Gentlemen on heels about short actors.
Recently in the post I mentioned that I like short actors, I affectionately call them “pocket” actors. That is why maybe today I will develop my thought. And I will discuss the issue of short actors and what Hollywood has a specific problem with them. Just a moment, not just Hollywood.
I don't know if you realize it, but one of the most frequently typed words immediately after the name of any Hollywood actor is "height". For unknown reasons, the growth of actors is one of the most interesting information about celebrities. Why? There can be many reasons, but one certainly comes to mind immediately. Actors height has an impact on their perception by the audience. The actor should be tall. More, it can easily be extended to all men. To this day, you can find moron sites and memes on the Internet that claim that a real man starts from 1.80. I must say that his whole life seemed to me that a real man consists essentially of other elements and is a cultural construct in general, but what do I know about the subject?
Let's return to the actors. The problem with the actors height is not something new. Why? Because of a few reasons. First of all, the assumption is that the actor must be taller than his screen partner. Not always (we will go to the exceptions soon) but it is generally accepted that the male hero should be plus or minus a head taller than the actress she plays with. It is best, however, that they are about the same height, so that the camera can easily catch them side by side with faces at the same height. As you might suppose, it has happened in the history of Hollywood that popular actors were not so tall at all. When film studios ruled information about actors and their biography, the case was simple - the official version was sent to the media and it was used in all press materials. One of the best-known short actors was of course Bogart. The fact that he was much lower than reported by the studio's company was quite widely known. In Casablanca - but not only - so as not to appear lower than his partner, the actor wore shoes on a special platform. Interestingly, Bogart was not very short, he was over a 1.70, but because he himself never admitted to being shorter than his screen partners, the audience remembered it to him. In addition, short stature did not match the vision of his hero - a hard, strong man who should be taller than his partner at first glance. It is worth noting that compared to the stars from that period Bogart was not short (because people were shorter at the time) and earlier careers in Hollywood were successfully made by lower actors - like James Cagney or Charlie Chaplin who were about 1.65 tall.
Bogart's lifts on the Casablanca set
For similar reasons, Tom Cruise's height raises emotions. As you know, Tom is not the highest man in the world. He's about 1.70 tall, maybe a little more. At the same time - because he is an actor cast in the main roles and in sensational films - he must at least appear tall on the screen. Raising Tom on the screen raises a lot of emotions - although in reality cinema has always had similar ways for the lower actor to appear taller in the movie. In addition to the already mentioned elevated shoes (not necessarily visible at first glance), boxes and ramps come to the aid of the actors. They are out of frame and the actor seems taller. If you ever wondered where you can definitely see the use of the ramp in the movie then look at the last scene of
Thor 2 where Natalie Portman runs up to kiss Chris Hemsworth. Well, the difference in height between the actress (who is quite short) and the actor (who is quite tall) is so large that it would be difficult to get a nice frame. But as soon as the actress stands on a small ramp, the faces of both actors fit into the frame. Cinema uses such tricks quite often, even if it is not dealing with very low actors. Another way is simply filming from the right perspective - the right frame can do a lot. The Avengers are a great example here - where everyone looks like they are about the same height (except Thor) while the height of the actors is quite wide. But with the right frame and raised shoes for Robert Downey Jr. everything can go well. It should be added here that Cruise arouses emotions not because he's short but because, like Bogart, he tries to hide this fact.
Right angle and everyone is tall enough Avangers:Endgame
Another thing is that it's hard for some actors to be surprised. If we look at short actors in Hollywood, it often turns out that the cinema does not have much of an idea for them. Of course - there will always be comedy roles - here, short stature can even be considered an advantage - because for unknown reasons it has become common that a short comedian is funnier. Perhaps because he does not meet the main assumption of the actor of drama or sensational cinema. While in the case of actors from earlier genres trying to hide their height, a comedy actor can run around happily and not hide how short he is. There were many names in this category for years (I have already mentioned Chaplin) but in general we can all say that nobody from Woody Allen, Danny DeVito, Aziz Ansari or Ken Jeung requires them to be particularly tall. A similar dispensation also applies to very characteristic actors - Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci may be short because they will never be cast in the classic role of the American main character. However - what is also important - their short stature characters often make up for their expressive character - as if it was necessary to write them more intense roles - so that viewers do not pay attention to their height. Importantly - they are unlikely to get the roles of romantic lovers and most often they will not save women in trouble. In the case of characteristic actors, height is not important because they are not carriers of the masculinity pattern (of course according to film criteria).
One of the key questions that seems to be is whether the height of actors matters in the course of their career. I noticed that many of the lower actors started their careers early - often as children or teenagers - so that when they got the role no one cared too much about their height. One can wonder if the short (and surprisingly similar) Daniel Radcliffe or Elijah Wood would have a chance for international careers if they were not both child actors (interestingly in Potter it is well seen when the filmmakers realized that Radcliffe would rather not be tall and started to shoot him under the appropriate angle). Similarly, my two favorite pocket actors - Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna - who both started their TV career very early at the age of a dozen or so. You could easily add Robert Downey Jr. to the list, who started his career not as a child, but very early. Of course, this is not a one hundred percent rule (many short actors started their careers later), but one wonders how many actors - would not find a place in cinematography if they had to enter the world of cinema later - not meeting the pre-set standards. What's more - in the case of the actors listed here, each of them has successful leading roles, which perfectly shows that the audience in the final analysis is not bothered by the difference in height and somehow no one doubts the charm of a well-cast actor if this is short. Which does not change the fact that film studios and image specialists are still tampering with the height of actors so that the public will get some improved data.
Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna And Your Mother Too
There would be nothing particularly important in all these considerations were it not for the fact that what we watch on the screen we often consider as the norm or ideal. And this means that the few short actors in the main roles or such "muscular” makes it still vivid belief that the perfect man is a tall man. And it's not about what they like - because they realize that someone may like someone taller, someone shorter, but the cinematography has a virtually unambiguous message - a man should be tall (and if he is not tall, he is probably not serious). Which causes a problem for a whole bunch of people starting with short men and ending with tall women. It's amazing that such a small feature as height (except when someone is really tall or short) actually raises so much emotion. And we all know that only one thing counts. Not to be too short for a stormtrooper.
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