The curious case of the actresses who played mothers of actors of (almost) the same age

Angelina Jolie in Alexander (2004)

The case of Angelina Jolie was a little more extreme, since in 2004 Oliver Stone chose the actress to play Colin Farrell's mother in Alexander, a biographical film of Alexander the Great. The problem is that she is only one year older than the performer.

In the film, Jolie - who was 28 years old at the time - played Queen Olympia, while Farrell played Alexander the Great, and like Di Girólamo and Milostich, their relationship was quite peculiar.

The criticism against the film did not wait, and the actress came out to defend herself. “I played his mother when he was seven and I aged through the film, plus he died when he was very young, he was about 19 years old. So it's not like his mother was that old in the end.. She was 30 something,” she claimed.

But the Hollywood star was wrong, since it is believed that the conquistador died at the age of 33.

15 years later, Jolie and Farrell are rumored to be in a romantic relationship.

Nicole Kidman in Aquaman (2018)

The choice of Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, the mother of Arthur Curry, better known as Aquaman, aroused quite a bit of criticism.

The 52-year-old actress became the mother of Jason Mamoa, who in real life is only 12 years younger than her. “In the context of the superhero world, everything evens out. “Atlanna doesn’t really age,” Kidman explained to Variety.

But beyond that, Nicole was delighted with her role. “It was fun and I love my hair, that long, cascading, butt-length hair,” she joked.

Amy Poehler in Mean Girls (2004)

Also in 2004, another choice of actress sparked criticism. And Amy Poehleer was 32 years old when she had to play the mother of Rachel McAdams, who at that time had only turned 25 years old.

To give life to Mrs. George, who “was not a normal mom, but a cool mom,” the actress had to age a few years to be able to show the greatest possible age difference with McAdams, whose character was 17.

However, since Poehler is one of the best friends of Tina Fey, the film's director, she accepted the challenge and became one of the film's unforgettable characters.

Winona Ryder in Star Trek (2009)

Winona Ryder doesn't seem to age much, so it was very strange when she was cast as Zachary Quinto's mother in the Star Trek reboot in 2009.

The actress is only six years older than the Spock interpreter, and although, as in every science fiction story, some explanation can be found for the mother's youth, the criticism came out the same.

Laura Dern in Wild (2014)

Laura Dern and Reese Witherspoon are nine years apart but that did not stop them from playing mother and daughter in the 2014 film Wild.

And although the role of Bobbie earned Dern an Oscar nomination, the comments about her choice were not good at all.

In director Jean-Marc Vallée's defense, the actress's scenes took place in flashback and were Witherspoon's character's memories of the woman who had died of cancer a few years earlier.

Laura assured that she did not realize the difference in years until after she had been chosen. “After we finished the movie, we went to dinner with a mutual friend who is also an actress, and she said to me, 'I can't believe you did that (play Reese's mother). Aren't you nervous?'” Dern told the Los Angeles Times. “I was like, ‘Wait, what?’ I hadn't noticed before, but then I felt vulnerable to someone else bringing it up,” she added.

Witherspoon, meanwhile, highlighted the work of her colleague. “Laura came (to record) without any type of ego. Ego is the death of creativity,” she mentioned.