Fantasy is the name of the game in Hollywood .
It’s why so many actors and actresses are able to portray teenagers when they’re in their late 20s. And it’s why so many actors can play romantic interests in movies despite their significantly large age gaps.
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For these 17 unsettling age gaps between actors who played couples, read on.
1. Emma Stone and Colin Firth in *Magic in the Moonlight*
In the Woody Allen film, Colin was almost 30 years older than Emma! She was 25, while she was 54.
“I felt old,” Firth told Yahoo! Movies UK . “If there’s going to be an age difference, you don’t really want to be on the unflattering end of it.”
2. Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany in *WandaVision*
Since Paul’s character is a robot, a lot of people seem to overlook the fact that he’s much older than Elizabeth. Currently, Olsen is only 32 while Bettany is 50.
3. Margot Robbie and Jared Leto in *Suicide Squad*
Who could forget when the actors played the Joker and Harley Quinn in the 2016 film? Although Leto is pretty ageless, that doesn’t erase the fact that he’s nearly 20 years older than Robbie.
4. Jack Nicholson and Amanda Peet in *Something’s Gotta Give*
There was a lot of weirdness in this 2003 romantic comedy. First, Nicholson, who was 66 at the time, played the romantic interest of then-31-year-old, Amanda Peet.
Second, he eventually dated the mother of Peet’s character.
5. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sean Connery in *Entrapment*
When Catherine played Sean Connery’s love interest in the 1999 film, she was 29. Meanwhile, Connery was 68! They played a cat and mouse game, with Zeta-Jones as the detective and Connery as the thief.
6. Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg in *Ted*
A lot of strange things happen in this film. I mean, it’s about a talking teddy bear. But even weirder than that was the age gap between the main leads. Kunis is 38 while Walberg is 50.
7. Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson in *As Good As It Gets*
While both actors won Oscars for their roles in the film, that doesn’t take away from their icky age gap. Nicholson was 60 at the time, while Hunt was 34.
8. Drew Barrymore and Tom Skerritt in *Poison Ivy*
There was a whopping 41-year age gap between the two lovers in the film. Drew was only 17 at the time, while Skerrit was 58. This means that he was old enough to be her dad!
9. Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray in *Lost in Translation*
Even though they only kissed once in the film, it was still awkward to see the chemistry between the characters in the film. That’s because Scarlett was only 18 at the time while Murray was 52!
10. Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor in *The Island*
Lost in Translation wasn’t the only time Scarlett had a much older love interest. In this film with Ewan, he was 14 years older than her.
11. Natalie Portman and Jean Reno in *Léon: The Professional*
Natalie made her acting debut in the 1994 film, where she played a 12-year-old orphan who forms a relationship with a hitman. In real life, Natalie was 12 and Jean was in his 40s.
12. Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise in *Edge of Tomorrow*
It’s a common theme for Cruise to be a lot older than the love interests in his movies. The Hollywood Reporter even called this out. In this film, two decades separated him and Emily.
13. Demi Moore and Robert Reddford in *An Indecent Proposal*
More like an unlikely proposal! There was a 26-year gap between the two love interests in the film. Many reviews made at the time of the film’s release were against this gap.
14. Gwyneth Paltrow and Michael Douglas in *A Perfect Murder*
The actors portrayed a married couple in the film, despite the fact that they were almost 30 years apart.
This was similar to the age gap of the characters in Dial M for Murder , the film movie was based on.
15. Natalie Portman and Timothy Hutton in *Beautiful Girls*
In the film, Natalie’s character, a teenage girl, began a relationship with an older man, Willie Conway, played by Timothy Hutton. He was in his 20s while Portman was only 14.
16. Margot Robbie and Will Smith in *Focus*
Margot has played the younger love interest several times. She was 26 when she played the love interest of the then-46-year-old Smith.
This was something that Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, used for inspiration to get her man in shape.
“When Margot got hired for the gig…[Jada] saw that Margot was young and hot and in shape,” Smith told *E! News*.
“And she said, ‘Boy don’t embarrass me. Get in shape now,'” she said . Sounds like Jada!
17. Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in *Silver Linings Playbook*
Being 22 and playing the love interest of the then-37-year-old Bradley Cooper almost cost J-Law the role in the Oscar-winning rom-com about a man with bipolar disorder.
In a 2015 interview with *The New York Times*, Jennifer said that she was already used to being cast as older characters.
“It’s not like I was old enough for American Hustle. And I was way too young for Silver Linings. That’s why I almost didn’t get it,” Lawrence said .
