Current Events > Netflix using older actors to play High School students infuriates viewers.

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https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/10036867/netflix-the-politician-cast-old-payton-hobart/

Ryan Murphys latest TV show The Politician has officially hit Netflix. The show, set at an affluent Santa Barbara High School, tracks the adolescent social warfare that comes with running for student president.Alas, the snappy outfits and witty one-liners were eclipsed by one major aspect of casting that viewers just couldnt get on board with. Taking to social media, fans of the show poked fun at the show for casting actors in their late twenties or even thirties to play the high schoolers. Why didn't Ryan Murphy just make The Politician take place at a college? Every one of these actors looks WAAAAY too old to be pretending they're high schoolers, one user wrote. A second joked: Everyone in The Politician is 45 years old. The Politician really said high schoolers but make them 30 years old, a third chimed in. While a fourth blunty quipped: The high schoolers in The Politician look so old its DEEPLY disturbing.

They have a point McAfee, played by Laura Dreyfuss, is 31 in real life. Meanwhile lead Payton Hobart, played by Ben Platt, is 26.
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Why should I care about these nobodies?
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The guy who played Hannah Montana's older brother was like 30-something, why is he not worthy of inclusion?
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Guess these people never saw the original Beverly Hills 90210.
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Does it really matter? They're actors portraying a character in a story. Sure it helps if they look more convincing or are authentic but honestly, it's a movie/TV show/etc.

Besides, look at BBT and the ages of their cast... they still did well.

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gloBal enemy posted...

Does it really matter? They're actors portraying a character in a story. Sure it helps if they look more convincing or are authentic but honestly, it's a movie/TV show/etc.

Besides, look at BBT and the ages of their cast... they still did well.

The cast of Big Bang Theory arent supposed to be Teens. Hell half the cast are professors at an university.

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gloBal enemy posted...

Does it really matter? They're actors portraying a character in a story. Sure it helps if they look more convincing or are authentic but honestly, it's a movie/TV show/etc.

Besides, look at BBT and the ages of their cast... they still did well.

it's hard to dive into something when you keep being reminded that you're watching a show. 13 Reasons Why also failed in this area.

That one basketball player in 13 reasons Why was literally like in his 30s. I became self aware I was watching a show in that moment.

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Hasn't this been the case for like every high school show ever?

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Did they get that one black chick who's like 40 and been playing a high schooler her whole career?

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The kids in the Goldbergs are 20, 26, and 25 (the middle child actor is older).
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This has been standard for high school dramas for decades.

DrizztLink posted...

Hasn't this been the case for like every high school show ever?

Yes lmao.

But someone needed to write a lazy ass article about it now to get paid...
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DrizztLink posted...

Hasn't this been the case for like every high school show ever?

Accurate.
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So it's okay when race swaps but bad when age swaps?
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Lebronwon posted...

set at an affluent Santa Barbara High School,

thats my city...guess i'll have to check this show out
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After Grease anything's possible.

Let's write articles about what a handful of twitter users are talking about
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the people complaining about this have to be pretty young. otherwise they would know this has been the norm since.....always. this is nothing new. tv shows often hate to cast teen actors unless they have to. working with minors is more complicated than with adult actors.

I was going to make a joke about this. Since it is silly to complain about. But honestly I was confused about the show in question. They said high school .. then everything else made it seem like there were adults .
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