Actors and musicians are storytellers, efficiently promoting narratives of their performances or lyrics.
Generally, nonetheless, they use these abilities to create false narratives about themselves. Listed below are 19 celebrities who lied about their heights, ages, or origins:
1.
After years of conflicting reviews about his peak, in 2020, Nicholas Braun instructed Enterprise Insider, “6’7″ is the actual quantity. I used to make it shorter as a result of most individuals hear 6’7″ and even 6’6″ and, I believe, are just a little spooked by it, like I will be too tall. I am simply speaking about in auditions or after I’m going for an element. So I used to kind of make it low, 6’4″, 6’5″. I am actually 6’7″ after I stand. It has been the most important obstacle to getting roles, I believe, my entire life. As a result of at the same time as a child after I was youthful, like 11, 12 years previous, I used to be very tall. I simply saved being very tall. However all people’s received one thing that may get in the way in which. I am simply gonna embrace it from right here on out.”
2.
Idris Elba pretended to be American for his The Wire audition. In 2019, he instructed Sizzling Ones, “[Series creator] David Simon particularly instructed Alexa Fogel, who’s the casting director, ‘Pay attention, that is about Baltimore. I do not wanna see no non-Individuals for any of those roles. I want folks that may actually relate to the story I am attempting to inform right here.’ Which is a particularly reasonable factor to ask for, contemplating how observant he’s of the tradition. So, Alexa Fogel was a casting director that was actually into seeing new expertise, and she or he met me. And she or he mentioned, ‘I like you. I can deliver you into this audition, however you gotta promise me, you may’t inform them you are from East London.'”
3.
From 2000–2019, Laverne Cox lied about her age. In 2022, she instructed The Ellen Present, “I used to be 28 years previous, and I used to be courting a man that was 21, and he broke up with me as a result of he mentioned I used to be too previous. And I used to be like, ‘Oh, if I am too previous, I will simply be 22.'” After a number of years, although, she did not need to lie about being 22 anymore. She continued, “‘Over 21’ grew to become my age. And so I used to be ‘Over 21’ from like 2002 to 2019.” Nonetheless, when IMDB “discovered” her actual age, Laverne “was having such anxiousness” and frightened it will make her look like she “wasn’t hirable” or “dateable.” So, she spoke along with her therapist about these emotions. When she was talking at an occasion in 2019, she mentioned her actual age out loud for the primary time.
4.
Early in her profession, Nicole Kidman, who’s 5’11”, was instructed, “You will not have a profession. You are too tall.” In 2024, she instructed the Radio Occasions Podcast, “I say 5’10½”, however I am 5’11”.” Sadly, she discovered her peak could also be a hindrance to her appearing profession fairly younger. She mentioned, “I keep in mind auditioning for Annie, which was simply a kind of large callouts the place a whole bunch and a whole bunch of individuals [go]. I did not have an agent or something; I simply confirmed up…I needed to discuss my method by means of the door ‘trigger they had been measuring you earlier than you went in. I used to be mortified, and I used to be over the mark. I believe you needed to be, kind of, 5’2″, and I used to be possibly 5’4″…and so they let me in…”
5.
In 2001, Nadine Coyle — who later rose to fame as a member of Women Aloud — competed on Irish Popstars. Rivals needed to be a minimum of 18, however since she was solely 16, she lied about her age. Nonetheless, she by chance spilled her personal secret throughout an interview.
A producer found that she’d put 1983 as her delivery 12 months on her paperwork and confronted her concerning the contradiction. Nadine tried to backtrack then acted like she did not know the place her passport was.
Off digicam, she got here clear about her actual age. She needed to go away the present, regardless of her bandmates’ protests. You possibly can watch the total clip beneath:
View this video on YouTube
RTÉ One / Through youtube.com
6.
When Kaya Scodelario was 14, considered one of her lecturers instructed the scholars about auditions for Skins. In 2024, she instructed the Guardian, “A gaggle of us went down simply to look, after which a few the assured ladies went in. I used to be stood watching when the creator, Bryan Elsley, got here exterior for a cigarette – I believe they’d had too many youngsters flip up, so he was taking place the road and fairly brutally being like, ‘Sure, no, sure, no.’ He noticed me throughout the street and mentioned, ‘Do you need to audition?'” Then, Kaya auditioned, however she additionally lied and mentioned she was 15. Nonetheless, after she booked it, she discovered they had been truly on the lookout for a youthful actor. So, she known as the producers and mentioned, “No, I lied! I lied! I am solely 14!”
7.
In 2020, Jacob Elordi instructed GQ, “I was so delicate about my peak, as a result of after I first began appearing, actually all people would inform me that I would by no means work as a result of they would not have the ability to accomplice me with folks, and so they would not elevate the digicam up. So, I mainly received instructed that I used to be too tall to be an actor. So to all of these folks…good. So, yeah, I used to be tremendous nervous about telling folks my peak. So I used to attempt to go as, like, 6’2″ or 6’3″, however I am truly 6’5″. So on-line, there’s all completely different sorts of numbers. I’ve simply bought myself out. Simply because…folks hear 6’5″, and so they go, like ‘You are an enormous,’ but when I stand subsequent to somebody who’s 6’3″, the distinction is, like, tiny.”
8.
At age 24, Gillian Anderson landed a number one position on The X-Information with comparatively little appearing expertise by pretending to be older. In 2020, she instructed Contemporary Air, “I lied about my age on the primary audition. So I mentioned that I used to be 27. In order that’s the way you get that job. However I used to be despatched in on an audition, like another audition, after which saved getting known as again and, finally, you recognize, went to community with all the opposite ladies who had been additionally attempting out for the position, going to community and attending to learn with David Duchovny, who they’d by that time chosen as Mulder. However they weren’t satisfied — Chris Carter, who created the sequence, was satisfied that I used to be his Scully, however the community wasn’t. And so, rapidly, they began to fly in all these different actresses from the theater neighborhood in New York.”
9.
When Laurence Fishburne auditioned for Apocalypse Now, he claimed he was 16, however he was truly 14. The jig was up when producer Fred Roos acknowledged him from a earlier undertaking. Nonetheless, a secretary’s opinion that he may go for 18 helped him get the position. In 2013, Laurence instructed George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, “A younger lady who was working within the workplaces, a secretary, received up and walked by means of. And as she was strolling, Francis [Ford Coppola, the director] lastly spoke up, and he simply checked out her and mentioned, ‘Excuse me, you suppose this child may very well be 18?’ And whoever this younger lady was, she circled, checked out me, and went, ‘Yeah.'”
10.
In 2018, Chloë Grace Moretz instructed The Late Present with Stephen Colbert, “I lied to a reasonably heavy hitter. I lied to Martin Scorsese for Hugo. In Hugo, I am speculated to have a British accent and be British, and so I went in there, you recognize, simply prepared for it…I hadn’t performed a British accent earlier than…However I’ve, like, a stable ear, so I am okay with faking it. And I’m going into the audition, and I would performed, like, you recognize, a pair smaller auditions, and the casting director knew I wasn’t British, however she knew that I used to be prepared to lie. And she or he preferred me. And she or he was like, ‘Misinform Marty. It will work.’ And I used to be like, ‘Okay. If I get the half.’ I would already lied in my self-tape, after which I lied along with her, and she or he knew the reality. So, she was like, ‘Hold mendacity.'” So, Chloë instructed the director she was the daughter of horse breeders from Cambridgeshire.
11.
When Lisanne Falk auditioned for Heathers, she was 23 however claimed to be 19. In 2019, she instructed Fox Information, “Wanting again at it, it is type of gotten misinterpreted. On the time there have been so many teen motion pictures the place you had individuals who had been wanting 30 years previous, who had been well beyond their due date by way of being in highschool. I received this audition by means of my agent and…I used to be 23 on the time. However I at all times seemed fairly younger…And after I learn the script, I simply knew I had to do that. I did not need to lose my alternative. So I assumed, ‘I am simply going to go in and add a ‘teen’ on the finish of my age so it is not even a difficulty. In order that they would not suppose twice about hiring me.’ And mainly it labored. I mentioned I used to be 19, and so they had been wonderful with it. I did not suppose I would not need to cope with that once more.”
12.
To nab the position of 16-year-old Andrea Zuckerman on Beverly Hills 90210, then-29-year-old Gabrielle Carteris lied about being 21. In 2019, she instructed Individuals, “Once I received the position, a lawyer instructed me I may signal a contract and state a unique age, so long as it was over the age of 21. When [my real age] did come out, the present was simply beginning to take off, and my character was established sufficient that they didn’t fireplace me. However a producer did say to me, ‘You are fortunate we did not know your age after we employed you.'”
13.
In 2013, Jessica Chastain — who was extensively reported to be 35 on the time — instructed the Unbiased, “I’ll by no means say my age as a result of I am an actress, and I need to play completely different ages.”
14.
In 2016, Chris Hemsworth instructed the Radio Occasions, “There are actually issues I’ve needed to go up for which I have been completely fallacious for, bodily. And I usually lie about my peak [6’3”] and say I am shorter. However it will probably go two methods. The transient for the audition for Thor mentioned, ‘Have to be over 6’1″, which I would by no means seen earlier than!”
16.
In a 2021 essay for iNews, Paloma Religion wrote, “I used to be 27 after I put my first file out, however I instructed my label I used to be 23. I seemed fairly younger, so I may get away with it. I learn numerous articles about musicians on the time, and it appeared like each piece about KT Tunstall would indicate that she was fairly previous, although she was solely 27. That actually affected me, and I keep in mind considering, ‘I need to be judged for my music, not my age.’ My plan had been to get to a sure degree of success after which have a dialog about my age, however I used to be pressured to do it sooner as a result of somebody saved altering my Wikipedia web page. Each time I set my age to 23, they might change it again to 27. Ultimately, they offered my delivery certificates to Wikipedia, so I used to be blocked from modifying my very own web page.”
17.
After being scouted at 18, Agyness Deyn spent 5 years as a jobbing mannequin. Then, when she was 23, she signed with an agent in New York and reached new ranges of success. On the time, she was surrounded by rumors that she’d lied about her age. The rumors reportedly sparked from a Fb group known as “Agyness Deyn You are Not 18,” which her former classmates made in 2007. The web page mentioned, “This group is for all those that understand that supermodel Agyness Deyn, AKA Laura Hollins, isn’t 18, or 21, or any of the opposite ages she claims to be. We all know individuals who went to highschool along with her and can confirm she is 24.” In 2012, Agyness instructed the Guardian she’d been mendacity for for much longer than folks theorized.
18.
When Whoopi Goldberg was 30, it was extensively reported that she was 35. In 1986, she instructed the Washington Publish, “I needed to lie about my age to get some jobs.”
19.
And at last, for 2 years, the hip-hop duo Silibil N’ Brains — aka Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd — masquerade as two California boys who met at a San Francisco rap battle. In actuality, they had been pals from Dundee, Scotland who’d by no means even been to California. They determined to cover their roots after a 13-hour bus journey to London for a label audition, the place they had been laughed at for being from Scotland. In a joint 2013 Vice interview, Billy mentioned, “We fell into these identities because of how we had been feeling. We determined we both had to surrender or do one thing loopy.” Gavin added, “The hip hop we would been listening to was American, so we had been miming their accents after we had been singing within the bathe. We may rap within the accent naturally, however we started talking that method as effectively.”
In your opinion, what’s probably the most ridiculous lie a star’s ever been caught in? Tell us within the feedback!
