The surprising age differences between 11 famous fictional couples in movies and TV shows
03/04/2020- Some famous couples in movies and TV shows have a bigger age gap than you might think.
- The CW's "Supernatural" franchise showed a million-year age gap between a human and an angel.
- The popular TV show "Pretty Little Liars" placed a 16-year-old character in a concerning relationship with her teacher.
- The titular character in "Rapunzel" was significantly younger (18) than her love interest (24).
- Here are the surprising age differences between 11 well-known fictional couples.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
When it comes to many movie and TV couples, the age difference between the two characters can be substantial.
From a million-year age gap in "Supernatural" to a concerning "Pretty Little Liars" relationship involving an underaged character, here are the surprising age differences between 11 famous fictional couples.
Rose Tyler and The Doctor were romantically linked on "Doctor Who," despite being born over 800 years apart.
Age gap: Around 881 years
"Doctor Who" companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) was 19 years old — as stated in the 2005 show's first episode, "Rose" — when she left her life in London to travel through time and space with an alien who goes by the moniker "The Doctor."
The Doctor says that he's "around 900" years old in the season one episode, "The Empty Child." Though their growing romance became the heart of the show, that puts their age gap at about 881 years.
The actors who starred as The Doctor alongside Piper were also significantly older than she was: Christopher Eccleston was 19 years her senior, and David Tennant was 11 years older.
The vampire Angel might look similar in age to high schooler Buffy Summers on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," but the supernatural being was actually 240 years old.
Age gap: 225 years
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" protagonist Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) was only 15 years old in the show's first season, as established in the pilot.
Later in season one, she becomes romantically involved with the 240-year-old vampire Angel (David Boreanaz), whose age we learn in episode "Angel."
After the characters broke up, Boreanaz starred on "Angel," his character's own spin-off series.
On the CW's "The Vampire Diaries," teenager Elena Gilbert was caught in a love triangle with two much older vampire brothers.
Age gap: 154 years (between Elena and Stefan) and 161 years (between Elena and Damon)
In "The Vampire Diaries," lead Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) was 17 at the start of the series, while vampire brothers Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) were 162 and 169 years old, respectively (as the show explains within the first season).
Elena becomes romantically involved with both brothers at different points on "The Vampire Diaries."
Because Edward Cullen was turned into a vampire as a teenager, it's sometimes easy to forget that he was decades older than "Twilight" protagonist Bella Swan.
Age gap: 86 years
Although Robert Pattinson's "Twilight" character, Edward Cullen, was turned into a vampire at age 17, as he tells Bella in the first "Twilight" book and film, that transformation occurred in 1918.
That makes him around 87 years older than Bella (Kristen Stewart), who was born in 1987, according to the original book series.
When both the book and film series begin, Bella is 17 and Edward is 104.
Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) was 10 years younger than "Star Wars" hero Han Solo (Harrison Ford).
Age gap: 10 years
Leia and Han are one of the most iconic "Star Wars" couples, but there is a significant age difference between them.
Time in the "Star Wars" universe is measured in relation to the battle of Yavin (in which the first Death Star was destroyed in 1977's "Star Wars: A New Hope"), according to /Film.
Leia was born in "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith," which, as The Hollywood Reporter wrote, took place in 19 BBY (before the battle of Yavin) — making her 19 years old during the first "Star Wars" film. Meanwhile, /Film noted that Han was reportedly born in 29 BBY.
When they first become romantically involved in 1980's "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back," which takes place three years after "A New Hope," Leia is 22 and Han is 32.
In Fisher's 2016 memoir "The Princess Diarist," she said she was 19 years old when she had a short-lived affair with 33-year-old Ford while filming the first "Star Wars" in 1976.
When Ford was asked about the affair in a 2017 GQ interview (shortly after Fisher's death in December 2016), he responded, "You know, with Carrie's untimely passing, I don't really feel that it's a subject that I want to discuss."
Peter Quill was around nine years older than his "Guardians of the Galaxy" love interest, Gamora.
Age gap: Around nine years
Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" films slowly developed a romance between intergalactic outlaw Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and former assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana).
When they first meet in 2014, Quill is around 34 (his birth year is stated as 1980 in the film).
The first "Guardians of the Galaxy" also notes that Gamora is 25 in "Zehoberei years." If Zehoberei years are the same length as Earth years, that puts their age difference at around nine years.
There was a 15-year age difference between Daenerys Targaryen and her older husband, Khal Drogo, on HBO's "Game of Thrones."
Age gap: 15 years
Before she was the "mother of dragons," the beginning of "Game of Thrones" saw teenager Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) being forced into a marriage with the older warlord Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa).
In the show's first season, the pilot script says that Daenerys is 15 years old in the show's timeline. In the original book series, Daenerys was married when she was only 13.
Drogo's age is listed as 30 in the same script (Jason Momoa was 32 when he filmed "Game of Thrones" in 2010), making him 15 years her senior.
"Supernatural" protagonist Dean Winchester's love interest, the fallen angel Anna Milton, was millions of years his senior.
Age gap: Millions of years
On season four of The CW's "Supernatural," demon hunter Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) teamed up with fallen angel Anna Milton (Julie McNiven) to prevent an impending apocalypse. The two bonded over their distant fathers and fell in love until Anna reluctantly returned to heaven.
Since "Supernatural" confirmed on the first episode that Dean Winchester was 26 when the show began, he was 30 during his relationship with Anna. She was described as an angel who had been around for millions of years.
Rapunzel was six years younger than criminal-turned-love interest Flynn Rider in Disney's 2010 film "Tangled," according to the animators.
Age gap: Around six years
Most of "Tangled" revolves around its protagonist, Rapunzel (voiced by "This Is Us" star Mandy Moore), leaving the tower in which she's been imprisoned and heading into the world for the first time right before her 18th birthday, a major plot point in the film.
She escapes with the help of runaway thief Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi) — who is around 24 years old, according to director Byron Howard — and they soon fall in love.
Though the romance in "Tangled" is sweet, it could also be considered problematic that a girl who escaped from confinement before her 18th birthday falls into a relationship with a person six years her senior.
Because Logan/Wolverine was born in the 1800s, he was much older than his "X-Men" love interest, Jean Grey.
Age gap: Around 135 years (according to the early 2000s films)
Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is much older than many of the characters in the X-Men franchise. According to the film "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," he was born in 1832.
In the original live-action "X-Men" films (which were released from 2000 to 2006), the clawed mutant falls in love with Jean Gray (Famke Janssen), a young woman with telepathic powers that often spiral dangerously out of her control.
According to 2000's "X-Men," Jean is 33 years old during the events of the first film. Assuming that the movie is also set in the year 2000, that would make Wolverine approximately 135 years older than her.
Wolverine was originally set to appear in the 2019 film "Dark Phoenix," but the idea was scrapped after "Game of Thrones" star Sophie Turner (who is 28 years younger than Jackman) was recast as Jean.
Aria and Ezra had a controversial student-teacher relationship in the popular Freeform show "Pretty Little Liars."
Age gap: Six years
One element of the popular Freeform series "Pretty Little Liars" that hasn't aged well is the student-teacher relationship between 16-year-old Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale) and her high school English teacher, Ezra Fitz (Ian Harding).
According to The International Business Times, Ezra was meant to be 22 when "Pretty Little Liars" first aired in 2010. No matter his age, it's worth noting that Aria was younger than the age of legal consent when their relationship started.
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