KCUndercover'' to play this trope straight - she turned 20 not long after the series began its run, which means come season 2 she'll not be a teenager, unlike her character Marisa Clark.
* Franchise/SuperSentai often averts the trope: post-2000 series rarely feature main cast members older than 22-23 maximum, save for some {{Sixth Ranger}}s who were older than the main heroes. Several recent series have had 15 to 17-year-old characters played by actors of the same age and even teenagers playing characters ''older'' than themselves -- ''[[Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger Shinkenger]]'' has 14-year-old Runa Natsui as 17-year-old Kaoru. There are however a few examples of the trope played straight, such as ''[[Series/TensouSentaiGoseiger Goseiger]]'' where 20-year-old Mikiho Niwa plays 17-year-old Moune.
** In ''Series/TokumeiSentaiGobusters'', Ryuji is played at 28 years old by Ryouma Baba (who turned 27 soon after the start of filming) and at 15 years old by Koudai Matsuoka (a year younger than the character.)
** At 15 years old, Tsuruhime/Ninja White from ''Series/NinjaSentaiKakuranger'' is currently the youngest female hero in the franchise's history. She was played by Satomi Hirose, who was actually ''13'' at the time the show began.
** Possibly the most hilariously exaggerated inversion yet -- in ''Series/HikoninSentaiAkibaranger'', 23-year-old Yumeria Moegi is played by ''16''-year-old Karin Ogino.
* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren''
** Creator/ChristinaApplegate was 15 years old and playing a 15-year-old in the first season of (her character's age was said to be 16 a few months before Christina herself, making it a rare case of a teen actor ''younger'' than her role).
** David Faustino was much the same, playing a 12-year-old boy when he was in fact 12 years old. In both cases, the characters aged at the same rate as the actors. Of course, while Kelly was repeatedly stated to have an active sex life, Applegate wasn't actively portrayed making out on camera until after she turned 18.
** Creator/KateySagal was 33 and Creator/EdONeill 41 when the series started, though for comedic effect Al and Peg often referred to the other as being several decades older than that. Technically O'Neill was several years too old for his character (since Al knocked Peggy up with Kelly in high school) but the extra years suited his downtrodden, weary, defeated-by-life character well. Sagal, mindful of their age difference, joked at the ReunionShow that Peggy was ''much'' younger than Al.
* ''Series/TheBill'' features a 19-year-old character, played by an actress who was 17 when she started filming.
* Creator/SarahMichelleGellar was 16 when she started playing Erica Kane's long lost daughter Kendall Hart on ''Series/AllMyChildren'' in 1993. The character was initially 16 years old but, via a {{retcon}}, her age was later changed to 23 due to the continuity errors of Erica having a teenaged daughter from a teenaged pregnancy created. When the character was brought back 6.5 years later, Kendall's birth year and age were reverted back to her original age when she first appeared as a teenager in 1993.
* ''Series/FreaksAndGeeks'' had a good percentage of its cast close to or of the high school age (24-year-old Linda Cardellini and 21-year-old James Franco being exceptions). John Francis Daley, playing a very small and scrawny 14-year-old, was the same age as his character.
** Also, in ''Series/{{Bones}}'', in which a now 24-year-old John Francis Daley plays 24-year-old [[ReplacementScrappy wunderkind]] psychologist Lance Sweets.
* In ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'', Kara "Starbuck" Thrace is about 28-29 years old by the end of the third season, going by a reference to her having graduated from the military academy six years previously. Creator/KateeSackhoff, the actress who played Kara, was only 26 at the time.
** For that matter, the fact that she was cast could be considered an [[InvertedTrope inversion of this trope]]: the original script for the miniseries described Starbuck as being in her thirties. Katee was 22 when she tried out for the part and eventually got it, despite initial objections from the casting directors that she was too young.
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' has twenty-year-old Creator/JewelStaite playing Kaylee, who is implied to be older than 17-year-old River (played by Creator/SummerGlau, who IRL was a year older than Jewel).
* ''Series/FTroop'''s "Wrangler Jane", presumably a character in her twenties, was played by Melody Patterson. Melody got the part after lying about her age initially, and was only 15 years old at the start of the show.
* ''Series/That70sShow''
** The 15-year-old character of Jackie Burkhart was played by the actually 15-year-old Creator/MilaKunis. The story goes that when asked how old she was, Mila said, "I'll be 18 [[ExactWords on my birthday]]." [[LoopholeAbuse She just didn't say which birthday.]] The producers liked her so much that they decided to keep her even when they found out the truth. Thus, she was 14 when they started filming the series, but the producers thought she was 16.
** When the show started, Creator/LauraPrepon and Wilmer Valderrama were also teens; however, they aged normally, while their characters did not.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** Creator/JaredPadalecki and Creator/JensenAckles are actually almost exactly the same ages as their characters, Sam and Dean Winchester. They are each one year older than their characters,[[note]]Although that may have just been an accident. There's a pretty large gap of time between when an episode films and when it airs, and their birthdays might have just happened in the meantime.[[/note]] but the four-year age gap between them is the same.
** However, Creator/JeffreyDeanMorgan, who plays their father, is only 12 years older than Ackles (something Padalecki and Ackles used to tease him about). This begins to border on squick for those who also watch ''Grey's Anatomy'', considering Jensen Ackles (his son) and Katherine Heigl (his girlfriend) are the same age.
** Played straight with Teen!Dean in "After School Special," but inverted with Teen!Sam: the actor playing 14-year-old Sam played 8-year-old in "A Very Supernatural Christmas" a year before. The kid was about 12 years old or maybe 13, but very small for his age.
** ''Grey's Anatomy'' watchers might also find it strange Sarah Drew plays 17-year old Nora in the season 5 episode Swap Meat despite being 30-year old, and playing an age-appropriate doctor in Grey's at the time.
** This was a big issue with season 10 regular Cole Trenton who was supposed to be 11 years younger than Dean yet his actor Travis Aaron Wade is 3 years ''older'' than Jensen Ackles.
* The cast of ''Series/{{Skins}}'' are generally the same age as the characters they play -- which makes it a rather interesting exception given the show's apparent policy of "sex, drugs, and nudity whenever possible."
** The American version landed in hot water with the MoralGuardians for casting teenaged actors, who accused the producers of violating "child pornography laws" for a semi-nude scene using a 17-year-old actor. They weren't actually doing anything illegal, but the resulting {{Squick}} did put a lot of viewers off the show.
* ''Series/GilmoreGirls'' featured 33-year-old Lauren Graham as 32-year-old Lorelai Gilmore, and 18-year-old (at the time of casting) Creator/AlexisBledel as 16-year-old Rory Gilmore.
* Creator/LucyGriffiths, who played Marian in the BBC's 2006 version of ''Series/RobinHood'' was 18 and playing a 21-year-old character in the first series.
* On ''Series/TheWire'', Jermaine Crawford (Duquan "Dukie" Weems), Maestro Harrell (Randy Wagstaff) and Creator/MichaelBJordan (Wallace) were the same ages as their characters (15, 14, and 16 respectively).
* Many Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} shows using a live-action cast actually used actors around the same age as their characters.
** Notably, ''Series/TheAdventuresOfPeteAndPete'' actually paid attention to how old the characters were and raised their ages accordingly and the producers later commented that the kids essentially grew up on the set because they'd been doing the shorts and television series for so long.
** ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'' had the title actors be the appropriate age, with Miranda Cosgrove playing a 10-year-old. But the show's timeline was different then real time, and the actors were hitting their 20s when the characters were still in High School. Cosgrove especially was about 14, still supposedly about 11 or 12.
** Same situation for ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'', sort of. Devon Werkheiser and Daniel Curtis Lee were both 13 when they started the show which is fine for 7th graders. However, for the next 2 years the show never went past 8th grade and ended with the 2 boys 16 years old still playing 8th graders. Creator/LindseyShaw on the other hand, was 15 playing a 7th grader when the show started, a true Dawsons Casting. She ended the show playing an 8th grader at age 17.
** Creator/MelissaJoanHart was fifteen when she started playing [[Series/ClarissaExplainsItAll Clarissa Darling]], and her character aged up accordingly.
** Also on ''Series/Zoey101'': the characters grew from 8th (season 1) to 10th grade (seasons 3/4), along with the main cast who were 13/14 when the show started. There's in an inversion with Music/VictoriaJustice, who is two years younger but was seemingly placed in the same grade.
*** What made it notable was that the amount of fanservice also grew each season.
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}''
** Claire was 17 years old -- and played by 16-year-old (when the series started) Creator/HaydenPanettiere -- until the writers noticed fans enjoying the chemistry displayed between Claire and 26-year-old Peter and writers docked her age down one or two years to make them less comfortable with the pairing until TheReveal of [[spoiler:Peter and Claire being related.]]
** The kids who play Molly Walker and Micah Sanders are about the same age as their characters, or at least they ''were'' until the show took some time off. Micah is supposed to be eleven, and the actor is now fourteen, which is very noticeable as puberty has begun to kick in and his voice changed. Deepest voice on an eleven-year-old ever.
* In ''Series/HomeImprovement'' the actors playing the kids were all of appropriate age: Zachary Ty Bryan (Brad) was the same age as his character, Jonathan Taylor Thomas (Randy) was a year older than his character and Taran Noah Smith (Mark) was a year older than his character.
* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' had Creator/MichaelCera and Creator/AliaShawkat at almost the exact age of 14-15.
** Season 4 continues this but plays around with this and OlderThanTheyLook. George Micheal becomes the target of sex offenders due to his youthful looks despite being and perhaps because he's 22. Maeby is still in high school, purposely posing as a senior for the last five years. Of course she's barely fooling anyone.
* Tyler James Williams, the young Chris Rock on ''Series/EverybodyHatesChris'', was 12 when he began playing his middle-school-aged role. Unfortunately, he hit puberty... and his voice ended up being noticeably more baritone than that of the adult Chris Rock, who narrates the show.
** Not to mention one of the early jokes of the show was that Chris' younger brother was taller than him (mirroring Chris Rock's real life younger brother who grew taller than him at an early age). After puberty, Williams was much taller than the other actor, not to mention his constant bully (though the bully remained much bulkier than the skinny Williams).
* Holly Tyler of ''Series/WhatILikeAboutYou'' was exactly the same age as her portrayer Amanda Bynes (starting at 16 in the pilot), AND aged in real time to boot (both were nearly 20 in the finale).
** In ''Film/WhatAGirlWants'', Bynes was a sixteen-year-old playing a seventeen-year-old.
* Creator/NeilPatrickHarris was more or less the same age as his character when he was in ''Series/DoogieHowserMD'', although the show does illustrate why this trope exists -- he really grew from season one to season two. However, Max Casella was 22 years old when he began playing 16-year-old Vinnie.
* Most of the ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' cast (with the already-mentioned exception of Trina [=McGee=]) were fairly close to the ages of the characters they portrayed. In the first season, Will Friedle was 17 and playing a 15-year-old and 11-year-olds Cory, Shawn, and Topanga were portrayed by Creator/BenSavage (13), Rider Strong (13), and Creator/DanielleFishel (12). But the timeline actually moves ''faster'' in the ''BMW'' universe than in real life: The gang takes five years to graduate high school instead of seven, making Savage and Strong the same ages as their characters (and Fishel a year ''younger''). Matthew Lawrence joined the cast in the fifth season at age 17, playing Shawn's older brother, despite being two months younger than Strong.
** In fact, even though only two years of college are shown, it is strongly implied that at least three years have passed; Eric, Jack, and Rachel are all graduating despite (apparently) being Juniors. This makes Maitland Ward, who joined in the sixth season at age 21, yet another {{aver|tedTrope}}sion.
** The reason this exists was perfectly demonstrated in the episode "Better than the Average Cory", where we meet 13-year-old artist Alexandra Nechita ([[SpecialGuest playing herself]]), who strikes up a friendship with Cory's little sister Morgan, who is the same age (and played by also 13-year-old Lindsay Ridgeway). Nechita looks several years older than Ridgeway, to the point that [[http://www.lanceandeskimo.com/bmw/index.php?episode=96 one reviewer]] [[RealityIsUnrealistic could not believe they were the same age, even though they were]].
** On the other hand, the use of accurately-aged actors added a nice flavor of realism to the physical changes during puberty for the main characters. For example, Topanga grows breasts over the summer at the same time that Danielle Fishel grew them during the hiatus between seasons. And in season 1, Rider Strong is more than six inches taller and considerably larger-boned than Ben Savage (to the point where their difference in size was the subject of a few gags), although both the actors and their characters are only a few months apart in age. Fast-forward to season 3, and not only have ''both'' actors grown considerably, but Savage has shot up to a couple of inches taller than Strong, as well as becoming noticeably bulkier than the latter.
* Willa Holland really was fourteen when she played fourteen-year-old Kaitlin Cooper on ''Series/TheOC''. Actually, she didn't turn fourteen until just after her first episode ''aired'', but that's fine because [[SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome Kaitlin was eleven two seasons earlier, anyway.]] (Though humorously played by an actress who was the same age)
** Mischa Barton was 17 when Marissa was 16 in the first season.
* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' does this by a couple years; at the beginning, 14-year-old Frankie Muniz played (approximately) 11-year-old Malcolm; 9-year-old Erik Per Sullivan played his 6-year-old younger brother Dewey; 20-year-old Christopher Masterson played his 16-year-old brother Francis; but his older brother Reese was played by ''13''-year-old Justin Berfield (who was taller than Frankie, and remained so throughout the entire series, to the producers' probable relief).
** Invoked and deconstructed in one episode, an adult woman in her early 20s poses as a student in order to bust drug dealers. Nobody is fooled.
* ''Series/GrowingPains'' had their CousinOliver characters played by actors around their ages. By the final season in 1991, Creator/AshleyJohnson was eight, playing the [[SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome suddenly six-year-old Chrissy Seaver]]. Luke Brower was fifteen years old, played by sixteen-year-old Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio.
* Matthew in ''Series/OneLifeToLive'' is canonically about a year ''older'' than actor Eddie Alderson.
* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': The whole Castle family falls under this trope. The actors portraying Richard Castle and his mother (Creator/NathanFillion and Creator/SusanSullivan) were 37 and 66 when filming began. Richard's daughter Alexis is eighteen, as is her actress Creator/MollyQuinn. That makes Castle a young father, but it does work out.
* ''Series/LieToMe'': Cal Lightman's daughter is 15/16; the actress playing her 18.
* Although the flagship character of ''Series/{{Caprica}}'' (Zoe Graystone) is played by someone about six years older than the character, Tamara is herself a semi-exception. Creator/GenevieveBuechner ''is'' older than Tamara Adama but she's much closer than her colleagues to her character's age, being only 18 while her character is about 15.
* A DeletedScene from the {{Pilot}} of ''Series/TheXFiles'' shows Scully as a teacher at Quantico, and it has been noted by many fans that she looks much younger than her students.
** Creator/GillianAnderson was actually four full years younger than her character on ''The X-Files''. She lied to the producers of the show to say she was 27, [[ImprobableAge to make her seem more credible as an FBI agent with a medical degree.]]
** Creator/DavidDuchovny was only a year older than his character, Mulder.
* New Zealand series ''Series/TheTribe'' averted this with every one of the actors playing characters the same age, give or take a year.
* ''{{Literature/Ramona|Quimby}}'', a short series based on the ''Literature/RamonaQuimby'' books, subverted this surprisingly well. Ramona is 8 years old and in third grade, as was her actress at the time. (On the other hand, another adaptation of the source material, ''Film/RamonaAndBeezus'', plays the trope very straight!)
* ''Series/BreakingBad'''s high school-age Walter White, Jr. is played by high school-age RJ Mitte, who was 15 at the show's outset. However, the show eventually played the trope straight as only two years passed in-universe over the show's five-year run, so Mitte was 4 years older than his character at the show's end.
* ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'' averts this with Max, who is played by Luis Armand Garcia. They are both the same age. Played somewhat straight with Carmen (Masiela Lusha), in that Masiela Lusha was 17 at the start of the show and Carmen was supposed to be 13-14.
* All characters on ''Series/TheWonderYears'' had ages to match their roles, with star Fred Savage being 11 years old when the show first began. Following this trope, Fred Savage has had trouble finding work as an adult after his lauded childhood acting career (acting work, that is -- he's been considerably busier as a director).
* ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'' {{avert|edTrope}}s this with Sasha Pieterse who began playing the role of [[AlphaBitch Alison DiLaurentis]] at age 14, one year ''younger'' than the character. As [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] puts it, "being only 14 at the time, she is the youngest actress on the show, all her co-stars being in their late teens to early 20s." With the five-year TimeSkip, she's now four years younger than Alison. (It helps that Lucy Hale looks younger than Sasha Pieterse, despite being seven years older.)
** Actually inverted. She was 12 when she got the pilot.
* Averted in ''Series/{{Earth 2}}''. 8-year-old Uly Adair and 10-year-old True Danziger were played by actors aged 8 and 10 respectively.
* The kids on ''Series/FullHouse''.
* ''{{Series/Buffy|TheVampireSlayer}}''
** Unlike almost all of her costars, Creator/MichelleTrachtenberg was the same age as her character, Dawn (14 years old when she first appeared on the show).
** Another aversion: At the time of Faith's first appearance in "Faith, Hope and Trick", Creator/ElizaDushku was actually seventeen, Faith's age at the time (she had to apply for legal emancipation so she could work on the show unencumbered by child labour laws).
* Taylor Momsen was fourteen when ''Literature/GossipGirl'' premiered, same age as her character Jenny. This ended up pulling the plug on the planned Jenny/Nate romance in season two since Creator/ChaceCrawford (in his twenties) wasn't comfortable with a storyline that would have him regularly making out with a then fifteen-year-old.
* Most of the actors and actresses playing kids on ''Series/TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack'' were within a few years of their characters' ages.
* In ''Series/YoungBlades'', 16-year-old Creator/RobertSheehan plays the nearly 16-year-old King Louis XIV.
* In ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'', Luke Smith and Maria Jackson were played by actual teenagers. This demonstrates one of the advantages of Dawson Casting because both actors had to leave the show for academic reasons.
* Inverted on ''Series/TheWestWing''. Elizabeth Moss is at least a year younger than Zoey Bartlet.
* On ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'', Tommy was ReallySevenHundredYearsOld, but his fake Earth age was always the same as Creator/JosephGordonLevitt's real age (both were fourteen in the first season). Both his girlfriends were played by actresses (Shay Astar and Larisa Oleynik) born in the same year as him. However, there was the interesting situation of Joseph Gordon-Levitt looking younger than he actually was, especially in the early seasons. August looked like she was a good year or two older than Tommy, but actually Shay Astar is seven months ''younger'' than Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
** The episode "The Dicks They Are A-Changin'" has a series of flashbacks showing Mary Albright as a young student at Berkeley during the '60s. Rather than use a TimeshiftedActor, the episode features a middle-aged Creator/JaneCurtin playing her character's younger self.
* On ''Series/SouthOfNowhere'' Chris Hunter was 18 at the time of filming playing the 17- to 18-year-old Glenn. It's notable because he was three years younger than the actress playing his younger sister.
* In the MadeForTVMovie ''Birds Of Prey'' David Janssen plays an ex-WWII pilot who now flies a traffic helicopter. The film was made when Janssen was 41, and he was 14 when the war ''ended''!
* The LifetimeOriginalMovie ''Film/AmandaKnoxMurderOnTrialInItaly'' cast Creator/HaydenPanettiere (21 at the time of filming) as Miss Knox (20 at the time of the incident).
* Totally averted by BBC children's dramas ''Series/BykerGrove'' and ''Series/GrangeHill'', where all the actors playing children were about the same age as their characters. Some were even a year or so younger.
* Effectively averted in one case on ''Series/{{Glee}}'', in which Creator/ChrisColfer was not only 18 years old when he was cast as 16-year-old Kurt Hummel, but went through a rather dramatic late burst of puberty after being cast, supplying a very effective visual of Kurt growing up (literally, as he gained about three inches in height) on screen. As Colfer still looks Kurt's age (19) in Season 4, it's becoming disconcerting to see Kurt standing next to his on-screen stepbrother Finn, who is supposed to be roughly the same age but was played by Creator/CoryMonteith, who was closer to 30 than 20 and starting to show it.
* In the ''Series/UFO1970'' episode "Destruction", Sarah Bosanquet is said to have "ten years' service" at her job, which is a little tricky given that actress Stephanie Beacham would have been about twenty-three at the time of production.
* Averted by Music/ArianaGrande for the duration of ''Series/{{Victorious}}'' (she began playing Cat on the show aged 16, and was 19 when it ended)... if not [[Series/SamAndCat the spinoff]].
* The children on ''Series/{{Blackish}}'' are played by similarly aged actors. For example fifteen year old Zoey is played by a fourteen year old.
* Sadie Calvano, who plays Violet on ''Series/{{Mom}}'', was 16, the same age as her character, when the show premiered in 2013. Spencer Daniels, who plays her boyfriend Luke, is a slight case since he was 20 when the show began.
* Bay, Vanessa Marano's character on ''Series/SwitchedAtBirth'', was born in 1995. Vanessa herself was born in 1992. Sean Berdy (Emmett) is also about right, since he was born in 1993.
* ''Series/ModernFamily'': The show notably averts this for everyone except Haley. Sarah Hyland was eighteen at the time her agent tried to get her the part for sixteen year-old Haley, and the casting department tried to deny her before she even auditioned. Her agent assured them [[OlderThanTheyLook that she didn't look eighteen]]. In fact, there were some notable flame wars claiming that Sarah was too ''young'' for the role.
* Dylan Sprayberry as Liam on ''Series/TeenWolf'' was 15 when he first appeared on set and finished the series at age 18. Especially noticeable as he is the only main cast member to actually be of high school age. Compared to the rest of the male teenage cast (except for [[TokenWholesome Stiles]]), he was noticeably less sexualized, which would have been awkward given that he was a minor.
* Danish kids' show ''Klassen'' attempts to avert this trope so much that it almost inverts it by season 3. It's about a bunch of six graders, and in the Danish school system, most kids are 12 when they start sixth grade (a few are only 11 if they turn 12 during the fall). In the first two seasons, almost all of the cast members are 13 or 14. One year later when filming for season 3 started, the original cast members (now 14 or 15) were considered too old to play sixth graders, [[RevolvingDoorCasting and all of them were written out of the show to be replaced with a bunch of new actors]]. In the hope that they could keep their role for more than one year before getting too old, most of the new actors are 11, some of them 12. While technically not too young to play sixth graders, the new season 3 class does have a disproportionately high amount of 11-year-olds compared to a RealLife sixth grade class, in which most kids would be 12.
* Somewhat averted for the most part in ''Series/StrangerThings'' with the younger kids, as the actors playing Will and Eleven actually were 12 and the others were 13 or 14 in the first season.
* ''Series/RaisingDion'': Dion and other kids are played by child actors that are around the same age as their characters. Ja’Siah Young was 8 when filming the first season.
* ''Series/NorthernRescue'': Zigzags this. Seventeen year-olds Maddie and Gwen are played by Amanda Williamson and Elianna Jones (who were about eighteen and twenty respectively during filming but look a little younger) while Maddie's fifteen year-old brother Scout is played by Spencer [=McPherson=], who was twenty or twenty-one during the filming of season one.
* ''Series/AmericanHousewife'': Creator/MegDonnelly (Taylor), Daniel [=DiMaggio=] (Oliver), and Creator/JuliaButters (Anna-Kat) were all born within a year of their respective characters.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' (and [[Series/StarTrekPicard its sequel]]) have an inversion, though not an entirely obvious one.[[note]]We are talking about an actor who was bald by the age of twenty. [[/note]]In ''[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E1EncounterAtFarpoint Encounter At Farpoint]]'', Captain Picard was 59. At the time of filming, Creator/PatrickStewart was 46.
* The works of Rick Siggelkow, including ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'', ''Series/TheNoddyShop'' and ''Series/AceLightning'', feature child actors playing the kid characters.
* {{Edutainment Show}}s broadcast on NHK generally cast child actors to play any kid characters:
** The "big sister" in ''Series/InaiInaiBaa'' is always played by a female child. Usually, a pre-teen is cast, but there are some cases where she was younger, like how Yuki was 5 years old when she began her stint as host on the show.
** ''Series/{{Miitsuketa}}!'' has Sui-chan played by a female child actor.
** ''Cooking Idol Ai! Mai! Main!'' has then ten-year-old Haruka Fukuhara playing the protagonist in both the anime and cooking segments.
** ''Kitchen Sentai Cookrun'' also features child actors playing the protagonists, but contained a very interesting case of this trope. While the actress who played Cumin in the first season was 7 years old, the character herself was a kindergartner.
* ''Series/{{Runaways 2017}}'' has one actual teenager among the title group, 15 year old Allegra Acosta as Molly.
* ''[[Creator/{{CBC}} CBC Kids]]'' usually features real-life children in their music videos and segments. Some of them have notably gone on to pursue acting careers in Canadian entertainment.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' cast actual teenagers or children for the roles of the younger Starks (Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon), the Baratheon children (Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen), Robin Arryn, and Hot Pie. Since the show disregarded the books' WebcomicTime in favor of real time pacing, they never underwent this trope.
* ''Series/SeaChange'' had an inversion in which Kerry Armstrong played 50-something Heather Jelly at the age of 40 with the aid of a grey wig.
* While ''Franchise/StarTrek'' has played this straight for a number of other examples, both Creator/WilWheaton and Cirroc Lofton were actual teenagers (15 and 14 respectively) when they began playing the teenaged characters of Wesley Crusher and Jake Sisko on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''.
[[/folder]]

* MyDeadEx'': All of the teenagers were played actors in their twenties. Some were even almost thirty.

* ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'': Dayanara is implied to be in her late teens, while the actress (Dascha Polanco) is in her early thirties -- two years younger than her on-screen ''mother'' (Elizabeth Rodriguez). Polanco is definitely [[OlderThanTheyLook Older Than She Looks]], but not to the extent of convincing anybody that she's a teenager.

* ''Series/TheTenthKingdom'': 23-year-old Lucy Punch as a girl experiencing her 18th birthday.

* Despite being the TropeNamer, ''Dawson's Creek'' does have one exception with Michelle Williams, who was 17 when the series began. This is likely related to the fact that Williams was [[EmancipatedChild emancipated]] by this point, meaning that she was legally considered an adult for purposes of labor laws despite technically being under 18.

* Despite being the TropeNamer, ''Dawson's Creek'' does have one exception with Michelle Williams, who was 17 when the series began. This is likely related to the fact that Williams was [[EmancipatedChild emancipated]] by this point, meaning that she was legally allowed to be treated as an adult for purposes of labor laws despite technically being under 18.

* Despite being the TropeNamer, ''Dawson's Creek'' does have one exception with Michelle Williams, who was 17 when the series began. This is likely related to the fact that Williams was [[EmancipatedChild emancipated]] by this point, a status which waives most of the restrictions that usually apply to underage actors (which in turn are often the reason that producers prefer to work with adults).