The Shortest Men In Hollywood Are Reaching For The Stars
When it comes to some of Hollywood's most revered stars, "tall" and "handsome" are words people typically use to describe them. The actors on this list certainly have handsome going for them, but it's height where these guys fall short. Some of them – like Tom Cruise and Zac Efron – are just less than the average height for males, but you'd be surprised that some of these guys are shorter than five-foot-five! And that doesn't just apply to Danny DeVito. Keep reading to see which of your favorite celebrities are surprisingly short!
Seth Green – 5'4"
Seth Green is another actor in Hollywood known for his stature, measuring up at 5'4". But perhaps what makes Green more distinct than his height is his fiery red hair. Regardless, it's those physical traits that has made Green one of the most recognizable names in the business.
It's actually quite ironic though, because in recent years he's best known as the voice of Chris Griffin on Family Guy and as a voice actor on his own show, Robot Chicken. Before that, Green was known for his role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1992.
Tom Cruise – 5'7"
Tom Cruise is only five feet, seven inches tall, which doesn't seem that short but it is in comparison to both of Cruise's ex-wives. Nicole Kidman towers at 5'11", while Katie Holmes is 5'9". If you look back at photos of Cruise next to both women, it's completely true!
Cruise has been known to use camera tricks and heeled shoes to hide his real height from the world. Regardless, the Vanilla Sky actor's radiant smile and charming personality (and his association with the Church of Scientology) are so synonymous to his name that it overshadows anything about his height.
Johnny Galecki – 5'5"
Johnny Galecki is best known for playing Dr. Leonard Hofstadter on The Big Bang Theory and though he's obviously shorter than co-star Jim Parsons (who is 6'1") it's surprising that he's shorter than on-screen girlfriend and real-life ex Kaley Cuoco (who is 5'6").
Galecki reportedly wears lifts in his shoes – one of the tricks of the trade in Hollywood. He started acting as a teen, known for his role as David Healy on Roseanne. But after Roseanne initially ended in 1997, Galecki found it hard to transition into adult roles and maybe it was because of his height.
Michael J. Fox – 5'4"
Michael J. Fox is a mere 5'4", but the Back to the Future actor has a lot more to be concerned with in his battle against Parkinson's Disease. Still, before his diagnosis, Fox admitted that being short was just something he had to roll with, since he really couldn't do much about having stopped growing. But when you're at the height of your career, your height is insignificant.
Fox has reportedly said, "When you're a short actor you strand on apple boxes, you walk on a ramp. When you're a short star everybody else walks in a ditch."
Elijah Wood – 5'6"
Elijah Wood is an inch shorter than Tom Cruise, checking off at 5'6". Knowing this, it's no wonder he was cast as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings franchise. His height might have been nothing out of the ordinary to the folks in Mordor, but in real-life Hollywood, 5'6" is pretty shocking.
Still, it hasn't been hard for Wood to book acting jobs considering his prolific filmography. Wood has been acting since he was seven years old, however, so suffice it to say that height is the least of Hollywood's concerns when it comes to Elijah Wood.
Aziz Ansari – 5'6"
Aziz Ansari is also just five feet, six inches tall, which really may not be all that surprising if you're familiar with his work. Ansari rose to popularity on NBC's Parks and Recreation and was known for his flashy personality. It was probably his eccentric persona both on and off the screen that overshadowed his height.
It's no wonder Ansari had little to no scenes with Parks and Recreation co-star Chris Pratt, who is 6'2". They either had minimal screen time together or Pratt was sitting down in a scene that Ansari was also in.
Daniel Radcliffe – 5'5"
Daniel Radcliffe (pictured right) is just 5'5" and he's very aware of it. The Harry Potter actor has grown a lot since the series ended, but some might argue that that statement doesn't apply to his height. Still, Radcliffe does acknowledge that it affects what types of roles he decides to take on.
"I could play a soldier. The minimum height for a Marine is five feet, and I'm well above that. If you're asking, 'Can you play a really [expletive] tall person? No, obviously not. Can I play a black guy? For similar reasons, no. I couldn't play something I wouldn't take myself seriously in," Radcliffe once told Playboy.
Simon Helberg – 5'4"
Simon Helberg is the shortest male cast member of The Big Bang Theory at five-foot-four. Helberg plays Howard Wolowitz on the show but almost didn't take the part for fear of being typecast as a nerd.
Regardless of whether that's what will happen throughout the rest of his career, Helberg at least was able to break into more serious projects. He played Cosmé McMoon in Florence Foster Jenkins alongside Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant. Helberg gave such an excellent performance that he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.
Jonah Hill – 5'7"
Jonah Hill is only 5'7" but his weight has fluctuated so much over the course of his career that people probably weren't paying much attention to how short he actually is. But when you see him next to co-stars like Michael Cera (who is 5'9") or Channing Tatum (who is 6'1") you'll be surprised for not having realized this in the first place.
Hill has lost a significant amount of weight as he took his career in a more serious direction, which is probably why his shorter stature was more noticeable in some of his early work.
James McAvoy – 5'7"
Apparently, James McAvoy is a talented chameleon, as well as an actor. It might be a surprise to learn that in the flesh, he is only five feet, seven inches. Luckily, McAvoy's acting prowess is so convincing that his height is hardly anything to notice.
McAvoy had career breakthroughs with Atonement, Wanted, and the X-Men franchise. He also starred in Split, in which he played a man with 23 different personalities as a result of dissociative identity disorder. He flawlessly played each character from one to the next and no one took notice of his height.
Ben Stiller – 5'7"
Ben Stiller (pictured center) is also just a mere 5'7", which isn't all that surprising considering who his parents are. Stiller's parents are comedic veterans Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, who stand at 5'5" and 5'6" respectively.
Though he ostensibly inherited his height from his parents, he also inherited their comedic chops, which is what makes Stiller such a bankable actor. His height certainly hasn't kept him from romance- for almost 20 years he's only had eyes for one lady, Christine Taylor, who is just an inch shorter than him. Unfortunately – unrelated to height – they separated in 2017.
Joe Pesci – 5'3"
Joe Pesci (pictured right) may only be five-foot-three, but his height definitely doesn't measure up to his reputation in Hollywood. Pesci often gets cast as tough or wicked characters. His most memorable roles are that of Harry Lime in the first and second Home Alone movies and, of course, who could forget Pesci as Vincent Gambini in My Cousin Vinny?
Though Pesci is short in height, the only "short" thing he is remembered for was his acceptance speech at the 1991 Academy Awards. Pesci won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Goodfellas and merely said: "It's my privilege. Thank you."
Dave Franco – 5'7"
Dave Franco (pictured right) is only five feet, seven inches which, on the scale of short Hollywood actors, is actually pretty average. The youngest Franco brother's career has been on the rise in the past few years, though people continue to say that he lives in older brother James' shadow both career-wise and physically – James Franco is 5'11".
For much of the beginning of his career, Franco would take on characters who were still in high school, which is a result of his looks and probably his height. It's something he's been quoted as saying was a blessing and a curse.
Zac Efron – 5'8"
Zac Efron measures up at just five-foot-eight, which isn't the greatest for him because he's one inch shorter than the average height among males, which is five-foot-nine. But Efron is one actor whose height no one seems to care about because they're often too distracted by his chiseled body and piercing blue eyes.
Since he's one of the taller, short actors on this list, he probably doesn't even need lifts. The only thing that Efron lifts must be weights, since his muscles in all his recent work pretty much deserve their own acting credits.
Ken Jeong – 5'5"
Ken Jeong is just five-foot-five but his larger-than-life personality of Leslie Chow from The Hangover movies has shot him into the limelight. Before The Hangover, Jeong only had one other movie on his filmography. He made his film debut in Knocked Up, in which he played a doctor.
The role was not hard for Jeong to get into since he was actually a licensed professional doctor before he got into acting. Jeong was an internal medicine physician licensed in California but started moonlighting as a stand-up comic while in medical school.
Jack Black – 5'6"
Jack Black (pictured far right) has a humor that overshadows the fact that he stands at a mere five feet, six inches. He's made many people laugh throughout the early 2000's and in 2010, he was the tallest man in the room when he starred in a film adaptation of Gulliver's Travels.
Based on the tale by 18th-century novelist Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels was treated with a modern spin. Black played a down-and-out mailroom clerk who is sent to the Bermuda Triangle to write an article. There, he is imprisoned by some very tiny people.
Mark Wahlberg – 5'8"
Mark Wahlberg may only be 5'8", but the former frontman of the Funky Bunch has come so far from where he started in life that he probably feels like he's on top of the world. Hailing from Boston, Marky Mark was a troubled teen who eventually found himself jail. But after getting out, Wahlberg cleaned up and sort of became a rapper.
Thankfully, that wasn't his only pursuit. Walhberg also went into acting and turned out to be quite good at the craft. In 2006, Wahlberg was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for The Departed.
Kanye West – 5'8"
Kanye West is also only five-foot-eight and perhaps he's aware of the fact that he's just a pinch shy of average height. That would explain his huge self-aggrandizing personality in recent years.
West probably has enough self-confidence to make him feel like he's two feet taller than he actually is, if not more. It may be helpful that wife Kim Kardashian is just 5'3" which makes the match-up perfect for hugs and cuddles. In previous relationships, West hasn't been so lucky. He used to date Amber Rose, who was taller than him at 5'9".
Kevin Hart – 5'4"
Everyone knows that Kevin Hart (pictured right) is one of the shortest celebrities in Hollywood. The comedian stands at a mere five-foot-four, but it's his hilarious personality that people think of first when they hear his name.
Hart told Oprah in 2014 that he's confident in who he is despite his height. He went on to say that when he was younger, he would beat people to the punch line when they tried to make fun of him. "If you give people the opportunity with a squinted eye... then they will," Hart said.
Bruno Mars – 5'5"
Bruno Mars is definitely shorter than most popular music artists these days. At 5'5", he's even been known to wear heeled shoes during performances. This was especially apparent when the singer headlined the 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
Mars performed on the runway as the show went on but many were focused on how the tall models emphasized Mars' short stature. For what it's worth, Mars didn't seem to care one bit and rocked his performance. The key to overcoming and diminishing height is confidence in his case, supplemented with a stellar voice and killer dance moves.
Emilio Estevez – 5'4"
Emilio Estevez is often listed as one of Hollywood's shortest actors, checking in at 5'4" despite Google's insistence that he stands at 5'7". Regardless, he's taller than his brother, Charlie Sheen, who towers over him at 5'10" by comparison.
Estevez rose to popularity in American pop culture as a member of the 1980's Brat Pack, a group of actors who were seen in a lot of cult classics at the time such as The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire. But what really helped Estevez make a name for himself were movies like Young Guns and Repo Man.
Pete Wentz – 5'7"
Pete Wentz (pictured left) is the five-foot-seven bassist of Fall Out Boy who was formerly married to Ashlee Simpson. Wentz and Simpson share a son together, Bronx, but divorced in 2011 after three years of marriage. Two years later, Wentz was back in the game and started dating model Meagan Camper.
As a model, Camper towers over Wentz. In 2017, Wentz was asked how he felt about dating someone taller than him. He said: "I like it, I'm fine with it... I just think that guys get real caught up with [height]. It's never been a thing that's really bothered me."
Danny DeVito – 5'0"
We all know that Danny DeVito (second from right) isn't the tallest guy out there. The renowned actor's stature measures up at just five feet tall, but he's had a personality and acting resume that has only proven his height is inconsequential to his talent.
When asked if his height has bothered him growing up, he told Martha Teichner of CBS This Morning, "You want to be comfortable and you want to have friends... In social circles, you start thinking, 'Well, you may be able to compensate with your personality." DeVito was even the guy who'd go out with the tall girl in class!
Dustin Hoffman – 5'6"
Dustin Hoffman is another actor whose five-foot-six frame is considered to be on the shorter side but that didn't stop him from the prolific career he's had over the past several decades. Hoffman's first big break was getting cast in the lead of 1967's The Graduate.
Director Mike Nichols auditioned Hoffman for a lead role on Broadway, but Hoffman couldn't sing well enough to land it part. Still, Nichols was impressed and cast Hoffman in The Graduate. "Nichols chose to give this short, funny-looking Jewish guy the role usually reserved for a tall, handsome protestant," Hoffman recalled to The Guardian.
Al Pacino – 5'7"
Al Pacino claims in his official biography that he is 5'7", but there have been rumors throughout the year that 5'7" is a generous embellishment as people who've worked with him claim he is far shorter.
One such example was when he played Michael Corleone in 1972's The Godfather. Pacino recalled to The Washington Post that Paramount executives tried to fire him from the move three times, believing that he was giving an "anemic" performance. Pacino heard them say: "What the hell is this kid doing? And he's short to boot."
Josh Hutcherson – 5'7"
Josh Hutcherson started out as a child actor, but as he grew into an adult, he physically stopped at just 5'7". He rose to popularity as Peeta Mellark in The Hunger Games franchise.
Hutcherson was awarded Best Male Performance at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards by Leslie Mann, Cameron Diaz, Nicki Minaj, and Kate Upton. Upton, a 5'10" model, playfully joked that she'd date Hutcherson if they found themselves in a dystopian future like The Hunger Games. When he accepted the award, Hutcherson joked back, "They're all so tall. Me and Kate would never work. That would be hard."
Scott Caan – 5'5"
Scott Caan is only five-foot-five and you may have noticed this if you've seen him as Detective Danny Williams on the most recent run of Hawaii Five-0. Caan's shorter stature hasn't inhibited him from acting, however, and he was even nominated for a Golden Globe in 2011.
Before starring on the CBS re-imagined series, Caan had a recurring role as Scott Lavin on HBO's Entourage. Aside from acting, Caan's other interests include photography. He was introduced to the craft in 2003 when filming Dallas 362 by cinematographer Phil Parmet, who both inspired and trained Caan to work with cameras and lenses.
Richard Dreyfuss – 5'5"
Richard Dreyfuss may only be 5'5", but the esteemed actor has built an impressive career that makes his height seem like an afterthought. Dreyfuss is something of an acting legend, having been in films such as Jaws, Stand by Me, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and American Grafitti.
But Dreyfuss's most recognized work was in 1977's The Goodbye Girl. Dreyfuss played Elliott Garfield and gave such an outstanding performance that he won an Oscar for Best Actor in 1977. He was a triple threat, however, as he also won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for the role.
Nathan Lane – 5'5"
Nathan Lane's five-foot-five stature hasn't been a hindrance on his quest to becoming one of the most renowned actors in American theatre. He has received three Tony Awards throughout his career, two of which were for Best Actor. Lane won his first in 1996 for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and his second in 2001 for The Producers.
His third Tony Award was for Best Featured Actor in a Play, which he was given in 2018 for Angels in America. Off the stage, Lane has done plenty of camera work for film and television.
Jet Li – 5'6"
Jet Li is just 5'6" but that short size may be helpful to him, since he is a martial artist and retired Wushu (Chinese Kung Fu) champion. He retired from competitive Wushu at the age of 19 after winning his first national championship in Beijing.
The recognition served to transition him into acting and Li began starring in martial arts films made in China. Li's debut in an American film happened in 1998 before he took on his first leading role in 2000's Romeo Must Die. In recent years, he has taken a break from acting to focus on charity work.
Martin Freeman – 5'7"
Martin Freeman's height is debatable, measuring up around 5'6" or 5'7". Regardless, he's pretty much on par with Elijah Wood's height which is ostensibly why he was also cast in The Lord of the Rings trilogy as Bilbo Baggins.
Freeman is also known for his role as Lester Nygaard in Fargo, for which he was nominated for both a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. The British actor is also known for movies such as Love Actually and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
David Faustino – 5'3"
David Faustino (pictured center) stands at five-foot-three. He is best known for playing Bud Bundy on Married... with Children. If you've ever seen the show, you'd notice that Bud was shorter than his sister Kelly – but it wasn't because he was the younger sibling. Kelly was played by Christina Applegate who is 5'5".
Faustino played Bud Bundy for ten years, but afterward only had brief appearances on television shows and films. As of 2018, he hosts a radio show called Old Scratch Radio but has told the media that he'd definitely be on board if Married... with Children was up for a reboot.
Rick Moranis – 5'6"
Rick Moranis (pictured left) is just five-foot-six, which is considered on the shorter side in Hollywood. Mornis first gained fame from Second City Television in the '80s and went on to star is some iconic films such as Ghostbusters, Little Shop of Horrors, and Spaceballs.
But the film franchise that Moranis is best known for sort of has to do with him being smaller than everyone else – way smaller. Moranis starred in all three Honey, I Shrunk the Kids movies. After the last one came out in 1997, he took a break from acting to raise his kids after his wife passed away from cancer.
Jason Alexander – 5'5"
Jason Alexander (pictured left) was noticeably shorter than his Seinfeld co-stars. Alexander, who is 5'5", played George Costanza throughout the run of the series and it's the role that helped him get to where he is today.
Though television is what made Alexander a Hollywood star, he actually got his start on the stage as a singer and dancer. Alexander even has a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor, which he earned in 1989 for Jerome Robbins' Broadway. In 2018, Alexander was on of a handful of celebrities who've taken on the Colonel Sanders persona for KFC.
Jon Stewart – 5'7"
Jon Stewart (pictured left) is considered another short person in Hollywood, measuring up at five-foot-seven. In 2008, Stewart addressed the concern when he shared a clip of him introducing Conan O'Brien on The Jon Stewart Show in the early '90s.
With a photo of O'Brien, who is 6'4", standing next to him, Stewart jokingly said, "There is a real controversy here that I want to address and that is to whether or not I am a regular adult-sized male... I am an average-sized male or would have been in the 1600's."
Adam DeVine – 5'8"
Admittedly, Adam DeVine (pictured right) may not be that short at 5'8", but still, that's shorter than the average height among males! Regardless, DeVine has always looked like a shorter actor on camera and it's probably because he's the shortest of his Workaholics co-stars Anders Holm and Blake Anderson, who are 6'4" and 5'10" respectively.
DeVine co-created Workaholics which premiered on Comedy Central in 2011. It is what kicked off his career and since then he has been a major player in some of the most popular films of recent years such as the Pitch Perfect franchise and Neighbors.
Mel Brooks – 5'5"
Mel Brooks has been known throughout Hollywood to be shorter than many of his counterparts. At five-foot-five (and sometimes reported to be five-foot-four) Mel Brooks has still gone one to become one of the most revered comedic actors and filmmakers Tinseltown has ever seen.
At 92 years of age, height is ostensibly the least of Brooks's concerns. He has an extensive and impressive filmography under his name that includes classics such as Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and The Producers. Aside from his lengthy film career, Brooks is a distinguished veteran of the United States Army.
Henry Winkler – 5'6"
Henry Winkler stands at a mere 5'6" but this guy has achieved a level of coolness that anyone else in the world is unlikely to match. After all, his role as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on Happy Days made him the coolest guy in America during the '70s.
Winkler continues to act, although many of his recent roles as a man in his '60s and '70s have been more comedic than cool. Regardless, Winkler's work hasn't gone unrecognized as the actor has won two Golden Globes and three Primtime Emmy's for Happy Days.
Danny Trejo – 5'6"
Danny Trejo is five-foot-six but that hasn't stopped him from the prolific career he's established as an actor after turning his life around as an ex-convict. Eventually, Trejo was able to turn his life around and was working as a youth drug counselor in the '80s when he was asked to assist a young actor on the set of Runaway Train.
He started out as an extra but soon found a niche in acting. Since then, he has played a number of villains and antiheroes in Hollywood, most notably his character Machete.
Rob Schneider – 5'3"
Rob Schneider (pictured right) is only five-foot-three, which is probably due to his heritage. Schneider is half Jewish and half-Filipino, which is often a theme in many of his stand-up acts. Schneider got his start as a Saturday Night Live cast member and was subsequently seen as a sidekick player in many Adam Sandler films.
Of course, Schneider often broke off and did his own projects, such as Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, The Hot Chick, and The Benchwarmers. Schneider has one daughter, Elle King, who is a musician. Her mother is former model London King.
