What is the appropriate age gap between actors?
Amazon Prime's "Off Campus" stars raise the question
Amazon Prime Video released the first trailer for their original series “Off Campus” airing May 13, and viewers were quick to notice that the actor portraying Garrett Graham looks suspiciously older than his female co-star.
Based on Elle Kennedy’s hockey romance book series, starting with “The Deal,” I assume this TV adaptation directly follows the book (I didn’t read it).
Their ages don’t feel appropriate
Belmont Cameli, who plays Garrett, is currently 28 years old. Meanwhile, the actress who portrays Hannah Wells, Ella Bright, is only 20 years old—making her 18-19 while filming, yet possibly 17 while being initially casted. Yikes!
I guess technically it’s legal, but it still feels extremely wrong. Cameli visibly looks quite older than Bright, so I want to know who over at Amazon thought this would fly?
Social media users are also rightfully unhappy about the casting choices, specifically with the role of Garrett Graham.
Have you learned nothing!?!
TV shows in the past have been criticized for their age gap relationships, yet they haven’t learned their lesson.
In The O.C. (2003-2007), Mischa Barton was just 17 years old when the show started filming, while love interest played by Benjamin McKenzie was 25. In Boy Meets World (1993-2000), actor Ryder Strong was 17 when Shawn began dating Trina McGee’s character. McGee wasn’t only 28 years old, but also married and pregnant while on the show. American Horror Story: Murder House (2011) featured 17 year old Taissa Farmiga and 24 year old Evan Peters, whose characters were in a relationship. And the list unfortunately goes on…
TV has definitely learned a little bit when it comes to characters, I’m looking at you Aria and Ezra. I don’t think we’ve seen an inappropriate relationship in TV since then (unless I could be wrong). But why does Hollywood keep setting up these actors together? I’m sure there could’ve been better choices.
Despite the questionable age gap, I’ll probably end up still watching the show, or at least the first episode. Only because I can’t stop myself from watching a dumb romance movie/show and critiquing every second of it.