13 Actors and Actresses Who In Real Life Are Shorter Than We Thought

Actors often do their best to achieve the look demanded by a particular role: they dye their hair, change their accent, and spend several months at the gym to acquire the necessary physical shape. In the event that an interpreter needs to embody a character much taller than himself, then filmmakers resort to various tricks.

we, from awesome.clubwe found some cases in which the different professionals on a movie set had to work hard to disguise possible disproportions and present spectators with a reliable work.

David Duchovny is 1.82 m tall, and it’s no surprise that for a great take, his partner Gillian Anderson needed to look taller than she actually is (1.60 m). For example, the actress remembers that, when her characters entered a room and showed their police badges simultaneously, at the last moment she climbed on some platform to avoid looking short, next to her colleague. By the way, in one scene, when quickly turning towards the camera, she ended up forgetting that she was on top of a box and just fell over.

Apparently, the right framing and the skill of the cameraman helped to disguise the height difference of the protagonists of the Hunger Games saga. In real life, Josh Hutcherson is considerably shorter than his colleague, Jennifer Lawrence: 1.65 m vs. 1.75 m, however, the actor is not bothered by his short stature and often jokes about it.

Yet another case where the cameraman helped to hide a significant height difference between the castmates. Daniel Radcliffe is noticeably shorter than Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. However, in the opinion of the star of the Harry Potter franchise, this in no way harms his career. The actor cited the examples of Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, who are also not tall, but have brilliant roles in their careers.

“I could portray a soldier. The minimum height for a sailor is 1.54 m, and I’m much taller,” says Daniel. The only dream he considers unlikely to come true is to land a quarterback role in a football movie. “In a production like this, the only role I can fit in is that of team coach,” he jokes.

In the books, Hagrid is described as a half-giant who is twice the height of the average person. However, the actor who played the keeper of the Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, while not short, is not tall enough for the role: he is “only” 1.85m. The director of the first two Harry Potter films, Christopher Columbus, once admitted that he would like to make Hagrid even taller, but he lacked financial and technical resources. So he was content with the right angles, which valued the character’s height, and with a rugby player as a stuntman.

Knowing the real height of the actors who played the main roles in Marvel’s Iron Man, we can be surprised by some scenes. On screen, Tony Stark is noticeably taller than his assistant, while in real life, Robert Downey Jr. is 1.74 m tall and Gwyneth Paltrow — 1.75 m. Also, according to the script, the character almost always wears high heels.

So the filmmakers worked hard to make Robert look taller than his set partner. The solution to this problem was to wear high heels. By the way, it is said that Guy Ritchie forced the actor to resort to the same trick in the filming of Sherlock Holmes.

When watching Casablanca closely, you can see that the height difference between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman changes throughout the film. Michael Curtiz, the director, tried in every way to hide that the actress was taller than her recording partner. To create the illusion of the opposite, he asked Bogart to stand on top of boxes, sit on cushions, and in some scenes, Ingrid even had to bend over.

Journalists repeatedly wrote about a possible argument between Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson, after which the actors refused to work on the same set. However, some scenes in the 6th and 7th parts of Fast & Furious required the presence of both. The producers found a way out: the stars were shot separately, and the scenes were integrated into the editing phase.

This hypothesis at least justifies the scenes of the movie in which the actors look very strange next to each other. On screen, Diesel appears to be simply giant compared to Dwayne Johnson. Although they say it was just a failed attempt to show Diesel taller than he really is.

Journalists assumed the same about the duo of Diesel and John Cena: compared to the famous fighter, the actor looks very tall. For reference, Diesel is 1.82 m tall, Dwayne Johnson — 1.96 m and John Cena — 1.85 m.

In the movie Waiting for a Miracle, Michael Clarke Duncan looks like a giant in relation to his fellow set. In fact, he is only 1 cm taller than David Morse. By the way, the actor did not surpass Tom Hanks that much: Duncan is 1.93 m tall, Hanks — 1.83 m and Morse — 1.92 m. The filmmakers used various tricks to create an optical illusion. For example, the protagonist’s bed was made smaller than a regular one to make it look big. The same applies to other furniture with which the actor somehow interacted.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, many characters change their look over the course of the plot, and all these modifications also apply to the actors who play them. For example, before his transformation Captain America was shorter and thinner. Such an effect was achieved with the help of computer graphics. And Chris Evans’ colleague, actress Scarlett Johansson, needed to become taller, so the duo looked harmonious. She is 1.60m, while Evans is 1.83m. The filmmakers worked hard so that on screen the two appeared of nearly equal stature.

The role of the villain Bane in Batman: The Dark Knight Rises required Tom Hardy to be in excellent physical shape, as well as learning to speak through a sound effects device to make his voice sound sinister. Not to mention that the actor needed to be much taller, so as not to create disharmony with Christian Bale. For this, Hardy wore shoes with a platform of more than 7 cm.

In The Last Song, Miley Cyrus looks shorter than her partner, Liam Hemsworth. However, the difference is not as big as in real life: the camera hid almost 30 cm! The singer and actress is 1.65 m tall, and Hemsworth, 1.92 m.

Another duo of actors with a big difference in height is Amanda Seyfried (1.60 m) and Justin Timberlake (1.87 m). During the filming of The Price of Tomorrow, the actress had to wear high heels at all times, even in fight and chase scenes. In an interview, she explained how she was able to run quickly in those shoes: on sets they wear special shoes with a smaller heel than the designer ones. Even so, Amanda protested when the director told her to reshoot some scenes where she had to run.

When writing about short celebrities, journalists almost always mention Reese Witherspoon, who is just 1.57m. Her partner on the set of Water for Elephants was Robert Pattinson. The work of the cameramen deserves applause, because in real life, the height difference between the actors is significant: Pattinson is 1.85 m.

Have you faced any difficulties related to your height? If so, what were they? Share your experience in the comments!