How do you solve a problem like Minnie Driver? At 5ft 10in, she is taller than many leading men, and Hollywood dictates female stars should be shorter than the men playing their romantic interest.
The British actress told an interviewer recently that she has even been put into a ditch during filming to appear shorter than her co-star. ‘It’s so obnoxious and stupid,’ she complained.
Judging by clues given, the co-star in question would appear to be Chris O’Donnell, who was her love interest in the 1995 film Circle Of Friends.
Real life: At 5ft 10in, Minnie Driver (pictured with Chris O’Donnell) is taller than many leading men, and Hollywood dictates female stars should be shorter than the men playing their romantic interest
He is 5ft 9in, but appears much taller than her throughout their many scenes in the film.
So who else has suffered similar indignities? From Nicole Kidman to Sigourney Weaver and Gwyneth Paltrow, it’s quite a list of distinguished but taller-than-average women.
And Elizabeth Debicki, a statuesque 6ft 3in, comments: ‘It’s tricky territory, height. People ask, ‘Does it bother your co-stars?’ And I always say, ‘Well, I would be the last person to know if it did.’ ‘
Alison Boshoff has the story of Hollywood’s amazing shrinking women — all of them appear smaller than their on-screen partners, but are actually taller.
Minnie driven into a ditch
Minnie Driver: 5ft 10in
Chris O’Donnell: 5ft 9in
Height difference: 1in
Driver, 51, says that early on in her career a ditch was dug for her on a hill so that she would look smaller than her co-star. ‘I was hock high in a bog, as they say in Ireland,’ she said.
The Irish reference is telling, as Circle Of Friends was filmed in and set in Ireland, and was filmed early in her career, in 1995, before she made a big breakthrough in Good Will Hunting in 1997.
She added: ‘I was thinking, Oh my God, this is just bananas — can’t he stand on something? Or why don’t we both sit down and shoot it like that?’ But it had to be her ‘in the earth, trying to be romantic and sexy when there’s mud squishing through your lace-ups.
‘This notion of men having to remain powerful and be taller than a woman — why? It’s so obnoxious and stupid.’
On screen: Driver, 51, says that early on in her career a ditch was dug for her on a hill so that she would look smaller than her co-star. ‘I was hock high in a bog, as they say in Ireland,’ she said
We were kidded about Nicole and Titchy Tom
Nicole Kidman: 5ft 11in
Tom Cruise: 5ft 7in
Height difference: 4in
Australian actress Kidman always towered over her co-star (and ex-husband) Cruise.
As a teenager, shy Nicole wished she would stop growing, and was told she was too tall to be a star: ‘They said I couldn’t be an actress because I would be taller than all my leading men.’
After the hit Dead Calm in 1989 she was cast in Days Of Thunder opposite Tom. The disparity in height proved no barrier to chemistry — they married at the end of the year.
In the film, she appears the same size as her beau — director Tony Scott had her sit down for many of their scenes. After she and Cruise divorced, she is said to have remarked: ‘Now I can wear heels again.’
Australian actress Kidman always towered over her co-star (and ex-husband) Cruise. As a teenager, shy Nicole wished she would stop growing, and was told she was too tall to be a star. In the film, left, she appears the same size as her beau — director Tony Scott had her sit down for many of their scenes
Sigourney shrank and Gibson grew
Sigourney Weaver: 5ft 11in
Mel Gibson: 5ft 10in
Height difference: 1in
Sigourney Weaver plays Mel Gibson’s lover in romantic drama The Year Of Living Dangerously, and he appears comfortably taller on screen and in publicity stills, though he is an inch shorter.
Weaver commented: ‘I’ve lost a lot of roles because of my height — I’m 6ft 3in in heels. Here’s my theory: producers are short. I’m not the average producer’s sexual fantasy.’
Katniss was cut down to size
Jennifer Lawrence: 5ft 9in
Josh Hutcherson: 5ft 5in
Height difference: 4in
The Hunger Games films paired Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen with Josh Hutcherson as her friend Peeta Mellark.
In the films, it was clear Lawrence was taller, but only by a small margin, and in posters she appeared shorter than him.
In real life, there is a gulf between the two, with Lawrence 5ft 9in and Hutcherson just 5ft 5in.
Lawrence said: ‘I’m at that awkward height where I’m already kind of tall, so when I put heels on, everyone is like: ‘Oh, well, where’s the basketball?’
In the films, it was clear Lawrence was taller, but only by a small margin, and in posters she appeared shorter than him
In real life, there is a gulf between the two, with Lawrence 5ft 9in and Hutcherson just 5ft 5in
Spidey’s girl sees a shrink
Zendaya: 5ft 10in
Tom Holland: 5ft 8in
Height difference: 2in
Actress Zendaya plays Michelle, known as MJ, in Spiderman: Homecoming and Spiderman: Far From Home. Her co-star Tom Holland is 5ft 8in, so two full inches shorter than her.
The difference is occasionally obvious on screen but in publicity pictures and most scenes, trickery has been employed to make them look as if he is the taller one.
She said that when she went for a ‘chemistry read’ with Tom Holland, it dawned on her that her height might be a problem.
‘I was worried because he’s so much shorter than me. I was like, ‘Damn it! It’s going to be weird because I’m super tall.’ ‘
However, they did the audition sitting down, and producers were convinced that she was right for the part after all.
Real life: Actress Zendaya plays Michelle, known as MJ, in Spiderman: Homecoming and Spiderman: Far From Home. Her co-star Tom Holland is 5ft 8in, so two full inches shorter than her
The difference is occasionally obvious on screen but in publicity pictures and most scenes, trickery has been employed to make them look as if he is the taller one
The night manager was a tall story
Elizabeth Debicki: 6ft 3in
Tom Hiddleston: 6ft 2in
Height difference: 1in
At an Amazonian 6ft 3in, Australian actress Elizabeth’s height has been an issue with leading men.
In The Night Manager, she was taller than her co-star lovers Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston — who are both over 6ft — but still couldn’t be seen to overshadow them.
In one scene, Laurie was given a cushion to sit on to boost his height when both were required to sit on a bed.
But she said it was an improvement on what she was used to: ‘Granted, it’s not easy to be a super-tall woman in Hollywood. But in The Night Manager, it was lovely to look a co-star in the eye and not have them standing on an apple box!’
Why Iron Man is on stilts
Gwyneth Paltrow: 5ft 9in
Robert Downey Jr: 5ft 7in
Height difference: 2in
Paltrow has played Pepper Potts to Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark in the Iron Man and Avengers films since 2008. On screen and in promotional pictures she looks at least three inches shorter than Downey.
However, in real life she is 5ft 9in and he is around 5ft 7in. In pictures taken on the set of Avengers Endgame, Downey appeared to be standing on stilts in order to carry off a romantic clinch with her, and some sources maintain he also wears shoes with lifts for their scenes.
Last year he joked: ‘The only problem about working with her is that she is naturally about eight feet tall.’