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First, to begin with a disclaimer . . .
Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, Timothy Spall – all of them are fantastic actors who brought a great deal to their portrayals of Severus Snape, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Nothing in the following essay should subtract from the brilliance of these men and their craft. However, their casting – along with that of Adrian Rawlins (James Potter) and Geraldine Somerville (Lily Evans) – often skews the nuances of the characters they portrayed due to the differences in ages.
Especially in the minds of those who base most of their viewpoints of the fandom on the movies.
Now, this isn’t to say that age determines character, but it should be taken into consideration when determining a character’s behaviors, actions, and motivations. Sure, it would be more appropriate to consider maturity of levels, but maturity usually comes with age and experience.
Hopefully the new series will cast closer to the correct ages of the actual characters so the impact of the youth of these characters really hits home to the viewers.
Basic dates:
Sirius Black:
Born – November 3, 1959
Died – June 18, 1996
Aged – 36 years old
First appearance – Harry’s 3rd year – Sirius would have been 33 years old when he escaped from Azkaban. In contrast, Gary Oldman was 45-46 years old when he portrayed this event. (12 years too old) [As an additional thought, he should have only been 22 for his mugshot. 23 years too old]
Severus Snape:
Born – January 9, 1960
Died – May 2, 1998
Aged – 38 years old
First appearance – Harry’s 1st year – Severus would have been 31 years old when Harry sees him for the first time at the opening feast. Alan Rickman was 55 years old when filming this scene. (24 years too old)
Lily Evans:
Born – January 30, 1960
Died – October 31, 1981
Aged – 21 years old
First appearance – Harry’s 1st year (Mirror of Erised) – Given that image appears to have been taken in the autumn, it could have been taken shortly before death. That means that Lily would have been 21 at the oldest. Geraldine Somerville was 34 when that scene was filmed. (13 years too old)
Remus Lupin:
Born – March 10, 1960
Died – May 2, 1998
Aged – 38 years old
First appearance – Harry’s 3rd year – Remus would have been 33 years old when he began teaching at Hogwarts. David Thewlis was 41 during filming, making him the only actor who was less than a decade different in age from his character. (8 years too old)
James Potter:
Born – March 27, 1960
Died – October 31, 1981
Aged – 21 years old
First appearance – Harry’s 1st year (Mirror of Erised) – Given that image appears to have been taken in the autumn, it could have been taken shortly before death. That means that James would have been 21 at the oldest. Adrian Rawlins was 42 when that scene was filmed. (21 years too old)
Petter Pettigrew:
Born – Unknown, save that it had to be between September 1, 1959 and August 31, 1960
Died – March 1998
Aged – Between 37-38 years old
First appearance – Harry’s 3rd year (not counting any appearances by “Wormtail”) – Peter was around 33 years old when the Golden Trio discovered the truth of his identity. On the other hand, Timothy Spall was 43 during the filming. (10 years too old)
Now, to put that into a bit more of a perspective – when James and Lily were murdered in 1981, Sirius Black would have been 21 years old . . . for 3 more days. He would have gone into Azkaban at 22 years old – and proceeded to suffer from the Dementors. For the next twelve years, he spends his time having all good and positive emotions being drained from him. Only his ability to transform into Padfoot allowed him to retain any form of sanity, and even that is questionable. He doesn’t get the chance to add to his life experiences or to build upon his maturity level. When he escapes from Azkaban, he’s a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and he’s a man who has never been allowed to process or deal with the grief of losing the most important people in his life. Neither has he had the ability or time to come to a level of acceptance of the way the world and the people in it have changed.
While Gary Oldman does a good job of portraying quite a bit of this, especially the trauma, his very age gives the impression that he should be more controlled, understanding, and responsible. On the other hand, imagine casting Sirius Black in 2024. Actors of the correct age range, say 32-34, would include: Dylan O’Brien, Mena Massoud, Dev Patel, Luke Pasqualino, Alexander Ludwig, Nick Jonas. If the casting occurred in the same age range as the original movies, then the casting possibilities would include: James McAvoy, Lee Pace, Travis Fimmel, Jordan Peele, Jason Momoa. All of them are talented actors, but the differences in age, experience, and visual impact can easily be seen. (This doesn’t begin to touch on his mugshot, but suggested actors of the correct age can be seen below regarding James Potter.)
The visual impact of James and Lily should definitely be considered when thinking about Harry seeing their images for the first time at the end of his first year. He’s eleven years old, a couple of months shy of turning twelve. They should only be 21 at most in the picture – that would make them a decade older than Harry himself at that moment. (Another way to think about it, they should only be 3-4 years older than Harry will be when he defeats Voldemort.) In the movies, James and Lily were portrayed by people who would have been 20-30 years older than Harry. Casting James and Lily in 2024? That would mean people such as Rio Mangini, Finn Wolfhard, Jenna Ortega, Emma Myers, Andrew Terraciano, and Corrine Massiah should be considered for the roles as opposed to Margot Robbie, Eiza González, Dan Stevens, and Sebastian Stan.
What kind of visual impact would a correct age casting have made? For Harry to see such young parents – these two 21-year-olds who defied Voldemort three times before his birth?
However, the biggest age difference between character and actor comes with Severus Snape. Severus Snape had known Lily since before Hogwarts, and an entire essay could be written on his character, motivations, fear, and desire. Love him or hate him, he must be considered one of the more complex people in the entire Wizarding World. Alan Rickman played him beautifully . . . and yet . . . Imagine the visual impact of the man if he’d been cast correctly by age at the time of the film. Actors who would have been in the right age range at the time of the original movies include Gerard Butler, Edward Norton, Daniel Craig, and Aidan Gillen. (In 2024, you’d be looking for the same age range as above for Sirius.)
Again, it’s not that being the correct age is everything, but so many things would have had much more impact. Not one of these characters lived to see their 40th birthday! That means they were “middle-aged” when they graduated from Hogwarts. Consider the actors who have turned – or will turn – 40 in 2023-2024: Scarlett Johansson, Garrett Hedlund, Jaimie Alexander, Jesse Lee Sofer, Henry Cavill, Tessa Thompson. All of them have reached an age that the Marauders, Lily, and Severus never did.
It is said that wars are fought by the young . . . and in so many ways, these characters prove that old saying to be true. That truth, that reality, and that understanding should be shown in their casting as well.
Though there will always be a special place of honor in my heart for Alan Rickman and Gary Oldman . . .