Chin Up, Peeta: Ain't Nothin' Wrong with a Short Man

By Sarah Carlson | Lists | December 3, 2013 |

By Sarah Carlson | Lists | December 3, 2013 |

Forget the arena: The movie magic I enjoyed the most during The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was all the different ways director Francis Lawrence (not to mention all the reps in charge of marketing) found to make the 5’6” Josh Hutcherson appear roughly the same height as the 5’10” Jennifer Lawrence.

An apple crate surely was used.

Or maybe silts.

It was all about angles and positioning and keeping Katniss the hell out of heels.

Because when Lawrence wears heels, the visual is different.

But you know what? That’s OK. Hutcherson is no less charming, talented or adorable when we see the height difference between him and Lawrence full-on. Why not embrace it? The tricking-the-eye gimmicks are just silly. Let’s move past the “real men are tall” theme or whatever is going on here. Shorter men are still men. And if women are able to pick them up and carry them, then so be it. Nothing wrong with it.

Hutcherson is in good company. Here are 20 other actors and musicians who come in at 5’8” or under.

Aziz Ansari (5’6”)

Daniel Radcliffe (5’5”)

Jack Black (5’6”)

Tom Cruise (5’7”)

Danny DeVito (5’0”)

Robert Downey Jr. (5’8”, although some sites list him at 5’9”)

Jesse Eisenberg (5’7”)

Gael García Bernal (5’6”)

Paul Simon (5’3”)

Peter Dinklage (4’5”)

Michael J. Fox (5’4”)

Dustin Hoffman (5’6”)

Mark Wahlberg (5’8”)

Al Pacino (5’7”)

Zac Efron (5’8”)

Prince (5’2”)

Marc Anthony (5’7”)

Jon Stewart (5’6”)

Seth Green (5’4”)

Lil Wayne (5’6”)

Lawrence approves.

Sarah Carlson is a TV Critic for Pajiba. She lives in San Antonio. You can find her on Twitter.