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DATA
HUFFINGTON
05.12.13
The Age Gap: Older Male Actors
and Their Female Costars
Older men dating younger women isn’t a cultural norm exclusive to film. A 2010 study by
Dr. Michael Dunn of the University of Wales
Institute found a “consistent cross-cultural
preference by women for at least same-age
or significantly older men.” The taboos associated with that “significantly older” swath,
however, often vanish on the big screen, with
no acknowledgement of the, say, 30 years
between the lead actor and actress (looking at
you, Jack Nicholson and Robin Wright).
As we explored the disappearing careers
of aging action stars for this issue (tap here
for more on that), we found that the more
things spiral downward in their box office
bankability, the more they stay the same as
far as the ages of their female leads are concerned: stagnating by and large in their 30s
while the males push 60.
We selected three older Hollywood actors in addition to our action stars to test
the theory out on a wider scale: Tom Cruise,
George Clooney and Jack Nicholson. Arguably the least conventionally attractive actor on the list — Nicholson — has maintained
leading ladies with one of the lowest average
ages you’ll see ahead — 35.5 — considering
Nicholson’s own age in his last starring role
as a romantic lead: 66. Meanwhile, Arnold
Schwarzenegger’s co-starring actresses over
the years have a lower average age combined
than Schwarzenegger was when he broke out
in the industry: 29 to his 35.
The more conventionally attractive actors — Clooney and Cruise — started out at
young ages, 23 and 21, respectively, and
have seen a reverse trend. Cruise’s female
leads out-aged him ... until he grew old
enough to rent a car. Clooney is perhaps the
only outlier here. Early in his career, he was
paired with much older leading ladies — until
he hit the ripe age of 40. — Gazelle Emami
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