Entertainment

'Wet Hot American Summer' Grows Up & Goes Back

by Rachel Paige

One of the best jokes (if not the best joke) of Wet Hot American Summer is that it's filled with grown adults pretending to be teenagers. The more you think about it, the funnier it gets. Even though the actors were well into their 30s, and in some cases 40s, when they shot the movie in 2001, they pretend to be roughly 16 or 17 years old throughout the film. It's never discussed, it's never addressed, we just accept that yes, all these grown adults play very convincing teenagers. Now with its prequel dropping onto Netflix, let's take a closer look at the ages of the Wet Hot American Summer cast, because they're pretending to be even younger.

Just go with it, OK? That's what everyone at Camp Firewood is doing. Though the eight-episode series takes us back in time a few months, it's also moved forward at the same time. Because while the show is set in the past, everyone involved with Wet Hot American Summer has aged about 14 years since shooting the movie. Since those people are also hilarious comedians, First Day Of Camp ignores the logistics of this, instead folding it into the series' already amazing humor. As star Amy Poehler put it in a Netflix featurette, it "looks like everyone is playing their own parents." Here's how the actors and characters have grown between the movie and prequel series.

Janeane Garofalo, Beth

  • Age while shooting first movie: 37
  • Age of character in first movie: mid-30s
  • Age of character in TV series: mid-30s, minus a couple months
  • Age now: 51

Marguerite Moreau, Katie

  • Age while shooting first movie: 24
  • Age of character in first movie: 16
  • Age of character in TV series: 16
  • Age now: 38

Ken Marino, Victor

  • Age while shooting first movie: 33
  • Age of character in first movie: 17
  • Age of character in TV series: 17
  • Age now: 47

Amy Poehler, Susie

  • Age while shooting first movie: 30
  • Age of character in first movie: 17
  • Age of character in TV series: 17
  • Age now: 44

Christopher Meloni, Gene

  • Age while shooting first movie: 40
  • Age of character in first movie: 30s
  • Age of character in TV series: 30s
  • Age now: 54

Bradley Cooper, Ben

  • Age while shooting first movie: 26
  • Age of character in first movie: 17
  • Age of character in TV series: 17
  • Age now: 40

David Hyde Pierce, Henry Newman

  • Age while shooting first movie: 42
  • Age of character in first movie: late 30s
  • Age of character in TV series: late 30s
  • Age now: 56

Michael Showalter, Coop

  • Age while shooting first movie: 30
  • Age of character in first movie: 17
  • Age of character in TV series: 17
  • Age now: 45

Elizabeth Banks, Lindsay

  • Age while shooting first movie: 27
  • Age of character in first movie: 17
  • Age of character in TV series: 17
  • Age now: 41

And Paul Rudd, Andy

  • Age while shooting first movie: 31
  • Age of character in first movie: 17
  • Age of character in TV series: 17
  • Age now: TEENAGE DREAMBOAT FOREVER. Fine, Rudd is actually 46, but my love for him has no sense of time or space.

If Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp proves anything, it's that this talented cast only gets funnier as the years go by.

Images: Saeed Adyani/Netflix; Giphy (10)