Jul 19, 2022 07:00:00

The age of the leading actors in the movie is on the rise

The movie '

Top Gun Maverick ' released in May 2022 is a big hit worldwide. This work is a sequel to 'Top Gun' released in 1986, and it is the biggest hit as a starring work of Tom Cruise, but Tom Cruise born in 1962 is 60 years old. It has been pointed out that not only Tom Cruise but also the leading actors in movies tend to be aging.

The Golden Age of the Aging Actor --The Ringer
https://www.theringer.com/movies/2022/6/27/23181232/old-actors-aging-tom-cruise-top-gun-maverick

The Ringer, a news site, is based on information from the movie information database IMDb, and when the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd actors on the cast table of works produced after 1980, which were evaluated by at least 1000 users, were released. The ages of are aggregated and graphed.

In the graph, the vertical axis is the average age of actors, and the horizontal axis is the year of publication. From the left, three graphs are lined up: the average age of 1st to 3rd, the average age of 1st & 2nd, and the average age of 1st, but after 2000, they show exactly the same tendency of rising to the right. I am.

It can be seen that this tendency was almost the same even if the number of evaluations of users was increased to 10,000 or more and the works were narrowed down.

The graph below shows the percentage of works under the age of 30 and the percentage of works over the age of 60 for the ages of the 1st and 2nd actors.

The graph below shows how many movies each generation appeared in when they were 20 to 80 years old, dividing the actors every 20 years from 1900 to 1920 to 1980 to 2000. .. The graphs for those born between 1940 and 1960 and those born between 1960 and 1980 are similar until they are in their 50s, but the number of appearances born between 1980 and 2000 already draws a curve that is less than that of the older generations in their 20s. I am.

One of the reasons for this situation is the decline of monoculture. In the past, everyone was watching the same movie, so Tom Cruise, for example, could become a 'movie star that everyone knows', but with the diversification of content, 'content that everyone is watching' has decreased, as it used to be. It is difficult for a star to be born.

Media analyst Jeff Bock also points out that the easy access to celebrities online eliminates mystery and rather weakens ties. Entertainment reporter Matthew Beloni agrees with this, saying, 'Every day, Miles Teller (' Top Gun Maverick 'Rooster, 35 years old) appears everywhere on my wife's Instagram. You can see him tweeting about Phillies, and you can see it on his paparazzi social media account and TikTok. It's not special to see Miles Teller in a movie, 'he said, explaining that social media has reduced the value of actors and made them commonplace.

Movie data researcher Stephen Follows believes that the 'rebooting' of the film and the production of sequels have led to the aging of the leading actors by recycling former stars. For example, Tom Cruise has been in the 'Mission Impossible' series since 1996, when he was 37 when the first movie was released, but in 2023 when 'Mission: Impossible / Dead Reckoning PART ONE' will be released. Is 61 years old.

In the movie industry as well, there are circumstances in which it is more reliable to aim for a hit with the help of the stars of yesteryear when making a work. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who has worked on numerous hits such as 'Flashdance,' 'Top Gun,' 'Armageddon,' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' also wants the movie studio to appear on the list of actors Tom Cruise and Leonardo. It states that it contains DiCaprio (47 years old). In recent years, Chris Hemsworth (38 years old) seems to have come in here.

There is also a view that this aging tendency is 'the elimination of age discrimination.' Historically, there has been severe age discrimination against women in the film industry, but aging tends to be seen by both men and women. Below is the average age graph of men and women in the movie, as shown by The Ringer. Women are aging to match the aging of men.

The rise in the average age line is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, but 'Spider-Man' Tom Holland (26 years old) and 'Call Me by Your Name' 'DUNE / Dune Sand Planet' Timothée Chalamet The growth of young people such as Chalamet (26 years old) is also expected.