10 celebs who admitted to lying about their age: From Sandra Bullock to Rebel Wilson

Celebrities who have been accused of or admitted to lying about their age

In the world of Hollywood, age can be a sensitive topic, and some celebrities have been accused of or admitted to lying about their age to navigate the industry's challenges. Here are 10 stars who have faced scrutiny over their age disclosures.

1. Rebel Wilson

Rebel Wilson was embroiled in a controversy about her age back in 2018. Despite fans believing she was 28, photos from her yearbook revealed she was actually 35, leading to accusations of dishonesty from Australia's Woman’s Day magazine. In response, Wilson denied intentionally lying about her age and took legal action against the magazine for defamation. She clarified that while she had stopped publicly stating her age after moving to America, it was not to deceive anyone, as her age was always disclosed for work purposes. Wilson explained, "I was just being a lady and not telling my age when I moved to America. That's not really a crime. Also, most actresses do that."

2. Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis wouldn’t have landed her breakthrough role in Hollywood without a little white lie about her age. When she auditioned for 'That '70s Show', she was only 14, even though producers were seeking someone older. To get the part, she found a clever way to avoid revealing her true age. “Legally, I was 14. I mean -- I told them that I was a little bit older… I was in ninth grade, so I was pretty 14. I told them I was gonna be 18, which… is not technically a lie, ’cause at one point, given all things went right, I was gonna be 18,” Kunis shared on The Tonight Show.

3. Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox managed to keep her real age a secret for many years. At 28, she dated a younger man who told her she was “too old,” so she began claiming she was 22 and maintained that story for years. When she grew tired of pretending to be 22, she opted for saying she was “over 21.” “I was ‘over 21’ from like 2002 to 2019,” Cox shared on The Ellen Show. “Then IMDb found out my real age, so it started appearing places, and it was freaking me out. I was having such anxiety, and so I started talking to my therapist about it. I started unpacking all the stories I had about being older. The stories were like, I wasn’t hirable, I wasn’t datable, I wasn’t F***able...and then I worked through all that.”

4. Hilary Duff

Hilary Duff admits she frequently lied about her age, but not publicly. As a teenager, she would fib about her age to get into nightclubs, even though she suspected the bouncers knew her real age. “I think they would all know how old I was anyway. I was pretty well-known by the time I was trying to get into clubs, and they would just let me in anyway,” Hilary shared with Time.

5. Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock has admitted to lying about her age over the years, to the point where she joked about not knowing her actual age due to the numerous lies. While she initially didn’t want to lie, she found that telling the truth sometimes backfired. “After a while, you really have no idea how old you are because you've lied so many times. I always said I would never lie, but one time when I didn't, it worked against me. So I figure you just keep them guessing,” Sandra reportedly said.

6. Alexa Demie

Alexa Demie’s age has been a topic of speculation for years. While playing a high school student in 'Euphoria', she claimed to be “almost 25” in 2019. However, fans unearthed a 2010 blog post about her sunglasses line that referred to her as a “19-year-old designer.” Adding to the mystery, a TikTok in 2022 featured an old classmate who suggested Alexa was in her early 30s. Alexa has never addressed the age discrepancy.

7. Whoopi Goldberg

Early in her career, Whoopi Goldberg had to lie about her age to get work. Unlike most people who pretend to be younger, Whoopi had to say she was older. In a 1986 interview with The Washington Post, she revealed that she was actually 30, not 35, at the time. "I had to lie about my age to get some jobs," she explained.

8. Laurence Fishburne

When Laurence Fishburne was just an aspiring actor, he had to lie about his age to land his role in 'Apocalypse Now'. Although he was actually 14, he told the casting crew he was 16. When a producer recognized him and knew he was younger, he nearly lost the role. It ultimately came down to a secretary who vouched for him. "A young woman who was working in the offices, a secretary, got up and walked through. And as she was walking, Francis [Ford Coppola] finally spoke up, and he just looked at her and said, 'Excuse me, you think this kid could be 18?' And whoever this young woman was, she turned around, looked at me, and went, 'Yeah,'" Fishburne shared on 'George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight'.

9. Lana Del Ray

In 2014, Lana Del Rey told Rolling Stone that she had just turned 29, despite reports that she had recently celebrated her 28th birthday. She denied responsibility for the conflicting reports, suggesting that others had spread incorrect information about her age. She said, "People have said different ages."

10. James Blunt

Blunt has been known to lie about his age for years, enjoying it as a joke. He admitted to The Guardian in 2023 that he had been altering his age on his Wikipedia page, claiming to be younger than he is.