Have you ever been happily re-watching one of your favourite films when suddenly you realise that this character, who seemingly has her life together (successful job, nice apartment, happy relationship, one or two dogs...) is meant to be the same age as you? Yeah, it's more than slightly horrifying.
Learning that Julia Roberts is meant to be 27 in My Best Friend's Wedding and Elaine Hendrix is supposed to be 26 in The Parent Trap really got us thinking: how old are the rest of our favourite on-screen characters supposed to be? (FYI, Rose from Titanic isn't even a legal adult. Let that one sink in.) So, we got down to business and did some research to see how old these women actually are. Ever wondered which iconic character is the same age as you? Here you go...
How old are your favourite film characters? - Grazia
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17
Rose, Titanic Rose is a 17-year-old girl from a wealthy Philadelphia family who is being forced to marry 30-year-old Cal - that is, until she meets 20-year-old Jack and falls in love. We all know how that one ends, though.
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18
Holly Golightly, Breakfast at Tiffany's Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly is actually an 18-year-old socialite living in New York City. We know, this one shocked us too... Fun fact: Hepburn was actually 31-years-old when she played Golightly.
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19
Elinor Dashwood, Sense and Sensibility In the 1995 film adaptation of Jane Austen's novel, Emma Thompson, who was 36 at the time, plays 19-year-old Elinor Dashwood.
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20
Eilis, Brooklyn Eilis Lacey is only 20-years-old when she leaves Enniscorthy, the small town in southeast Ireland where she grew up, to move to a boarding house in Brooklyn, New York City.
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21
Daisy, Mystic Pizza In this coming-of-age film, Julia Roberts plays 21-year-old Daisy, who dreams of escaping the small town on Mystic, Connecticut, but is determined to have as much fun as she possibly can while she's stuck there.
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22
Elle Woods, Legally Blonde Legally Blonde sees sorority girl Elle Woods start her first year at Harvard Law School, right after graduating from the (fictional) California University Los Angeles, would make her around 22-years-old!
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23
Andy, The Devil Wears Prada Andy is a recent journalism graduate from Northwestern University who's struggling to find a job - that is, until she lands the position of junior personal assistant to fiery Miranda Priestly, the editor-in-chief of Runway magazine. If you factor in the time she spent looking for a job after graduation, we're guessing this makes her around 23-years-old.
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24
Jo, Little Women Little Women follows the lives of the four March sisters, but Jo has always been our favourite. Jo has her first story published at 16, moves to New York City at 21, accepts a proposal from Friedrich Bhaer, and is married at 24. If ever we felt like we're running behind, it's now...
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25
Mia Wallace, Pulp Fiction Mia is in her mid-twenties, at the fun and funky age of 25 in Pulp Fiction.
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26
Meredith Blake, The Parent Trap Turns out we've been wrong this whole time! Yes, as crazy as it sounds, Hallie and Annie's step-mum-to-be is only 26 years old in The Parent Trap.
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27
Julianne Potter, My Best Friend's Wedding Food critic Julianne Potter is 27 years old when she realises she's in love with her best friend...who is about to get married to someone else.
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28
Rachel Chu, Crazy Rich Asians Rachel Chu is an economics professor at New York University when the film begins. If you factor in the time she would have spent getting to that position, we estimate she's around 28 years old.
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29
Rachel, Something Borrowed Rachel is celebrating her 30th birthday when she has one too many drinks and wakes up in bed next to her best friend's fiancé - which technically makes her 29 at the start of the film...
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30
Jenna Rink, 13 Going on 30 Jenna Rink is quite possibly the most famous 30 year old in the world of film, no? After making a wish on her thirteenth birthday to be 'thirty, flirty and thriving,' Jenna wakes up with a little more than she bargained for.
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31
Wendy Torrance, The Shining Wendy Torrance is only 31 when she has to save herself and her family from the haunted Overlook Hotel in the remote Rocky Mountains. Here's hoping your 31st year is smoother than hers.
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32
Bridget Jones, Bridget Jones' Diary Ahhh, the most iconic character to ever grace our screens. Bridget Jones is a 32 year old single woman, living a chaotic life in London whilst looking for the love of her life.
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33
Deloris Van Cartier, Sister Act Sister Act begins in 1986, with Deloris being a young student at a Catholic School. 24 years later, she's placed into witness protection after witnessing her gangster boyfriend murder someone. We think this puts her at about 33 years old.
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34
Sofia, The Colour Purple Oprah Winfrey plays 34 year old Sofia - a strong and independent woman who won't let anyone dominate her.
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35
Frances Mayes, Under the Tuscan Sun Frances Mayes is 35 years old and living in San Francisco when she gets a divorce that leaves her with terrible writer's block and depression. To make a change, she buys a house in Tuscany and moves across the world. Sounds dreamy!
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36
Catherine Tramell, Basic Instinct At 36 years old, Catherine Tramell is an heiress, a novelist...and of course, a murderer.
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37
Thelma, Thelma and Louise 37-year-old icon Thelma is 1/2 of the infamous iconic duo, Thelma and Louise.
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38
Mrs Robinson, The Graduate The by-word for 'cougar', many sources claim Mrs Robinson is 38 when she tries to seduce 20 year old Benjamin Braddock, only for him to fall in love with her daughter instead. The actress, Anne Bancroft, was only 35 during filming. Meanwhile, Dustin Hoffman was 29.
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39
Debbie, This is 40 Debbie and her husband, Pete, are about to turn 40 and struggling to come to terms with the life they have versus the life they wanted (which certainly didn't include mounting debt and naughty children.)
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40
Maya Vargas, Second Act At her surprise 40th birthday party, Maya muses to her best friend that she's unhappy with her career due to lack of an education...only to be overheard by her tech-savvy son who takes updating her CV into his own hands.
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41
Charlotte, Sex and the City: The Movie The Sex and the City movie sees 41-year-old Charlotte happily married to Harry; the couple adopted a daughter, Lily, after struggling to conceive.
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42
Carrie, Sex and the City: The Movie Carrie is 42 years old in the movie where she and Big are apartment hunting together, before deciding to get married for 'legal reasons.' Miranda is also 42 in the film, settled in Brooklyn with Steve and raising Brady together.
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43
Truvy Jones, Steel Magnolias Dolly Parton's Truvy Jones is 43 years old and running the local hair salon, The Beauty Spot.
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44
Katherine Johnson, Hidden Figures Katherine Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson, centre) was a mathematician whose calculations were critical to several NASA expeditions. At the age of 44, she calculated the trajectory for the space flight of Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and the launch window for his 1961 mission to Mercury.
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46
Annie MacDuggan, Elise Elliot, Brenda Morelli, and Cynthia Swann, First Wives Club Annie, Elise, Brenda and Cynthia graduate from Middlebury College in 1969, before being reunited over 20 years later following Cynthia's death. It's then that they realise they have all been left by their husbands for younger women, leaving them to seek their revenge.
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47
Frida Kahlo, Frida Salma Hayek movingly plays the incredible artist Frida Kahlo, who dies at the young age of 47.
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48
Julia Child, Julie & Julia Julia Child, the famous American chef, was 48-years-old when Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published - leading to her own television show, The French Chef.
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49
Alice Howland, Still Alice Alice Howland, a lingustic professor, is about to turn 50 years old when she is given a shocking diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer's disease.
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50
Samantha, Sex and the City: The Movie The Sex and the City film sees Samantha living 3,000 miles away from Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda in Los Angeles, where she's relocated her business to be closer to Smith.
Fancy catching up with some of your favourite characters again? Here's your choice...
The Best Netflix Chick Flicks - Grazia
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Mean Girls
The ultimate chick flick, nothing compares to Cady Heron and the Plastics.
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Easy A
Emma Stone at her best, Easy A shows what happens when rumours run wild - and what happens when you try to stop them.
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Always Be My Maybe
A Netflix original, Always Be My Maybe shows us what happens when childhood sweethearts reunite as adults. It also stars Keanu Reeves, so you should watch it for that reason alone.
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Someone Great
Jane The Virgin's Gina Rodriguez stars in this Netflix original. It's perfect for realising that sometimes, it's our girlfriends we need - not a man. We're giving a shoutout to that iconic kitchen dance scene.
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To All The Boys I've Loved Before
Netflix's film adaptation of Jenny Han's young-adult novel is the perfect easy watch that will have you missing high school and feeling nostalgic for your first love.
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What To Expect When You're Expecting
Everyone's pregnant - well, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Brooklyn Decker and Anna Kendrick are - and everyone is on some level is scared for what's to come. Don't worry, there's a whole lot of laughs along the way, too.
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Trainwreck
Amy Schumer at her best, this film is perfect for when you feel like your life is falling apart and you need to know you're not alone.
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Eat, Pray, Love
Based on Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling book of the same name, follow Liz she travels the world following her divorce, searching for good food, spirituality and love.
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The Notebook
What do you mean you haven't seen it?! Settle in for a big weep with this adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' best-selling novel, set in 1940s America and starring a gorgeous Rachel McAdams and a delightfully waterlogged Ryan Gosling.
10 of 23
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
As four best friends prepare to spend their first summer apart, they find a magical pair of jeans that fits each of them perfectly, despite their different body sizes. In an effort to stay connected, they make a pact to send the jeans around to each other all summer. Sisterhood at it's finest!
11 of 23
A Cinderella Story
Following her father's death, Sam is left in the care of her evil stepmother and stepsisters. Her only respite is her online pen pal, a boy named Nomad. When the two decide to meet at a school dance, they're in for a big shock.
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Dumplin'
Willowdean, an insecure teenager, has never felt good enough for her mother, the Miss Teen Bluebonnet champion, Rosie Dickson. So, she enters the pageant herself to prove she can be good enough.
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New York Minute
Mary-Kate and Ashley are at their finest in New York Minute, which follows twin sisters who just can't get along. When they have to travel to NYC together – for two completely different reasons – a series of mishaps completely ruins their day. The only way to get through it is to work together.
14 of 23
Chasing Liberty
Anna Foster, daughter of the President of the United States, is fed up of being constantly followed by the Secret Service - so she runs away during an official trip to Europe where she meets and falls in love with Ben. But, spoiler alert, Ben isn't really who he seems...
15 of 23
Burlesque
Ali leaves her job as a waitress to finally pursue her dream of being on stage, but after her audition fails she's left questioning her decisions. That is, until she stumbles into a different club where she might just fit in.
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Sisters
Two sisters reunite when their parents decide to sell their childhood home. With just one final night left to say goodbye to the house they grew up in, they decide to throw an epic house party.
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13 Going on 30
Jenna Rink has just turned 13, but all she wants is to be thirty, flirty and thriving. With the help of little magic dust, she gets a little more than she wished for.
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Cluless
If you need a reason to re-watch Clueless (as if!), do it for the fashion alone.
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Sex and the City 2
The girls deserve a break, so they head to Adu Dhabi for a relaxing vacation. Obvs, nothing goes as planned.
20 of 23
The Edge of Seventeen
Nadine is a high school junior who already feels awkward and out of place - and then her best friend starts dating her brother. All at once, she feels more alone than ever, until she meets an unexpected friend.
21 of 23
Isn't It Romantic?
Natalie, an architect in NYC, works hard to get noticed at her job but is treated more like an intern. When she gets knocked unconscious during a subway mugging, she wakes up in a magical alternate universe where everything is, well, romantic.
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Booksmart
With their high school graduation right around the corner, best friends Amy and Molly realise they haven't had the full high school experience. With one night left in their high school career, they decide to make up for it.
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Plus One
Long-term best friend Ben and Alice make a deal to be each other's dates for wedding season after all of their friends start tying the knot. Equal parts sweet and heart-wrenching, this film is seriously relatable and an emotional rollercoaster.
