MovieChat Forums > En kongelig affære (2012) Discussion > Age difference too big!

Age difference too big!

posted 13 years ago by Seraphine3
32 replies | jump to latest

Don't get me wrong, I think Mads Mikkelsen is still a hot tamale, but it seems a little strange that they would cast him opposite a girl 23 years younger than himself, when in fact the historical Caroline Mathilde and Struensee were only 14 years apart.

Is it just that every Danish production with international pretensions MUST star Mads Mikkelsen to make it at the box office?

I'm excited about this film, but the casting is making me suspicious that too much is staked on the selling of it, rather than the telling of the story...

[–] AgentSniff 12 years ago

A long as mr Mikkelsen get's to keep his left eye I am satisfied.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] jackie_jaci 12 years ago

I have a feeling that they might be trying to play her off as older than she actually is.

With Mads age is only a number.... :)

[–] HHFan 12 years ago

Younger woman, older man - the way God intended it ;)

--
Lets nuke the site from orbit - its the only way to be sure.

[–] golden_muse 11 years ago

Oh I dunno--I'm dating a man younger than myself and it's pretty darned heavenly:)

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[–] RCeditor 11 years ago

^^You go girl!

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] kkerbs411 10 years ago

Oh I dunno--I'm dating a man younger than myself and it's pretty darned heavenly:)

Amen sista! I am 48 years young, and I find younger men delicious. :)

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] Galanika 9 years ago

@ Golden Girl:

Well done girl! Doing something to redress the balance!

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] teck76 11 years ago

You wouldn's say anything if you didn't know how old the actors are.

[–] andreeaus 11 years ago

No, it doesn't "have" to be Mads Mikkelsen, even though, indubitable, he is the BEST actor the Danes have.

I enjoyed a lot the movie, it was very well done and played and Mads made quite a role in it. And no, there was no displeasure in seeing them together, in spite of the age difference. In the end they made the love story credible and Aliccia Vikander played brilliantly her part.

[–] Qapla5 11 years ago

Your comment is very odd. Why is a 23-year age difference between the actors somehow less acceptable than the real-life historical 14-year age difference? I mean, if you're going to make a complaint about the age difference, let's take it a bit further.

For starters, the actress playing Queen Caroline Mathilde was born in Sweden and was about 23 during filming of the movie. The REAL Caroline Mathilde was born in England and was only 15 when she travelled to Denmark to marry Christian VII. (Not only is there an 8-year age difference there, but also a difference in nationalities.)

I can't find the age of actor Mikkel Boe Folsgarrd who plays Christian VII but I'm presuming he's far older than the real Christian who married Caroline Mathilde when he was only 17.

Then, of course, there's the fact that actor Mads Mikkelsen is Danish, through and through, while the real Struensee was German.

The simple fact is that the film industry has always tried to hire actors who are best able to handle the roles, regardless of how the actors' real ages correspond to the ages of the characters they play.

Furthermore, if you don't have a problem with the actual historical figures having a 14-year age difference, what IS the problem with there being an even larger age difference between the actors?

[–] Seraphine3 11 years ago

Hello Quapla5

Thanks for your post! You make some good points.

You do misunderstand me though - I'm most definitely not ageist. Personally I've had a long, serious relationship with a man 16 years older and me, and I'm VERY able to find someone 30 years older attractive. That was not my point.

My problem was that I find the real history of the story fascinating and have read a lot about it. I just get annoyed when it seems like film producers make changes which seem to be only about selling - but hey, that's the business (don't get me started on ''Becoming Jane'').

Anyway, I wrote that first comment before I had seen the film. Having seen it, I of course loved the skill and intensity of Mads Mikkelsen, and the three leads worked pretty well together.

I'm just a purist about adaptation of an already great story - and the wrong age seems like something which is more difficult to hide, than for example, the use of actors with the wrong nationality.
So shoot me ;)

[–] Clemencedane 11 years ago

I've enjoyed many Danish films and this is the first one I have seen Mads Mikkelson in. He was brilliant! I did think about the age difference in the beginning of the film, but as they came to inhabit their characters so thoroughly I began to forget about it and focus only on their deep bond.

[–] fatpie42 11 years ago

If you enjoyed seeing Mads in this, you should see him in "Pusher 2".

I was amazed when I saw that he played the drug-addicted thug from "Pusher 2", the bad guy who weeps blood in "Casino Royale", the wild, violent and mysterious figure in "Valhalla Rising", and now an Enlightenment-inspired physician to the Danish king in "A Royal Affair". He's a chameleon, somehow able to appear completely different in a variety of films. He's amazing!

[–] Clemencedane 11 years ago

Haha, yes the mark of the rarest kind of talent. I hadn't seen him before, but already could see he is an absolute master. It's kind of perfect for him that he has the right look to be cast in Bond films and medieval epics which probably pay a lot better, increase his exposure and keep him in work. But at the same time his fame and financial stability mean he can also take the plum roles that challenge him and allow him to show his full range of abilities.

My brother just told me Mikkelson is fantastic in another great Danish film, After the Wedding. I can't wait to rent it now.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Lucy9596 11 years ago

He received the silver bear in Berlin.
I didn't think Mikkelsen was blank but the execution scene was absolutely great.

If the idea is to stay alive, I'm driving.

[–] Torian06 11 years ago

I noticed too the obvious wide gap in the ages of Struensee and the Queen, but that didn't prevent me from being immersed in the story of their relationship, how doomed it was from the very beginning - when they danced together for the first time. I thought somewhere in the movie that Struensee's maturity and open-mindedness about societal reforms and nurturing ideas were enough attractions for the queen, contrasting glaringly with the childishness of her psychologically/mentally ill husband.

Truth inexorably,inscrutably seeks and reveals Itself into the Light.

[–] sixxdog 11 years ago

I only do girls half my age.. I'm sure it's what God wants

[–] mariuspimp 11 years ago

Hallelujah to that.

[–] Seymour-Pats 9 years ago

So you've been celibate for decades then. Since you're not rich and famous, the pool of women half your age interested in having anything to do with you is clearly quite small. Men seem to have this delusion that only women age - sorry guys, but men age too - and most don't age like fine wine.