Playing Gertrude: Difference between revisions

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== Film ==

* The two best-known films of ''[[Hamlet]]'': Franco Zeffirelli's version had Glenn Close, who is only nine years older than Mel Gibson, as Gertrude. In [[Laurence Olivier]]'s version, Eileen Herlie (pictured above) was eleven years ''younger'' than Olivier.<ref>Even though it is entirely possible that Hamlet's mother could have been ''married'' at thirteen or fifteen, she wouldn't have been a mother at that age. Given the horribly awful diet of the time compared to the modern one (even in the richest families), girls usually didn't get their period until much later than in the modern day, and probably couldn't get pregnant for the first time until they were 17 or older.</ref>

* The two best-known films of ''[[Hamlet]]'': Franco Zeffirelli's version had [[Glenn Close]], who is only nine years older than [[Mel Gibson]], as Gertrude. In [[Laurence Olivier]]'s version, [[Eileen Herlie]] (pictured above) was eleven years ''younger'' than Olivier.<ref>Even though it is entirely possible that Hamlet's mother could have been ''married'' at thirteen or fifteen, she wouldn't have been a mother at that age. Given the horribly awful diet of the time compared to the modern one (even in the richest families), girls usually didn't get their period until much later than in the modern day, and probably couldn't get pregnant for the first time until they were 17 or older.</ref>

* In ''[[North by Northwest]]'', Jessie Royce Landis played Cary Grant's mother. Landis was actually ten months ''younger'' than Grant.

* ''[[The Graduate]]'' combined this trope with [[Dawson Casting]]: 30-year-old Dustin Hoffman played the titular recent college graduate, with 36-year-old Anne Bancroft as his [[Mrs. Robinson|middle-aged lover]]. Her daughter is played by 27-year-old Katharine Ross.

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* A related example: In [[Woody Allen]]'s ''[[Mighty Aphrodite]]'', it is implied that Allen's character cannot have a relationship with [[Mira Sorvino]]'s Linda Ash because he is too old for her. Although there's some validity to this idea (Allen is 32 years older than Sorvino), it completely overlooks the fact that [[Helena Bonham Carter]], who plays Allen's wife in the movie, is 31 years younger than him.

** Of course, since this is [[Woody Allen]] we're talking about, that may be part of the joke.

* In ''[[The World According To Garp]]'', [[Robin Williams]] (30) plays T.S. Garp and [[Glenn Close]] (35) plays his mother, Jenny Fields.

* In ''[[The World According to Garp]]'', [[Robin Williams]] (30) plays T.S. Garp and [[Glenn Close]] (35) plays his mother, Jenny Fields.

* In ''[[The Passion of the Christ]]'', 42-year-young [[Maia Morgenstern]] was Mary to 36-year-old [[Jim Caviezel]]'s Jesus. Possibly [[Justified Trope|justified]] in that a) she also appeared in scenes of Jesus' childhood, b) some Catholics believe that since Mary was sinless she did not age normally, and c) young (though not ''child'') brides were common at the time, nudging the numbers marginally closer to plausibility.

** Some works of art (such as the [[Pietà Plagiarism|Pieta]]) feature a Mary that looks younger than her son, reasoning that since God has been around forever Mary would be younger than Him.