25 Famous Actors Who Are Shorter Than You Expected

When it comes to men and women, scientists have determined that there is a varied average height range for each sex. For men, that average comes in at 5 feet, 9 inches tall. Therefore, when someone comes in significantly shorter than that, it’s hard not to be caught by surprise. That’s made even more true when we discover this about some of our favorite actors, considering it’s often hard to tell just how tall they are from photos or even the television or movie screen.

Here are 25 famous actors who are shorter than you expected.

1. Tom Cruise

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There is no denying that Tom Cruise is, at times, dark and handsome, but he’s not exactly tall. The hit Top Gun star comes in at a staggering 5 feet, 7 inches tall. With his charming looks, acting skills, and just plain charisma, we honestly can’t say we noticed.

2. Al Pacino

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Al Pacino has had a stellar career, proving what it means to be a true method actor. It has led to an Academy Award-winning role in Scent of a Woman and more Oscar-nominated roles in the first two installments of The Godfather trilogy, Dog Day Afternoon, Dick Tracy, and many more. When you’ve got those kinds of skills, who cares if you’re coming in below average in height? Pacino comes in at 5 feet, 6 inches tall.

3. Kevin Hart

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Unlike most on our list of famous actors who are shorter than you expected, being surprisingly short is something that comedian and actor Kevin Hart is already quite known for. Considering his knack for hilarity, it only makes us think back to that fun saying of, “He’s not short. He’s fun size.” Fun size, he is, indeed as he stands at only 5 feet, 2 inches tall.

4. Robert Downey Jr.

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Robert Downey Jr. is one that just barely misses the cut-off when it comes to the average height of men, meaning it’s not quite as crazy of you if you failed to notice him as one of the short actors. Iron Man comes in at 5 feet, 8 inches tall.

5. Elijah Wood

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Like many epic films in this day and age, there is a lot of CGI work that often goes into creating certain attributes of characters. When it came to making Elijah Wood look short, as hobbits often are compared to men, elves, and even dwarves in the Lord of the Rings, perhaps it wasn’t quite as difficult. Wood is only 5 feet, 6 inches tall.

6. Danny Trejo

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When it comes to short actors, Danny Trejo is another who isn’t quite as hit-you-in-the-face short as some of the others of our famous actors who are shorter than you expected. The From Dusk Till Dawn actor stands at approximately 5 feet, 6 inches tall, only one inch shorter than the average height for women.

7. Daniel Radcliffe

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It’s no wonder that Rupert Grint, standing at 5 feet, 8 inches, seemed to tower over his Harry Potter co-stars, particularly Daniel Radcliffe. While we didn’t notice it much with Emma Watson, Radcliffe standing even with her at 5 feet, 5 inches tall, certainly smacks you in the face.

8. Danny DeVito

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Danny DeVito is one of the most beloved actors out there, and it’s honestly his short stature that makes him so fierce and loveable. From the brilliant Martin Weir in Get Shorty to the nasty Harry Wormwood in Matilda and the hilarity of potraying Roy, the old stripper for Phoebe’s bachelorette party on Friends, his 4 feet, ten-inch frame combined with his huge personality is contagious, and we say he’s perfect because of it!

9. Seth Green

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When it comes to famous actors who are shorter than you expected, Seth Green comes up next in the short actors category. The actor, best known for his voiceover roles in the Guardians of the Galaxy Trilogy, is only 5 feet, 4 inches tall.

10. Zac Efron

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You can’t get closer to average height than with the loveably handsome Zac Efron. The dimpled brunette who stole our hearts on High School Musical and continues to steal it with films like 17 Again and The Greatest Showman just barely makes the short actors list at 5 feet, 8 inches tall.

11. Joe Pesci

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Joe Pesci may be a Raging Bull, one of the Goodfellas, and an Irishman, but he’s definitely no tall man. The Good Shepherd stops shorts at 5 feet, 4 inches tall.

12. Martin Freeman

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Martin Freeman knows what it means to bring a smile to our faces. Best known for his role as Tim Canterbury in The Office and then the feisty yet loveable Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit film trilogy; like his on-screen nephew Frodo, they didn’t have to do much to make him look like a true hobbit. He’s only 5 feet, 7 inches tall.

13. Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg has proven over the course of his career that his talent spans across a multitude of dramas as he’s taken on the role of the leading man in comedy, drama, and action. With all that talent, who cares if he’s slightly shorter than other men?

Wahlberg stands just on the cusp of average at 5 feet, 8 inches tall.

14. Rob Schneider

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Rob Schneider knows how to bring the laughs. As a former regular cast member of the hit sketch comedy Saturday Night Live from 1988 to 1994, he always knew how to have us on the floor laughing. How many of you out there also failed to realize that he is actually pretty short, standing at just 5 feet, 3 inches?

15. Scott Caan

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From Ocean’s Eleven to Hawaii Five-O, Scott Caan has proven that he can dominate both the small and silver screens. It just goes to show that you can be larger than life no matter what height you stand at, which for him is only 5 feet, 5 inches tall.

16. Dustin Hoffman

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Dustin Hoffman was easily one of the reigning kings of Hollywood back in the day, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century, with award-winning roles in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Rain Man (1988). With roles like that, who cares about height?

Nonetheless, the famous actors who are shorter than you expected list call for us to tell you that The Graduate himself only stands at a mere 5 feet, 5 inches tall.

17. Ken Jeong

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There seems to be a trend with some of our favorite comedians happening to land on our shortest actors list. Ken Jeong is known for portraying a plethora of notable roles both in television and in film. These include Leslie Chow in The Hangover film series and Ben Chang in NBC’s Community. He comes in on our list at 5 feet, 5 inches tall.

18. Simon Helberg

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When we’d tune in to watch our favorite geniuses each week on The Big Bang Theory, there was no doubt that especially next to Jim Parsons, a few of the other male leads on the show didn’t stand quite as tall. Simon Helberg, who played the self-proclaimed ladies’ man turned loving husband and father Howard Wollowitz, was the shortest of them all. Helberg is 5 feet, 4 inches tall.

19. Johnny Galecki

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Simon Helberg may have been the shortest on the hit CBS sitcom, but he was not the only one to qualify for our list of famous actors who are shorter than you expected. Considering Kaley Cuoco, even when she wasn’t wearing heels, stood taller than her on-screen husband, Leonard Hofstadter (and former off-screen boyfriend), no one should be surprised to find out that Johnny Galecki is only 5 feet, 5 inches tall.

20. Richard Dreyfuss

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From Jaws (1975) to Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and even Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) to Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995), Richard Dreyfuss has given us a string of memorable films throughout his career. Because of this, you may have failed to notice that he is considered one of the short actors in the business, coming in at 5 feet, 5 inches tall.

21. Peter Dinklage

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When it comes to all of the short actors on our list, this is one entry that readers shouldn’t be surprised to see. Medically diagnosed with a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia, Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage is the shortest on our list, topping out at 4 feet, 5 inches tall.

Dinklage has never let his height get him down. Instead, he uses his fame as an opportunity to raise social awareness of dwarfism. “Everyone’s different. Every person my size has a different life and a different history. Different ways of dealing with it. Just because I’m seemingly OK with it, I can’t preach how to be OK with it,” he once said of it.

22. Ben Stiller

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As we come toward the end of our famous actors who are shorter than you expected, Ben Stiller will kick off three straight in a row that, had they been women, wouldn’t be considered short actors but actually of average height. The Night at the Museum actor stands at 5 feet, 7 inches tall.

Related: 18 Celebrities Who Beat Cancer

23. David Spade

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David Spade is the king of the ensemble cast, starring in Just Shoot Me! (1997-2003) and Rules of Engagement (2007-2013). Additionally, he came in as the hilarious and often troublemaking C.J. Barnes in 8 Simple Rules following the death of the beloved actor John Ritter. Perhaps his shorter-than-average height is part of what made his quirky characters all the more fun to watch. Like Stiller, he comes in at what would be the average height for women: 5 feet, 7 inches tall.

24. Billy Crystal

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Billy Crystal is the last of our 5-foot, 7-inch trio to grace our list of famous actors who are shorter than you expected. From Saturday Night Live to When Harry Met Sally and even later, the voice of the loveable Mike Wazoski in Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. animated franchise, we can’t say we were paying too close attention to his shorter-than-average height anyway.

25. Woody Allen

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Woody Allen is a legend in the world of film. With a career as an actor, screenwriter, and comedian that spans more than six decades, he will forever be remembered for his plethora of films, two of which have even been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress (Annie Hall in 1977 and Manhattan in 1979).

With all that to boast about, we honestly couldn’t care less that he only stands at 5 feet, 5 inches tall.

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