History Main / CharacterAgedWithTheActor

*** The teaser trailer to season 2 shows [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien the immortal Q]] aged, due to Creator/JohnDeLancie being in his 70s by this point. Of course, Q isn't really human to begin with, having teased he could appear as a ''[[GenderBender woman]]'' before. Presumably, his aged-up appearance is to make Picard feel like he's simply meeting an old friend.

* ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'': Rambo doesn't age much in the initial run of his films, but in ''Film/{{Rambo}}'', he is acknowledged as a salty old veteran getting long in years. He's finally given a fitting character finale in which he retires from his wandering and goes back home.

*** The series premiered just over seventeen years [[note]]Dec. 2002 -- Jan. 2020[[/note]] in real life after Creator/PatrickStewart last played Picard in ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'', so Jean-Luc Picard is also correspondingly older at the start of the series, with [[https://nypost.com/2020/01/21/star-trek-picard-which-next-generation-characters-are-back-which-are-new/ promotional material]] indicating that he is 94 years old. That said, it's not out of the realm of reasonable, as 24th-century medical technology in-universe frequently has humans living well beyond 100 or even 130 years of age.
*** Data is set to return, a good fifteen years ''after'' Creator/BrentSpiner insisted that he be heard but not seen because unlike him, Data doesn't age.

*** In "Nepenthe", we also see William Riker and Deanna Troi reprised by Creator/JonathanFrakes and Creator/MarinaSirtis, respectively.

** In ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'', the character [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Tommy]] was only supposed to be 25. But because of a little DawsonCasting, and a {{Retcon}} that made him three years younger, the actor was 30 at the time of filming, so the character was played as slightly older than he should have been. However, [[OlderThanTheyLook he didn't look it]].

** Also the case with the tenures of Creator/PierceBrosnan (started at 41, ended at 49, though his haircut change between ''Film/GoldenEye'' and ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' also gave that impression) and Creator/DanielCraig (started at 37, ended at 51).

** Creator/SeanConnery starred as James Bond in seven different films. The first six films began with the 1962 ''Film/DrNo'' and ended with ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'' in 1971. He only appeared to age slightly during that timespan. However, when he returned as Bond in the 1983 ''Film/NeverSayNeverAgain'' (not produced by Creator/Eonproductions), he was visibly aged as he was 21 years older than when he had first appeared.

** Creator/DesmondLlewelyn played Q in seventeen different films, appearing as the character in all but one Creator/EonProductions ''Bond'' films between ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'' in 1963 and ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'' in 1999. The only exception to this was ''Film/LiveAndLetDie''. He got noticeably older as time went on.

* As a more than fifty-year LongRunner, the ''Film/JamesBond'' series might have five of the most well-known cases in film history. Bond himself generally appears to age with any actor who stays longer than two films.

* As a more than fifty-year LongRunner, the ''Film/JamesBond'' series might have five of the most well-known cases in film history. (Bond himself generally appears to age with any actor who stays longer than one or two films, as is also the case with Creator/PierceBrosnan's and Creator/DanielCraig's tenures.)

** Creator/RogerMoore starred as James Bond in seven different films, starting with ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'' in 1973, and ending with ''Film/AViewToAKill'' in 1985. He started the role at the age of 45, so Bond quite visibly ages over the course of his films.
** Creator/SeanConnery starred as James Bond in seven different films. The first six films began with the 1962 ''Film/DrNo'' and ended with ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'' in 1971. He only appeared to age slightly during the films. However, when he returned as Bond in the 1983 ''Film/NeverSayNeverAgain'', he was visibly aged, because he was 20 years older than when he had first appeared.

** Creator/DesmondLlewelyn played Q in seventeen different films, appearing as the character in every single EON ''Bond'' film starting in ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'' in 1963, and making his exit in ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'' in 1999. The only exception to this was ''Film/LiveAndLetDie''. He gets noticeably older as time goes on.
** Creator/LoisMaxwell appeared as Miss Moneypenny in fourteen different films; every one from ''Film/DrNo'' in 1962 to ''Film/AViewToAKill'' in 1985. She acknowledges getting older in ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'', her next-to-last appearance.
** Bernard Lee played the part of M in eleven different films, starting with ''Film/DrNo'' and ending with ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'' in 1979. Again, he gets noticeably older as time goes on.

*** The series premiered just over seventeen years [[note]]Dec. 2002 -- Jan. 2020[[/note]] in real life after Creator/PatrickStewart last played Picard in ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'', so Jean-Luc Picard is also correspondingly older at the start of the series, with [[https://nypost.com/2020/01/21/star-trek-picard-which-next-generation-characters-are-back-which-are-new/ promotional material]] indicating that he is 94 years old.

*** Data is set to return, a good fifteen years ''after'' Creator/BrentSpiner insisted that he be heard but not seen because unlike him, Data doesn't age. [[spoiler:So far, it has been thoroughly stated that Data has been KilledOffForReal, and his only appearances (with the improved makeup and DigitalDeaging of 2020) have been in Picard's dreams, offering some plausible deniability for the discrepancies.]]

*** Interestingly, Data is set to return, a good fifteen years ''after'' Creator/BrentSpiner insisted that he be heard but not seen because unlike him, Data doesn't age. [[spoiler:So far, it has been thoroughly stated that Data has been KilledOffForReal, and his only appearances (with the improved makeup and DigitalDeaging of 2020) have been in Picard's dreams, offering some plausible deniability for the discrepancies.]]

*** Interestingly, the teaser trailer to season 2 shows [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien the immortal Q]] aged, due to Creator/JohnDeLancie being in his 70s by this point. Of course, Q isn't really human to begin with, having teased he could appear as a ''[[GenderBender woman]]'' before. Presumably, his aged-up appearance is to make Picard feel like he's simply meeting an old friend.

*** Interestingly, the teaser trailer to season 2 shows [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien the immortal Q]] aged, due to Creator/JohnDeLancie being in his 70s by this point. Of course, Q isn't really human to begin with, having teased he could appear as a ''woman'' before. Presumably, his aged-up appearance is to make Picard feel like he's simply meeting an old friend.

*** Interestingly, the teaser trailer to season 2 shows [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien the immortal Q]] aged, due to Creator/JohnDeLancie being in his 70s by this point. Of course, Q isn't really human to begin with, having teased he could appear as a ''woman'' before. Presumably, his aged-up appearance is to make Picard feel more comfortable.

*** Interestingly, the teaser trailer to season 2 shows [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien the immortal Q]] aged, due to Creator/JohnDeLancie being in his 70s by this point.

An old franchise [[SequelGap comes back after many years]], but, of course, now the actors are all old. Instead of recasting or making the actors up to look younger (or using DigitalDeaging), it's decided to acknowledge how much time has passed and just have the characters be that much older.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film - Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie'', Max appeared to be about 14 or 15 and performed by a teenage Jason Marsden. When ''WesternAnimation/AnExtremelyGoofyMovie'' came out five years later, Max was now visibly older, and going off to college. Four years after that, Max appears as a young adult in ''WesternAnimation/MickeysTwiceUponAChristmas'' introducing his new girlfriend to his father.
* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'', though the human characters, including Andy, have aged; the toy characters age with condition. The only [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] reason for this is that the kid who provided Andy's voice doesn't exactly have that little voice anymore. This is basically just the plot of the movie; it wasn't forced.

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]

* ''Film/LethalWeapon'': Murtaugh's advancing age is a major characterization point in the very first film. By ''Film/LethalWeapon4'', Riggs has adopted Murtaugh's "I'm getting too old for this shit" catchphrase and Murtaugh himself is considering retirement.
* ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'', where after over a decade John [=McClane=] now has to deal with a teenage daughter, and is constantly questioned for being out of place in the modern world.

* ''Film/TronLegacy'' was notable for featuring ''both'' old Creator/JeffBridges as Flynn and CGI-made young Jeff Bridges as his program. There's also [[spoiler:hiding the title character behind a mask, and generally sidelining him on top of it, because Creator/BruceBoxleitner might have been too old (he did return to reprise his human character, and do a single voice-over line as Tron, as well as lend his appearance to a CGI younger version for a flashback).]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]

** The definitive example is William Roache, who appeared in the soap's very first episode in 1960 and by late 2019 was still a regular cast member. In 2010 he earned a world record as the longest serving cast member in a televised soap.

** Also played with in "Day of the Doctor"-- Creator/TomBaker appears as a very elderly version of the Fourth Doctor, but he's implied to be a separate, distant future incarnation of the Doctor who's retired from traveling and become a museum curator on Earth. So, "The Curator" isn't the Fourth Doctor, he's possibly the fortieth or four hundredth who happens to ''look'' like an aged version of the Fourth (the Curator told the Eleventh Doctor he might find himself revisiting some of his old faces in the future.) This also potentially sets the stage for future past-Doctor appearances to use the same excuse.
** A WhatCouldHaveBeen, also with Tom Baker-- the DevelopmentHell multi-Doctor "Dark Dimensions" film, conceived when Tom Baker went to the BBC and told them he wanted to be the Doctor again, would have starred an elderly version of the Fourth Doctor from an alternate dimension where he had never regenerated, who now [[GothicHorror lived as a hermit in an old Victorian church dressed in a black version of his outfit]]. Unfortunately, the other actors playing the other Doctors disliked the CharacterFocus, CharacterShilling and CanonSue treatment Tom Baker's Doctor got compared to their Doctors and dropped out of the project, which was then shitcanned by ExecutiveMeddling.

* ''Series/{{Poirot}}'': Happens to some of the main cast in the series finale ("Literature/{{Curtain}}"), most notably Captain Hastings (played by Hugh Fraser) and Literature/HerculePoirot (played by David Suchet). This is not surprising, given that almost the entire series is set in [[TheGreatDepression the mid-to-late 1930s]], before the start of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, due to SettingUpdate (and sometimes a SeriesContinuityError with Hastings meeting his wife Bella). Since Poirot was in his 60s when he first met Hastings during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, and in his late-70s to early-80s in the 1930s, by the time "Curtain" aired, the time period is set a few years after the end of the Second World War (1949), with some of the characters having aged over a decade, leaving Poirot almost in his mid- to late-90s [[spoiler:when he dies of a heart condition]].

[[folder:Radio]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]

[[folder:Video Games]]

** Also inverted is that Pat Pinney (Stan) and Neil Ross (Wally B. Feed) sounded younger only in ''Curse''; and S. Scott Bullock (Otis), Creator/CamClarke (Meathook), Creator/WallyWingert (Herman Toothrot) and Jess Harnell (Estevan) sounded younger only in ''Escape''; while Leilani Jones-Wilmore (The Voodoo Lady) sounded younger in both games. When the actors returned to voice the characters in the Special Editions of ''Secret'' and ''[=LeChuck=]'s Revenge'', however, the characters' younger selves now sound older than they were before.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' had a TimeSkip for its movie and SequelSeries, finally Steven age somewhat as much as his actor had over the course of the series.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', baseball player Mike Scioscia made a guest star appearance in season 3. He later returns in season 22, with a much older appearance, while the rest of the Simpsons remain under the perpetual [[NotAllowedToGrowUp floating timeline]]. In addition, because celebrities are linked to pop culture and are not established characters in the Simpsons series, they are exempt from the floating timeline. However, this does not apply to recurring celebrities like Creator/StephenHawking and UsefulNotes/RupertMurdoch.

* ''Film/KaamelottPremierVolet'': Ten years have passed In-Universe, while the film was made ten years after the end of [[Series/{{Kaamelott}} the series]], and everyone has aged accordingly, [[SheIsAllGrownUp Karadoc's daughters]] especially.

* Finn from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' started as 12 [[ChildrenVoicingChildren with a similar-aged actor]], and ages as the show goes along. However, while he started aging in almost real time (his thirteen birthday was just before the show's first anniversary), the passage of time [[NotAllowedToGrowUp gradually slows]], and by the last recordings Finn is 17 and his voice actor is 20.

** In an example not related to the above is the page image: [[TheBrigadier Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart]], one of the show's longest-running recurring characters, was played solely by Creator/NicholasCourtney throughout the decades, and the character was constantly rewritten to accommodate his progressing age. In fact, the show was so devoted to this that the Brigadier was eventually killed off [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim when Courtney himself died in 2011]] (though the character would later be resurrected three years later as a benevolent and conscious Cyberman, albeit in a brief, non-speaking role, intended more as a tribute to Courtney).

[[quoteright:350:[[Series/DoctorWho https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brig_comparison_vertical.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:TheBrigadier may pal around with a time-traveling alien, but as a a human, he still has to age like humans do[[note]]top screenshot is from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E4ColonyInSpace "Colony in Space"]], bottom screenshot is from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield "Battlefield"]].]]

[[foldercontrol]]

* When ''WesternAnimation/{{StevenUniverse}}'' succeeded with the FinaleMovie that's also a PilotMovie and ''Steven Universe Future'', Steven aged with his voice actor.

[[folder:Film]]

* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'', though the human characters, including Andy, have aged; the toy characters age with condition. The only [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] reason for this is that the kid who provided Andy's voice doesn't exactly have that little voice anymore. This is basically just the plot of the movie; it wasn't forced.

* A rare example in animation, especially for Disney: in ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie'', Max appeared to be about 14 or 15 and performed by a teenage Jason Marsden. When ''WesternAnimation/AnExtremelyGoofyMovie'' came out five years later, Max was now visibly older, and going off to college. Four years after that, Max appears as a young adult in ''WesternAnimation/MickeysTwiceUponAChristmas'' introducing his new girlfriend to his father.

[[caption-width-right:350:TheBrigadier may pal around with a time-traveling alien, but he still has to age like humans do.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:TheBrigadier may pal around with an time-traveling alien, but he still has to age like humans do.]]