There are stretch roles for actresses, and then there those roles that call into question the director’s, producers’ and casting agents’ intentions in building out the cast. Considering our list of 20 stars who have played much younger roles, we thought we’d look in the other opposite direction, and consider all the women who’ve stretched into the future. Here are 12 actresses who were too young for some of their biggest roles, but pulled them off like champs… mostly.
12. Sally Field – Forrest Gump
When you write an epic, it’s a bear for the director and casting department. They’re left with the options of allowing different actors to portray the characters at different ages, or they lock in to the monster commitment of letting actors portray the character at many different ages. Robert Zemeckis chose the latter. With the exception of kindergarten Forrest and Jenny, Tom Hanks and Robin Wright played the roles through adolescence into their 30s. Regarding the stretch of character roles, Sally Field played Mrs. Gump, the mother of Forrest. Considering the time line of reality, Sally was playing the mother of Tom Hanks, who was only 10 years her junior. It’s more likely these two would play a couple than a mother and son, but… with the magic of makeup, they made Sally older than she was, and it worked to create iconography.
