Age in Action Line

Is the rule to display the age in an action line as such;

JACK WALLACE (30s) drives his car...

I don't know about "rule," but that is certainly a common, accepted way to present the info.

When you introduce a new character you have to give a 'Face' to them otherwise it's just a hole in the air talking. Age, build, clothes, manner etc all go up to give a picture of who the person is, and their subsequent dialog and actions will follow.
If you introduse someone as 'Dave' and nothing else the reader may think of a Dave they know who's in his eighties and dribbles when he talks. When a page later you have 'Dave' make out with a cheerleader it will suddenly force the reader to rethink the character, it will take them out of the story.

Really, it's a style thing. Some put it in brackets; some don't. Hell in a lot of cases the age of a character isn't an important enough aspect to note.

From LEATHAL WEAPON:

"As a shadowy FIGURE strides calmly up to the fire:
Long hair.
Cigarette dangling from-lower lip.
Shirt-tails hanging loose below the waist."

Personally I would somewhat disagree with zz's claim that "Age, build, clothes, manner etc all go up to give a picture of who the person is, and their subsequent dialog and actions will follow." It's certainly not always the case. Sure, description should give us a mental image of that person but it should also give an insight into their character.

In CHINATOWN the only description we get of Gittes is:

"He looks cool and brisk in a white linen suit despite the heat."

The rest is dictated through his actions.

In AS GOOD AS IT GETS we are given Melvin's approximate age but that is the only physical trait:

"Well past 50... unliked, unloved, unsettling. A huge pain in the ass to everyone he's ever met."

Unless their characteristics affect the character or the story then often their age, build, clothing etc. don't matter as the reader will fill in the blanks.

Just my 2 cents...

I do what XL does - skip the age (unless it's critical - I just finished a script where a character *must* be 11 years old for the story to work... it's a grade schooler) and focus on the *character* of the character. Who they are.

I figure they can cast Tom Cruise or Tommy Lee Jones or some other Tom... whatever age the star they sign is.

- Bill (older than I look, younger than I feel)

glad to read this, guys.

Last night I wasted FAR too much time trying to come up with a general age for each of my characters.

What's considered Star Age, Bill? 35-45?

Shoot, I told myself 'this doesn't feel productive' but I've read here and there that its good to give Age to our primary characters.

I didn't like it......ended up wasting a whole hour.

Yeah - 35-45... except Ashton Kutcher and Clint Eastwood.

I specify the exact age of the major characters in my story:
"Mary, 32, ...".

I also avoid the use of parens and brackets in my Action statements.

I don't use 30's, mid-fifties, or 40ish. I made up this character. I should at least know how old she is.

Do you really think an agent or producer would say, "Actress X would be really good for this part, but unfortunately she's 34."

I do it the same way as TBB, but that's not to say it can't and isn't done differently by others. It's really just a question of style.

I don't believe that there is any right or wrong way. If someone wants their character to be in their early twenties, 40's, or exactly 56 and a half years old...that's ok if you ask me.