How old was Juliet in Romeo and Juliet?

Q: How old was Romeo and Juliet really?

In Shakespeares original story, Romeo is given the age of 16 years and Juliet is given the age of 13 years. The Montague and Capulet families originated in the Divine Comedy by the Italian author Dante Aligheri, rather than in Shakespeare.

Q: What is Romeo and Juliets age gap?

In Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, Juliet was 13 years old. Romeos age is never specified, but some say he was anywhere from 16 to 21 years old. Most agree he was several years older than Juliet. The story goes that the two find forbidden love, secretly marry, and end up taking their own lives.

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How old was Romeo and Juliet really?
What is Romeo and Juliet's age gap?
How do we know Juliet is 13?
How old was Romeo when Juliet died?

Natalie Portman was meant to play Juliet
At just 13-years-old, Portman was cast to play Juliet Capulet, one of William Shakespeare’s most beautiful characters who falls in love with Romeo Montague, the son of her family’s great enemy. Even though Juliet is 13 in the play, it was felt Portman looked too young to play the role opposite 21-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio. “Fox said it looked like Leonardo was molesting me when we kissed,” Portman told the NY Times. She was quickly replaced.

Why was Claire Danes cast as Juliet?
At 17-years-old, Danes looked older and more suited to DiCaprio. At the time, she was on a show called My So Called Life which had just been cancelled. During the audition, DiCaprio reportedly said, “[Danes] was the only girl that looked me in the eye in auditions.” Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Kate Winslet were also allegedly considered for the part.

The making of the elevator scene was intense
DiCaprio and Danes were placed in a fake elevator where crew members would hurriedly remove and replace the “walls” while the camera spun around on a dolly.

The hair stylist was kidnapped
The film’s key hair and makeup stylist Also Signoretti was kidnapped and director Baz Luhrmann paid US$3000 to get him back which he considered “a bargain.” “The bandidos rang up and said for $3000, you can have him back,” explained Luhrmann. “So we sent someone down clutching the money to a hotel, chucks them the bag and they threw him out of the car and broke his leg. So we had adventures.”

Wild weather sent them back months of filming
A hurricane wiped up a few of the sets, most notably the Sycamore Grove Theatre and the huts on Verona Beach.

Did Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio really not get along?
Despite their award-winning chemistry on-screen and Danes openly saying how much she enjoyed the high of playing someone so in love with Romeo, rumours swirled for years the actress and actor were less than friendly and would ignore each other during takes. It was said that Danes thought DiCaprio was “very immature” but later attempted to explain. “There was definitely a spark, but I don’t think wither of us knew how to handle it,” Danes said. “So we sometimes sort of ignored each other. It was too big for us to really accept.”

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There’s a simple question. How old is Romeo? Sure, we all know that Juliet is 13, the Nurse comes right out and tells us. And often I think that we then make the leap and assume that Romeo is 13 as well.

But that’s hardly true, is it? Would that imply that Mercutio, Tybalt and Paris are also all about 13? Surely it was the case that men simply chose younger wives (Capulet is much older than his wife, is he not?), and actually we can assume that Romeo and the others are what, maybe late teens, early 20’s?

It wouldn’t stage well these days to point out that age difference, of course. I can just imagine R&J being closed down because it promotes pedophilia or something. But honestly I’m cool with it (the age difference, not the pedophilia!) The more I read the play, the more I appreciate that Juliet is the most mature person in it. That she’s 13, surrounded by people generations older than her, is quite impressive. I don’t need to make her older to justify anything, and I don’t need to make Romeo younger to get it to balance out.

Romeo can be older and still be rash and impetuous. Juliet can be young and be the smart one. Better than trying to imagine 13yr old Tybalt saying, “I hate the word as I hate Hell….”

Update!

While looking at the trivia for Luhrman’s movie, I learned something interesting. Apparently Natalie Portman auditioned for the role of Juliet. But because of her small frame, in her words, “Leonardo looked like he was molesting me.” The director said the same thing I said above, only backwards — “Leonardo was 21, but could look 18 – and she made him look 21.” In other words he looked too old, not that she looked too young. So that certainly backs up the idea that you have to cast R&J of roughly equivalent ages to avoid squicking out your audience.

How old was Romeo and Juliet really?

In Shakespeare's original story, Romeo is given the age of 16 years and Juliet is given the age of 13 years. The Montague and Capulet families originated in the Divine Comedy by the Italian author Dante Aligheri, rather than in Shakespeare.

What is Romeo and Juliet's age gap?

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Juliet was 13 years old. Romeo's age is never specified, but some say he was anywhere from 16 to 21 years old. Most agree he was several years older than Juliet. The story goes that the two find forbidden love, secretly marry, and end up taking their own lives.

How do we know Juliet is 13?

Because actors ostensibly need training and skill to navigate Shakespeare's words, most productions of Romeo and Juliet cast performers who are older than the characters as he wrote them: Juliet is 13 (“she hath not seen the change of fourteen years,” according to her father); Romeo's age is unspecified, but he's ...

How old was Romeo when Juliet died?

Romeo and Juliet were teenagers when they died in the play Romeo and Juliet, with Juliet being thirteen years old, nearly fourteen. We do not know Romeo's age; he is treated as a man and, but described as young and appears to be youthful. He could be anywhere from fifteen to twenty, even slightly younger or older.