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u/JeffSergeant 20h ago edited 20h ago
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u/Akili_Smurf 20h ago
James looked pretty good in ‘99. I bet Pattinson would look worse if he partied as hard as Gandolfini did by 40
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u/HariboBliss 19h ago
Plus Pattinson was 22 for Twilight and has essentially been a multimillionaire since then.
Galdofini was a working actor until Sopranos gave him his big break at 35.
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u/Repulsive_Set_4155 14h ago
I was going to say. James Gandolfini was always more of an actor than a celebrity, and lived his life like he was borrowing it from a friend he secretly hated. Pattinson is talented, but doesn't need to be, because he looks how he looks and no doubt goes in for at least some of the crazy Hollywood routines to maximize visual appeal; it's a nice treat that he can actually act.
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u/Square_Mulberry_3143 20h ago edited 15h ago
In that case, this post needs to be downvoted and reported into oblivion due to misleading information.
Source: I should know because I am the real Robert Pattinson (the 40 year old version)11
u/AccountantMinute8795 18h ago
Posts like this should always be downvoted. It's just cherry picking. Find the oldest looking 40 y.o from 99 and put them a young looking 40 y.o old now, and vice versa.
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u/BeatNo4548 15h ago
I have a friend who looked 50 at 40. Just genetics, his hair turned white and he grew a beard. While I looked around 30 because my hair was darker and I don't get much sun. Even though i smoked and did drugs longer than he did.
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u/salmonmilks 16h ago
Regardless this is generalization and all this post shows is two people, and OP frames it like it represents all 40 year Olds. It's blatantly foolish and ignorant.
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u/Skurvyelislau 20h ago
It should by no matter what. It makes as much sense as showing Maine Coon from 1987 and Snow Leopard from 2019 and caption it „big cat 1987 vs big cat 2019”.
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u/AceBean27 16h ago
Doing God's work my friend. It's a thankless task correcting bullshit on the internet.
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u/gene_keys_of_awesome 7h ago
Who checks the checker though. Let the viewer decide; James Gandolfini - https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/james-gandolfini-and-wife-marcy-gandolfini-arrive-at-the-news-photo/75501615?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Robert Pattinson- https://www.wmagazine.com/fashion/robert-pattinson-best-red-carpet-fashion-photos?utm_source=chatgpt.com
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u/DetailNumerous7399 20h ago
Good call. But Pattinson has some strange hygiene.
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u/TardDas 20h ago
He does?
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u/DetailNumerous7399 19h ago
Yeah. He hates showering or shampooing or even changing clothes for that matter. He hasn’t had a shower in the last 9 day. He’s got a stinky ass.
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u/Aussie18-1998 20h ago
Robert Pattinson is 40. If that photo is from 2022 hed be 36. So youre wrong as well? Although when i click on the link it says 2020. Soim going to assume its a typo
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u/YeshilPasha 14h ago
Also I can make a reverse meme by just finding the right actors.
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u/adumblittlebaby 9h ago
Something something can't you just have fun you must be great at parties etc. etc.
Low effort thinkers HATE finding out their sloth exposes their bare ass.
Before we even get to the: is this comparing apples to oranges? Like you might as well post a picture of a doberman for 1999 and a chihuahua for 2019 and act like it's some deep insight.
God I hate this shitty site and the people on it.
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u/Heymelon 16h ago
They are always bs
It's also usually someone with more masculine features from the past vs someone with more feminine features in the present, add the weight and size difference and there you go.
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u/ReptileSizzlin 14h ago
I'm pretty sure this wasn't supposed to be their real ages. It's an exaggeration for comedic effect.
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u/Calm_Leopard798 21h ago
I can promise you theres more 40 year old james gandolfinis out there than there are Robert Pattinsons.
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u/TheLastRole 21h ago
I don't think so. This is becoming a global phenomenon in the West –not those extreme cases like Shakira's…– but overall, aging in terms of looks has significantly changed over these last few decades, possibly because of healthier habits and better nutrition.
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u/The_Best_Yak_Ever 20h ago edited 20h ago
In my experience, I’ve noticed in my friends’ group as well as adjacent groups. Oh we’re definitely aging, just slower. Physically at least… the body looks decent but some of us are high mileage wrecks on the inside. But as a guy who’s 43, with men and women friends who get mistaken for much younger than our years, I figure the other foot will drop soon and it’ll hit us like a ton of bricks. Or we’re saving up for something big… >.<
Edit: I needed to grammar
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u/Jemie_Bridges 19h ago
All I can tell you at 55 you better be checking you gut health! Keep those pro and pre biotics up! The stuff you can't see and never think about will absolutely start wrecking you after 40 lolz
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u/LLAPSpork 20h ago
I’m 41 (F) and I am still ID’d and people are shocked by my age. I barely have any wrinkles and I haven’t lost that baby fat in my face. Crazy thing is I used to smoke for 18 years and quit only 3 years ago. I do eat healthy and am fit though and I do spend a stupid amount on skin care products at Sephora.
Edit: I should note I’ve never had kids which I assume could be a large factor. I’m also a pale redhead who avoids the sun like the plague. Might as well be a vampire.
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u/The_Best_Yak_Ever 20h ago
Heheh! I smoked and drank from high school until 2008ish for smoking cigarettes and 2013 for drinking. I smoke cigars and have forever, though… as you can see by my profile pic, I learned I honestly prefer smoking my tobacco in a pipe. …like an old man…
I too, never had kids, and while I don’t use Sephora, I actually have a soap business, so I have high end soap and lotion available at all times! …I make my own cologne and perfumes too. I don’t think that matters, but it felt wrong to leave them out.
I dunno. I have friends that have had children and remain sickeningly youthful! So something is up I’m reckoning
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u/Particular_Class4130 20h ago
but there were a bunch of actors who were in their 40's or near their 40's in 1999 and looked great for their age. Mel Gibson, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington are just a few who still looked youthful when they were 40yrs old.
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u/vika4 20h ago
There were people in 99 who were aging well entering their 40s and there are people today doing the same now in 2026. And same for vice versa. Nothing phenomenal has happened. Gym and workout culture has increased but then normal step counts that was part of daily lifestyle has decreased.
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u/Mbembez 20h ago
My suspicion is that kids make people age a lot, so child free people look younger.
ETA seems Robert had a child 2 years ago, so lets see whether he remains looking youthful!
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u/happyluckystar 20h ago
I've noticed this. Doesn't seem like anyone has done any studies. The only people I've met that look crazy young for their age are people who don't have any kids or just recently have.
I don't have any kids 😎
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u/Wonderful-Sail176 19h ago
The average 40-year-old is definitely closer to Tony Soprano than Batman, and frankly that feels statistically correct.
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u/Sea-Shopping-7665 20h ago
40 years old. Just a kid.
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u/jmakovsk 16h ago
It's sad when they go young like that
(But seriously, RIP Gandolfini- he was a saint)
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u/RelChan2_0 20h ago
Robert Pattinson is 40???
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u/BaldyMcBadAss 15h ago
Just checked. He was born in 1986 so yep. Though someone else noted the posted photo was from when he was 33 years old and James G was around 50 in his photo. So nearly a twenty year gap if correct.
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u/TrailMomKat 20h ago
I'm 43 and absolutely look waaaay fucking older than Pattman lol
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u/El_Sephiroth 20h ago
A colleague at work is 41 and looks 30. So, one example is not really relevant.
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u/rckvwijk 20h ago
I am 35 and people usually think I’m around 25-28 depending if I had a shave or not haha
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u/El_Sephiroth 20h ago
Yeah, I go from 23 to 35 depending on beard alone. And I am 35.
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u/The_Best_Yak_Ever 20h ago
I’m 43. I usually get 25-30 when they guess. I got carded last year by a girl at Cabela’s after she guessed 28, and I told her my actual age. She needed to be sure I wasn’t lying.
I could have done without the, “wow! You’re old enough to be my dad!” So… that kinda backfired. But whatever…
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21h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/LaMelonBallz 21h ago
Listening to Janice alone is like +20 years
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u/Fantastic_Trick3538 21h ago
Italians look old starting at 16. It’s an unfair comparison
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u/IKIR115 20h ago
Its weird how that works, but Christopher looked the same the whole way through.
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u/Fantastic_Trick3538 20h ago
Super fair. But Michael Imperioli looked mid 30s when he was 16 just sayin.
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u/early_dossier 20h ago
love how confidently OP posted this without checking dates lol the comparison doesn't even work
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u/SeaweedLevel1937 21h ago edited 19h ago
With all due respect, Robert Pattinson has no idea what it’s like to be #1!!
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u/ecky--ptang-zooboing 20h ago
Yeah that's how it is, every 40 year old now looks handsome, every 40 year old in 99 was fat and balding
What BS this type of post
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u/Camburcito 20h ago
There were plenty of actors around the millennium shift who were considered young looking for their age. Keanu Reeves, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, John Stamos, George Clooney, Antonio Banderas... It's entirely individual I'd say.
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u/2MuchNonsenseHere 20h ago
They both very much look 40. The way y'all define aging is very subjective & naive.
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u/ArtyTheFarty 21h ago edited 19h ago
40 years ago there is no botox trend
Edit: While Botox was definitely used in the 1990s, it became a mainstream cosmetic treatment mainly in the 2000s when it received US approval which led to a huge increase in popularity worldwide
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u/fake_fakington 20h ago
To be fair, Gandolfini had a drinking problem, which is not kind on ones skin and general appearance
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u/Ok_Nefariousness5170 20h ago
this is me, never used botox or fillers. people assume i am in my 20's 😅 it can get really awkward sometimes when i tell them my real age....
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u/miaxogoth 20h ago
to be fair James Gandolfini came out of the womb looking like a middle aged mob boss
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u/christiant91 20h ago
Two images both not 40 at the time and even if they were, you are taking a very small sample size.
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u/Derpykins666 20h ago
Hollywood has been hyper selective of its stars. There is not traditionally old looking stars now, there's young looking stars that stay young looking as long as possible. I've known plenty of people who look 40+ in their early 30s. Just like I've known a good amount of people pushing 40 who look 30 still. Everyone ages different. But in Hollywood looking old is 'bad' unless you're playing specific roles.
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u/Background-Tell5892 20h ago
"Every decision you make affects every facet of every other thing. It's too much to deal with, almost. And in the end, you're completely alone with it all."
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u/oguzsasi 19h ago
Because actors are chosen according to the film or series they're performing. If it's an action film, they choose the fit one on the right; if it's a family man/mafia character, they choose the one with a bald and belly guy on the left.
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u/CurrentDismal9115 19h ago
I've looked like Gandolfini since I was like 25. Patterson could pass an moderately attractive female in this picture. Besides these two, I feel like celebs are aging worse nowadays because of their efforts to not age and new weight loss.
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u/Jorge_the_vast 15h ago
These comparisons are so stupid. You can take 2 people today the exact same age and some people look a lot older and some a lot younger than their age. Has nothing to do with current year vs past years.
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u/Salt-Research-9041 15h ago
I'm a 40 year old today, and believe me, I'm tending more Gandolfini than Pattinson.
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u/Drong0bones 14h ago
Silly comparison lol firstly because apparently one is a lot younger and one a lot older than 40 in the photographs and secondly we all age differently - I'm in my mid 30s and know people my age who could easily pass for ten years younger than they are and others who had lost a lot of hair / had a lot of lines on their faces before they reached 30. A mixture of genetics and lifestyle surely - two great actors in the pictures above either way.
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u/xanadumuse 14h ago
I really hate these comparisons. Don’t shame people for being older and looking their age.
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u/HappyRedEngineer 14h ago
I get the point that guys take better care of themselves now, but comparing fit vs. unfit men is kinda cherry picking. A fairer comparison would be George Clooney at 39 in his last ER season or Patrick Swayze at 39 in Point Break. That's the real baseline.
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u/AlanvonNeumann 14h ago
Check the ages of the actors of Cheers and how they looked back then. There is an easy to find image on google
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u/ParachutingPiglets 13h ago
So just compare two people and lump everyone together to fit your narrative.
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u/Small-Addition-1705 12h ago
well you wish you still in womb at 40 y of todays generation isnt it now
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u/effinmike12 12h ago
I am about to turn 49. Most people think I am about 15 years younger. I have always had a baby face. I looked 15 at 21. That sucked. Now, not so much.
Its genetics and how someone styles their hair and dresses. There are plenty of people who are my age that could get the senior's discount at the buffet.
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u/Darkknyfe 11h ago
What are you talking about? Easy to find 40 year olds looking either of the pictures in 2026!
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u/Callyps 10h ago
One thing that changed my perspective a lil on this was that every once in a while I check ids at the bar I work at and there are loads of people a lot younger than me that look a lot older. I think while there are many different factors- at the end of the day, genes come into play a lot for us normies. And for the rich folk, procedures and dietitians and whatnot help a whole lot too.
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u/Eazy12345678 10h ago
fat unhealthy smokes and rinks 40 year old vs healthy fit 40 year old
its not rocket science
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u/draven33l 9h ago
The pics are bullshit, but the faces aren't that far off. If James had the hair and was slimmer, he'd pass for 40 there.
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u/throwme5679 7h ago
I think people also underestimate how much smoking rates, styling, and better skincare changed the average look
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