Beverly D'Angelo was 32 in 1983, which means if the kids were 12-15 (my guess ), that Ellen would have had Rusty in her late teens.
Seems young for a couple that went to college together.
Seems more like an age Ellens cousin would have had kids, Clark and Ellen seemed like the type that would wait until after college.
You are making the unwarranted assumption that the character is the same age as the actor portraying them. In general, casting directors really don't care a wit about that; only that the actor can portray the character the way the director wants. So, it doesn't really matter if Beverly was 21 or 110; if she could convincingly portray the character better than anyone else who auditioned, the casting director would cast her.
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