“The worst thing is people lean on you! People want to lean on me all the time.”
The world may now know that pint-sized songstress Sabrina Carpenter is “5 feet to be exact” — but there are actually even shorter stars in Hollywood. Quite a few celebs measure in at 4’11” or less, making them some of the most petite people in entertainment. And while they may not be as tall as some people expected, these celebs have never let their height hold them back. Whether that means some making some costume alterations or set changes along the way, these short stars have got it covered.
Read on to find out what these stars had to say about being short…
Jada Pinkett Smith – 4’11”
Jada Pinkett Smith may be one of the shortest actresses in Hollywood at just 4’11” but that hasn’t ever let that hold her back. She did admit that it has at times caused her to lose out on roles — including the part of her future husband Will Smith’s girlfriend on Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
“I auditioned for Fresh Prince and they told me I was too short… to play Will’s girlfriend… only for me to become his wife,” Jada told Extra. “You know, once I got on my feet, and you know I was doing my thing… I had done a couple of movies and I did Different World, then Fresh Prince wanna come back and be like, ‘We need you on the show.’ I was like, ‘No, I’m a movie star, I don’t have time.’”
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Kristin Chenoweth – 4’11”
Kristin Chenoweth is just 4’11” and she says being short has both its advantages and disadvantages. For her, it means always being able to wear heels and often getting called “cute.” But on the negative side, she says she usually can’t see over the counter at the bank, has a hard time putting dishes in the cabinet and sometimes goes unnoticed when she walks into a room.
“I remember when I first moved to New York and I went to an audition for just a chorus call and all I saw were butts. I’m like, ‘Well dang it, I need to be in the front so I can see!’ But you know, there are worse things to be than short,” she said on The Meredith Vieira Show.
Adrienne Bailon-Houghton – 4’11”
Adrienne Bailon-Houghton is short in stature and she says it made for an interesting situation when she recently appeared on The Masked Singer. She explained that producers didn’t want her height to reveal her identity so they made her costume a lot taller than she is — making it a little hard to wear.
“The first time you try it on, [there]’s definitely not enough air. I actually was breathing out of the neck because [producers] were trying to give the illusion that I was taller. Because they knew for sure if they saw how short I was, they were going to give it away,” she shared on The Real.
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Lil Kim – 4’11”
It only makes sense that Lil Kim’s height is just 4’11” considering her name! The iconic rapper picked up her stage name early in her career, paying tribute to her short stature. While Lil Kim takes her height in stride, others haven’t always been complimentary. In fact, in 2021, fellow rapper 50 Cent poked fun at Kim ,sharing a now-deleted video comparing her to a dancing leprechaun.
Kim brushed it off her shoulders though, writing back, “Ur so Obsessed wit me this is getting creepy. Yarnnn this one ain’t it bro not funny at all I was hoping to laugh wit u but cornyyyyyy boooo!!! I’m to bad and too fly in this video u reachin now but we all kno whyyyyyyy.”
Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi – 4’8”
Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi may be short but she’s always had a good sense of humor about it — even joking that she always wears heels because she’s only 2 feet tall. Snooki has also said that she’s confident in her body no matter what size she is and her height difference with her friends makes her who she is.
“Our height difference is what makes us. @jennijwowwmtv ❤️❤️ love you,” Snooki captioned a photo with her Jersey Shore co-star Jenni “J-Woww” Farley.
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Melissa Rauch – 4’11”
The Big Bang Theory star Melissa Rauch measures just 4’11” and while she’s proud to be short, she admits it causes a few problems while filming. Looking back, Melissa says during scenes where the cast was sitting on the couch in Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment, she had to be propped up with lots of pillows so her feet touched the ground.
“I would say, fun fact, the couch that we were sitting on for someone who is my size, was very hard to get in and out of. Because it was very deep…I’m about five feet tall, so every time I sat down, my legs would just pop up. So they always had to do it, I was like propped up with cushions all the time!” Melissa said on the Momtaurage podcast. “If you look closely, you can see a huge amount of cushions supporting me.”
Danny DeVito – 4’10”
Danny DeVito may be one of the shortest actors in Hollywood but it doesn’t bother him. While he says he used to be shy about his height, he decided to go “into the mouth of the dragon” and embrace who he is. He explained that instead of “hiding in the background,” he decided to go up to the front and say, “Here I am. This is what I do.’” He’s now been dubbed “king of the short kings,” a phrase he embraced the first time he heard it.
“I like it! I haven’t heard the term, but it gives me joy. It lifts me up. Thank you,” Danny told GQ.
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Leslie Jordan – 4’11
The late Leslie Jordan was just 4’11” but he joked that he always used it to his advantage. In an interview before his passing Leslie shared that his height allowed him to get away with a lot because he was so little and could just “disappear.”
“The worst thing is people lean on you! People want to lean on me all the time and they say ‘cute.’ They wanna [pinch your cheeks] and be cute, cute, cute,” he told Windy City Live.
