Director of "Moon" says enough with the 20 something leading actors

[Silvermoth]

Earlier today Duncan Jones tweeted this on his twitter account (Manmademoon if you're interested)

Harrison Ford was 39 years old when he played Indiana Jones for the first time. 39! Leading men need to look like they have LIVED.

Fed up of leading men in their early 20s. Its ridiculous. they look like kids "acting" grown up. Rant over.

Thoughts? I happen to agree with him. Sure there are exceptions like Harry Potter or Spider-man but when it comes to leading men, especially superheroes, I tend to prefer them a bit older. I mean RDJ was 43 years old when he starred as Iron Man!

Truthfully, this is part of the reason why I could never buy Brandon Routh as Superman or Matt Smith as The Doctor in "Doctor Who". It's interesting that recently Jon Hamm (and some fanboys) said that he is too old to play a superhero at age 39.

So what are your thoughts? Do your prefer older leading actors and actresses or younger? Be honest. Perhaps you really don't care?

 

[dark_b]

plus if you look at actors today at 40 yr they dont look old. which is another reason why age doesnt matter.

 

[Aesop Rocks]

Duncan Jones > a lot.

 

[bapi]

And how old is Jake Gyllenhaal? 28 or 29? Or something like that?

 

[childeroland]

Good for him, but good luck getting many films greenlit.

 

[Carmine Falcone]

What does he mean exactly? That there are too many movies about young people? Or that too many young people play they are old people? If he means that, I sure haven't noticed...

In principle I do tend to agree that older leading men are more interesting, but that is usually because the roles tend to be better written. Although it is hard to put any kind of rule when it comes to these kinds of things. Scratch that, it's impossible.

 

[Project862006]

hypocrite much is'nt Jake Gyllenhaal the lead in Source code

 

[baerrtt]

Earlier today Duncan Jones tweeted this on his twitter account (Manmademoon if you're interested)



Thoughts? I happen to agree with him. Sure there are exceptions like Harry Potter or Spider-man but when it comes to leading men, especially superheroes, I tend to prefer them a bit older. I mean RDJ was 43 years old when he starred as Iron Man!

Truthfully, this is part of the reason why I could never buy Brandon Routh as Superman or Matt Smith as The Doctor in "Doctor Who". It's interesting that recently Jon Hamm (and some fanboys) said that he is too old to play a superhero at age 39.

So what are your thoughts? Do your prefer older leading actors and actresses or younger? Be honest. Perhaps you really don't care?

Leading men, successful ones, need to have the kind of talent and charisma that makes their ages irrelevant. Watching 48 HOURS and BEVERLY HILLS COP recently and it's astonishing how it doesn't really register that Eddie Murphy was just in his early 20s then. He certainly doesn't look like a kid next to Nick Nolte (then one of the definitions of macho leading men).

And though we disagree I think that Matt Smith plays the Doctor as the very, very old man he actually is more convincingly than many of the actors before him.

 

[MadVillainy]

Doesnt matter the age as long as they are likable and good actors.

Who really cares about the age that much. He's a really good director, but this comment is kind of stupid. Especially since he has Jake Gyllenhaal in his next movie

 

[dark_b]

he has Jake because he couldnt cast an old guy hehehheheheh.

 

[TruerToTheCore]

amazing... the director of Moon!

Nay, he is right.

 

[TheComicbookKid]

Um, are there really that many early 20 leading men? I know they get hype cause of the demo mags and stuff are catering to, but I still see Depp, Downey, and such having multiple movies per year.

 

[CFE]

You know what I don't get?

The fact that most people can't make solid statements and stand behind them anymore. Today it seems like everyone is so concerned with being PC and not making anyone angry that they'll never make a 100% claim one way or the other.

Jones does...but he's getting taken over the coals for it?

It just seems like no one is willing to be passionately for or passionately against most things...now there always has to be a middle ground so you don't stir up any sort of controversy.

And even worse when they do...a lot of the time they'll back pedal and take it back just for the sake of appearances.

Grow a spine and state what you believe. If it's what you think, it's what you think. If it makes you unpopular...so be it, you're being true to your feelings on the matter.

Not only do I agree with what he says...but I respect his right to say it. Good for him for actually stating how he feels about it.

And this should in no way inflict upon his ability to make films or have films made, are you kidding?

 

[MadVillainy]

ok how many leading men (big actors) do we have in their 20s
Jake Gyllenhall...and there are some other ones to a lesser extent but I think Jake Gyllenhall is one of the biggest young leading man. Shia LaBeouf is another, but most of the times he is cast as a young character

But
Brad Pitt
George Clooney
Johnny Depp
Leonardo DiCaprio
Will Smith
Matt Damon
Jamie Foxx

Are all over 31 and are the biggest actors around right now. I dont see why he's complaining

 

[Rac]

hypocrite much is'nt Jake Gyllenhaal the lead in Source code

Jake is 30.

 

[Laderlappen]

Its an idiotic statement. Most of my fav actors are 30+ but the reason I like them is not the age! As long as the role is right and the actor is great, who cares about the age?

 

[sithgoblin]

I agree Routh was too young in SR. So was Lois. You need a Superman in his mid-30s at least. Bale was 29 in BB right? And mid 30s by TDK - perfect.

I suppose he's talking about people like Shia and Zac Efron. I kind of agree. Of course Depp, Clooney, Pitt, etc are all great, but they are becoming the Old Guard of Hollywood. We need more people like Bradley Cooper and Hugh Jackman - leading men who are discovered in their 30s.

EDIT: What's that film Daniel Radcliffe is doing next? The one where he's supposed to be playing a lawyer? THAT's a bit of a stretch.

 

[GhostPoet]

I couldn't agree more with the Director.
Heck...when I was KID I preferred the hero to always be older...I always saw it as meaning he was more experience and that was cool to me. I never got into the young guy mentality that Hollywood is stuck on.

 

[terry78]

I agree in a sense, but I think because both fanboys and Hollywood look at every movie as a potential franchise, they want their leading characters to be young so they can maintain continuity in later flicks.

 

[Travesty]

I vote Justin Bieber for an Indy remake next year.

 

[Project862006]

Jake is 30.

29 to be exact

and was 25 when he was nominated for an Oscar

not to shabby for a guy in his 20's lol

 

[MadVillainy]

Heath LEdger was in his 20s
RDJ gave 2 of his best performances in his 20s

There are alot of actors who were in their 20s who were/are good. Jones is a talented filmmaker but his opinion seems misguided

 

[Aesop Rocks]

Jones' really only claim to fame so far (that I know of) is Moon. Which I love.

 

[Raiden]

ok how many leading men (big actors) do we have in their 20s
Jake Gyllenhall...and there are some other ones to a lesser extent but I think Jake Gyllenhall is one of the biggest young leading man. Shia LaBeouf is another, but most of the times he is cast as a young character

But
Brad Pitt
George Clooney
Johnny Depp
Leonardo DiCaprio
Will Smith
Matt Damon
Jamie Foxx

Are all over 40 and are the biggest actors around right now. I dont see why he complaining

Is Matt Damon 40 already? I thought he's around 38ish.

 

[MadVillainy]

my mistake I though he was 40 already but he doesnt turn 40 until October. But still all over 35