Hollywood has no shortage of handsome men. But what you might be surprised to discover is that Hollywood has a major “shortage” of tall leading men! In fact, many people are shocked when they meet famous actors in person just how short they are.
Don’t believe it? Here is our roundup of the shortest leading men in Hollywood. Trust us: you’ll be shocked when you discover the real heights of some of your favorite stars! Here they are, ordered in ascending height.
Peter Dinklage: 4’5″
Peter Dinklage’s career exploded with the popularity of Game of Thrones. And at only 4’5″, this successful actor is paving the way for more leading roles for Hollywood’s shortest men!
Danny DeVito: 4’10”
Danny DeVito’s career has spanned decades, and he manages to be amazing in everything from Batman Returns to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. But what’s really amazing is that this successful actor is less than five feet tall.
Michael J. Fox: 5’4″
Michael J. Fox has a long and storied career, but we’ll always remember him best as Marty McFly in the Back to the Future movies. Those movies may have featured self-lacing shoes, but there are no shoes now or in the future that can seriously boost the height of this short actor.
Joe Pesci: 5’4″
Whether as a mobster or as a robber, Joe Pesci has a history of playing scary dudes. How surprised are you to discover that one of Hollywood’s scariest men is only 5’4″?
Kevin Hart: 5’4″
Kevin Hart is no stranger to joking about his height, especially when he stars alongside actors like Dwayne Johnson in movies like Jumanji. Of course, if you mention Kevin Hart being 5’4″ to his face, he will quickly clarify that it’s more like 5”4 and a half. We’ll let you be the judge on that one.
Ken Jeong: 5’5″
We’ve loved Ken Jeong in The Hangover, Community, and everything in between. In fact, this actor is so entertaining that it’s easy to overlook the fact that he’s only 5’5″.
Jonathan Galecki: 5’5″
Jonathan Galecki made an entire career out of playing a down-on-his-luck nerd on The Big Bang Theory who finally hooks up with and even marries the cute girl next door. That girl was played by Kaley Cuoco, who just happens to be an inch taller than Galecki is!
Daniel Radcliffe: 5’5″
While some actors hate being defined by a single role, Daniel Radcliffe will be the first to admit that his life and career were forever shaped by playing Harry Potter. And the Harry Potter character is so larger-than-life that it’s easy to forget Radcliffe, at 5’5”, is shorter than the average Muggle male.
Richard Dreyfuss: 5’5″
Richard Dreyfuss is another actor with an amazing career, but fans best remember him for his role in Jaws. And when he’s standing near a giant fake shark, it’s easy to not notice that Dreyfuss is only 5’5″.
Elijah Wood: 5’6″
For the Lord of the Rings movies, director Peter Jackson used everything from forced perspective to CGI trickery to make Elijah Wood’s character Frodo look very small. In real life, though, it doesn’t take any special trickery to make the 5’6″ Wood look shorter than most guys.
Aziz Ansari: 5’6″
Through his comedy specials and his role in Parks and Recreation, Aziz Ansari always dominates the screen with his outsized personality, despite his small stature.
Dustin Hoffman: 5’6″
Since taking the world by storm with The Graduate, Dustin Hoffman has always stood well as a leading man. In reality, he is only a bit shorter than his Rain Man costar Tom Cruise.
Danny Trejo: 5’6″
Danny Trejo is most known for playing intimidating villains in movies and TV shows. And while Trejo is no doubt very fierce in person, the truth is that at 5’6″, he would have a lot of trouble intimidating anyone in real life.
Martin Freeman: 5’6″
Like Elijah Wood, Martin Freeman benefited from a number of Peter Jackson visual tricks to look like a small Hobbit. And like Wood, Freeman is actually short enough that he would seem Hobbit-esque in a gathering of taller people.
Tom Cruise: 5’7″
From Top Gun to Mission Impossible to Edge of Tomorrow, Tom Cruise specializes in playing the leading man who always comes to save the day. But the real heroes of his movies are the directors and crew who help make this 5’7″ actor look tall.
Jack Black: 5’7″
At 5’7″, Jack Black is one of the actors on this list whose height may not be that surprising. After all, the hilarious Black often plays impish characters, and his height is rarely the focus of his role. Of course, he looks downright tall next to Kevin Hart in Jumanji!
Jesse Eisenberg: 5’7″
In playing characters ranging from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to fictional Superman villain Lex Luthor, Eisenberg has become very adept at playing characters who are too smart for their own good. But when you find out these evil geniuses are only 5’7″, you might think they are trying to compensate for something.
Zach Galifianakis: 5’7″
The career of Zach Galifianakis exploded out of The Hangover so quickly that he could be mistaken for a genie escaping a bottle. Of course, if Galifianakis was really a genie, he’d probably make himself a tad taller.
Al Pacino: 5’7″
Al Pacino is another actor who built a career out of being downright scary. After all, who can forget his role in Scarface as he fired an assault rifle/grenade launcher combo while yelling “Say hello to my little friend!” In real life, though, those who know the 5’7″ Pacino may well introduce him to people as “my little friend.”
Jonah Hill: 5’7″
Jonah Hill is one of the few actors on this list who incorporates his height into his roles. In everything from The Wolf of Wall Street to 21 Jump Street, Hill is usually paired up as the shorter sidekick alongside a taller leading man. And it turns out that Hill is the perfect height to make those pairings work.