How old was Eddie supposed to be?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Hustler
Raz_Dak — 11 years ago(March 14, 2015 10:33 AM)
I can't really tell how old Eddie is supposed to be. He seems young, but not super young young (like under 25). Eddie seems like a young but more mature player then Tom Cruise was in The Color of Money. Tom Cruise in that movie seemed more like a real teenage kid that was around 19 or so, by just how goofy and immature he acted and how he preferred the challenge of video games over pool and hustling. Cruise was actually about 23, 24, but he seemed to b playing even younger and almost 18 or 19.
I know actor Paul Newman was 35 or 36 in real life terms when the movie came out in 1961, but my guess is that the character of Eddie is supposed to be around age 26 or 27. He could be 30, but many of the other characters kept calling him "kid", which seems something more appropriate to call someone who is under 30. Granted you could be 36 and have someone 55, 65 or 75 still think of you as "a kid", but Eddie didn't seem that old to me but he also didn't seem 19 or 20 either. About 27 seems right. -
thepooles-1 — 10 years ago(April 19, 2015 05:27 PM)
Just saw the film and Newman in the part looks in his mid thirties. Piper Laurie looks in her mid to late thirties. Not many male writers can write a woman's part. Sarah seemed undefined. Had she previously married? Did she give up the idea of children. She seemed a plot device and Fast Eddie's declaring that he loved her seemed perversely hollow.
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he88 — 10 years ago(May 02, 2015 08:37 PM)
I guess I didn't read the second part of the question. His older partner was the primary one who called him kid, and they mentioned that they were hustling together since he was a teen so it'd make sense it was a nick name that'd stick.Otherwise I think they basically looked their real ages.
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kag2-1 — 10 years ago(February 20, 2016 10:08 AM)
Eddie was probably supposed to be in his late 20's. He'd been hustling with his father figure Charlie for several years, ever since he was in his late teens. Sarah was probably supposed to be mid-late 20's, a bit too old to be a regular college girl.
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manage-932-700755 — 9 years ago(April 10, 2016 04:27 PM)
Eddie seems youngish- but only compared to the other people in the film like Gleason and his partner. And that means Eddie looked and was meant to be about his age- about 35. His hair was already thinning. He had already developed a significant drinking habit. I doubt very much he was pool hustling in his teens; more likely he stated hustling in his mid 20s. In his teens he would have been in WW II, no time for hustling. And if he didn't serve in WW II, he would have served in Korea when he was 25-26, maybe then just starting his pool hustling.
Tom Cruise had a completely different look and style than Newman. Crsise always seemed to look like a youngster- 18-23. His antics- twirling pool cues in "The Color of Money", doing cartwheels in "The Firm", etc. are totally unlike the cool style of Newman.
Piper Laurie looked and was meant to be in her early 30s, looking a little older than her actual age because of her drinking. Anyway, that's how it all seemed to me.