Wait, How Old Are the Cast Members of ‘The Politician’ IRL?
After literal months of waiting, The Politician is finally back for season 2. Thank god. But as you watch the newest set of episodes, you might get a little confused as to how old the characters are supposed to be compared to the actors who play them. We’re here to clear things up.
To give some quick context, the first season takes place when all the kids are seniors in high school. At the very end of the first season, the show flashes forward three years, and that’s where S2 picks up. So we can safely assume the characters are supposed to be juniors or seniors in college during this new season, making them 21 or 22.
That’s pretty baffling when you watch the season, because so many of the plot points indicate that the characters are much older than that. I mean, Payton and Alice take marriage very seriously and [spoiler ahead] also have a kid by the time the season wraps.
But if the characters seem much older than their onscreen ages would suggest, then how old are the actors who play them? Let’s get into it.
Ben Platt (Payton Hobart)
Age on the show: 22ish?
Age IRL: 26
Ben’s not that much older than his character, but he’s definitely not at college-level maturity, that’s for sure!
Lucy Boynton (Astrid Sloan)
Age on the show: 21? 22?
Age IRL: 26
Okay, so she and Ben are in exactly the same boat. Makes sense!
Zoey Deutch (Infinity Jackson)
Age on the show: 21 or 22
Age IRL: 25
Zoey is pretty close in age to Infinity, actually! Three years? Not bad!
Julia Schlaepfer (Alice Charles)
Age on the show: However old a senior in college is!
Age IRL: 25
Based on some internet sleuthing, it appears that Julia is 25. So if anything, at least the cast ages on The Politician are consistent.
Laura Dreyfuss (McAfee Westbrook)
Age on the show: Would be willing to bet some money that the character is about 22!
Age IRL: 31
Laura? 31? Wouldn’t peg her for a day over 25!
Theo Germaine (James Sullivan)
Age on the show: 21/22
Age IRL: Unclear??
Tracking down Theo’s age is not exactly easy! But that’s okay, we’ll leave this one a ~mystery~.
Rahne Jones (Skye Leighton)
Age on the show: Probably also 21 or 22.
Age IRL: 33
Rahne is, shockingly, the oldest member of the cast (of the younger generation of characters, if that makes sense), but she is obviously a great actress because she can pull off college exceedingly well.
Ryan J. Haddad (Andrew Cashman)
Age on the show: 21 or 22? Unclear!
Age IRL: Not sure!
We’re not exactly sure how old Ryan is, but considering how good he is in this season, that info might be more readily available soon!
David Corenswet (River Barkley)
Age on the show: Technically, his character is deceased, but he was the same age as, well, every other character.
Age IRL: 26
David’s mostly been working on another Ryan Murphy show called Hollywood, but he does have a few scenes in this season of The Politician. We’re including him here mostly because we wish there were more River scenes. That’s all!
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