What are the real ages of the actors playing high school kids?
The practice of using actors in their twenties to play high school kids is not exactly a new thing – and one of the latest shows to take this approach is Netflix hit Sex Education.
While many aspects of the show have been deservedly praised, some viewers have raised eyebrows around the fact that many of the cast look significantly older than the characters they are portraying.
So how old really are the stars of Sex Education?
Well, rest assured, they’re not just very overgrown teenagers - all of the main high school cast are indeed in their twenties.
At 28, Tanya Reynolds, who plays sex-obsessed alien erotica writer Lily, is the oldest of the cast – and would have been at school leaving age over a decade ago.
Not far behind, is Ncuti Gatwa, who plays Otis’ best friend and one of Moordale’s few openly gay pupils, Eric Effiong, who is 27 years old.
Lead actor Asa Butterfield is 22 – although given he’s been acting since the age of 10, you’d be forgiven for thinking he was actually a bit older.
Emma Mackey, and Aimee Lou Wood, who play Maeve and Aimee respectively are both 24.
Connor Swindells certainly looks like he’s a bit older than school age, and the actor, who plays Adam, is 23.
Kedar Williams-Stirling, who plays Jackson, and is a former star of CBBC show Wolfblood, is 25.
One of the characters who is slightly closer to school age is ex-EastEnders star Mimi Keene, who plays Ruby, and is 21.
And newcomer Sami Outalbali is the youngest cast member, only just out of his teens at 20 – so high school won’t be quite so distant a memory for him...
Sex Education seasons 1 and 2 are currently streaming on Netflix
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
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