That's called acting. ::smug face::

They cast people younger and older than their character role because the actor's age is secondary to they're ability to play the character. ::smugger face::

Just uh ... don't look too much into what roles John Wayne and others played when it came to race, back then. They uhhhhh...had different standards back then. It was a different time, you see. It wasn't...it uh...it wasn't looked at the same way back then. Ok gtg byeeeee