6 Celebs Who Convinced The World They Were FAR Younger Than Their True Age, And 7 Celebs Who Pretended To Be WAY Older Than They Actually Were

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Lying about your age is nothing new in Hollywood (or really anywhere, for that matter). As we all know, age discrimination is still rampant, especially in careers such as acting, when success relies on an actor's looks and sex appeal. This is the reason why many celebs have lied about their ages by claiming to be younger (or sometimes OLDER) than they actually are...

From being deemed too inexperienced to "not hireable," many reasons — both personal and professional — will often convince a celeb that keeping their real age hidden is a wise move. Without further ado, here are 13 actors who have had to lie about being either older or younger than they truly were:

Cox then revealed that she began addressing her age-related anxiety with a therapist: "I started unpacking these stories about being older. The stories were that I wasn't hireable, I wasn't dateable, I wasn't effable over a certain age — apparently, the age was like 27 [or] 28 — and then I worked through all that."

The now-52-year-old recalled her startling realization after revealing her true age during a 2019 speaking engagement: "I thought the sky was going to fall, and then people were just like … it was like nothing. It was a reminder that, in our heads, we might have shame about something, and it's terrible and awful, and no one really cares. It's all in our heads. So I am proudly 49, about to turn 50, and I'm so excited and happy to be able to own that."

However, when DeGeneres said, "It's horrible to have secrets," Cox noted, "To be real, I am a Black actress over 40 in Hollywood, so lying about my age is not completely insane."

3. Pretended to be older: Mila Kunis

"If you watch the pilot, I am clearly a child." She further confirmed and elaborated that her now-husband, Ashton Kutcher — who was 19 when the show premiered — was her first real kiss.

When Stern asked if the relationship ever turned romantic during their time on set, Kunis shook her head, "No, because remember, I'm 14, he's 19...He had to kiss me. I don't [know] who it's weirder for, the 19-year-old kids or the 14-year-old. My nerves, oh God..." The couple did not begin a romantic relationship until 2012 when they reconnected at an awards show.

However, in a 2022 interview with Vanity Fair, Kunis revealed that the show's creators, Bonnie and Terry Tyler, became aware of her true age before filming began. "By the time I went to what was then a producer’s network call…you have to sign a contract before you get the job and in my contract I had to put an asterisk for ‘studio teacher,'” she continued. “They were like, ‘What do you mean?’ And I was like, ‘Oh P.S., I’m 14.’ But at that point if you talk to the creators, they were like, ‘We loved you at that point so what did we care?'”

4. Pretended to be older: Gillian Anderson

"Not least because the character that I played — Dana Scully — was already a doctor and an FBI agent," she elaborated. "Yeah, you can't be those things when you're 24."

Previously, when asked about her age-related lie in an interview with NPR, Anderson claimed that she felt her youthfulness and inexperience bled into her onscreen portrayal of Dana Scully: "I had no experience whatsoever. I had only ever done a couple of plays and scenes in college. If [Scully] comes across as being a little bit cocky and at the same time green, it's all real. It's me trying to pretend like I know that I am the person that I say I am."

5. Pretended to be younger: Loretta Lynn

Herman Webb — the country icon's younger brother — declined to state his sister's age but suggested that a "mix-up" could have occurred when she moved to Nashville to begin her music career.

Lynn's autobiography collaborator, George Vecsey, revealed that he had never verified her age while writing the New York Times bestseller. "It’s her book, and I never saw a birth certificate, marriage license. It’s what they told me. I couldn’t say that she was the one who told me first. Between her manager [David Skepner], who has passed, and her husband, who has now passed, it was at least three different people telling me that," he claimed.

In her autobiography, Lynn addressed rumors surrounding her age: "When I was born, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the president for several years. That’s the closest I’m gonna come to telling my age in this book, so don’t go looking for it. I’m trying to make a living singing songs. I don’t need nobody out there saying, ‘She don’t look bad considering she’s such-and-such years old.'"

6. Pretended to be older: Whoopi Goldberg

7. Pretended to be younger: Carla Gugino

8. Pretended to be older: Laurence Fishburne

"What happened was I was there with them, talking to Fred Roos, who was the producer who remembered me, something I did when I was really young...A young woman who was working in the office as a secretary got up and walked through, and as she was walking, Francis finally spoke up and he just looked at her and said, 'Excuse me, do you think this kid [referring to 14-year-old Fishburne] could be 18?' And whoever this young woman was, she turned around and looked at me and went, 'Yeah, I guess so.' And that's really how I got over on that set."

However, things worked themselves out because by the time the film — which took over two years to complete — was released in 1979, Fishburne was the same age as his character.

9. Pretended to be younger: Gabrielle Carteris

In 2019, she revealed to People that her life decisions — as someone in their 30s — were reflected in some of the more mature scripts written for Andrea. "Before I got pregnant with my first child, I went to Aaron [Spelling] and said, ‘My husband, Charlie, and I would like to start a family, and I’d like for you to write it in that Andrea gets pregnant because I don’t want to hide my pregnancy. I want my baby to know I was proud and share it with the world,'” she recalled. “Aaron was so shocked, but he said, ‘Yes, we’ll do it.’ So Andrea was full-blown pregnant."

Naturally, however, this bold decision faced some backlash from the press. Carteris recalled, "Somebody wrote an article about, ‘How dare Andrea get pregnant? It’s high school, she’s supposed to be a smart girl.' I responded back in an editorial, ‘You know, smart people make mistakes. Smart people make decisions about the choices they make in their lives, and this is real life.'"

10. Pretended to be older: Hilary Duff

11. Pretended to be younger: Rebel Wilson

However, she then took a more serious course of action and sued Bauer Media, the publisher of Woman's Day and Women's Weekly, for defamation, citing that she had lost out on movie roles due to the scandal. In 2017, Wilson was awarded over $4 million in damages.

In 2016, during an interview on Australia's Home Delivery, the now-44-year-old stated that her move to the United States was behind her decision to hide her age from the public. "When I did go to America, I kind of just stopped saying my age...The reality is when you work in America, you have to show your passport and your visa for every single job, so it’s not like you can hide how old you were. So for the press to do a story that I was deliberately lying or whatever, no. I was just being a lady and not telling my age when I moved to America. That’s not really a crime. Also, most actresses do that," Wilson explained.

After the trial was over, she tweeted that she intended to use the settlement money for charities in her native Australia: "I’m looking forward to helping out some great Australian charities and supporting the Oz film industry with the damages I’ve received. Also looking forward to getting back to my career and entertaining everyone!"

12. Pretended to be older: Nadine Coyle

This little slip-up led to a search for the now-39-year-old's passport to prove her "real" date of birth. However, after her passport was found, it was discovered that her true birthdate was indeed June 15, 1985 — which rendered her ineligible for the competition.

Producer Linda Martin sat down with the teen and explained, "You’ll break my heart if I have to lose you, and that's stupid me saying ‘if I have to lose you,’ but that's the way I feel now." Martin then asked, "If you were trying to make out that you're 18, would you tell me at this stage?"

Off-camera, Coyle admitted her true age and was sent home. The following year, she appeared in another iteration of the Popstar franchise called Popstars: The Rivals. During this time, she joined four other women — Nicola Harding, Sarah Harding, Cheryl Cole, and Kimberley Walsh — to form the pop group Girls Aloud.

Although the group disbanded in 2013, the remaining four members (Sarah Harding passed away from breast cancer in 2021) reunited in 2024 for a tour — which became the biggest UK arena tour of the year.