12 Costars Who Navigated Dramatic Height Differences On-ScreenEmy LaCroixSat, November 14, 2026 at 10:32 AM UTC
Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson ‘Central Intelligence’; Emilia Clarke, and Jason Momoa in ‘Game Of Thrones’.Credit: New Line Cinema/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock; Hbo/Kobal/Shutterstock
Actors often work with costars who are either much taller or much shorter than they are, leading to some dramatic height differences on-screen.
Some duos, like Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, have emphasized their contrasting heights for comedic effect. Others, like Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny, have made adjustments to compensate for their height difference. Elordi is 16 inches taller than his Priscilla costar.
“I’m excellent at finding ways to lean,” he jokingly explained to W Magazine in September 2023. “It’s a skill I’ve perfected throughout my career. I’m always leaning.”
Here are 12 costars who navigated dramatic height differences on-screen.
01 of 06
Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman in Thor
Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman in ‘Thor’.Credit: Zade Rosenthal/Marvel/Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock
Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman are 6 feet, 3 inches and 5 feet, 3 inches, respectively. Their one-foot height difference required some adjustments when they fought each other on-screen in the Thor movies.
“There were sort of like secret boxes or ramps or something that they would sneak in there so I could be closer to him,” Portman explained to E! News in October 2013. “Otherwise there would be no way I could hit his face if I tried. I’d be like jumping and trying to reach his cheek.”
When it came time for the two actors to kiss, Hemsworth explained that the crew set up a hidden ramp to increase Portman’s height.
“What they did is they built a ramp, so it was a nice gradual lift to the kiss,” he said during a November 2013 appearance on Conan. “She would walk up a ramp as we kissed.”
02 of 06
Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart in Central Intelligence
Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson in ‘Central Intelligence’.Credit: New Line Cinema/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock
Johnson and Hart have navigated their height difference in several films, including the Jumanji franchise and Central Intelligence. The stars are 6-foot-5 and 5-foot-5, respectively.
“Certainly when you’re dealing with two people who are totally different sizes, and you’re shooting in 2.35:1 widescreen, it poses some framing issues. It keeps you mindful,” Central Intelligence director Rawson Thurber told CinemaBlend in September 2022. “But, though Kevin and Dwayne are very physically different, they’re very similar people … and that lent itself to a real ease on set.”
03 of 06
Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi in Priscilla
Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny in ‘Priscilla’.Credit: Philippe Le Sourd/A24
Elordi and Spaeny had to contend with a 16-inch height difference when they costarred in the 2023 biopic Priscilla.
Spaeny, who is 5-foot-1, later explained that they did some “movie magic” to make it work with her 6-foot-5 counterpart.
“We made it work, we did some movie magic,” she told E! News in October 2023. “They gave me some really high heels to wear whenever you couldn’t see my feet in the movies. And then he got really good at leaning on walls during scenes while looking natural. So, we made it happen.”
04 of 06
Ginger Gonzaga and Steve Howey in True Lies
Steve Howey as Harry Tasker and Ginger Gonzaga as Helen Tasker in True Lies.Credit: Tom Griscom/CBS via Getty
At 5 feet, 3 inches, Ginger Gonzaga is significantly shorter than her True Lies costar Steve Howey, who is 6-foot-5.
“I think it’s really funny to play into that height difference,” she told PopCulture.com in February 2023. “So sometimes I would request to be in flats because I just wanted her to be so fish out of water and look at all these giant people talking to me.”
“I’m going to end up having some sort of neck issue,” Gonzaga jokingly added. “I’m constantly craning.”
05 of 06
Jason Momoa and Emilia Clarke in Game of Thrones
Emilia Clarke, and Jason Momoa in ‘Game Of Thrones’.Credit: HBO/kobal/rex/shutterstock
Jason Momoa and his Game of Thrones costar Emilia Clarke starred in the long-running HBO series while navigating a 14-inch height difference.
“When he first met me, he wrestled me to the ground. To the ground!” Clarke later recalled during a September 2024 appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast. “I’d never met anyone his size, let alone his size of personality.”
06 of 06
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito in TwinsDanny Devito and Arnold Schwarzenegger in ‘Twins’.Credit: Entertainment Pictures/Alamy
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is over 6 feet tall, and Danny DeVito, who is under 5 feet, played comically different twins with a 16-inch height difference in the 1988 film Twins.
“We complement each other in a lot of ways. I am way stronger than he is,” DeVito later joked in a November 2023 interview with GQ.
Source: Entertainment
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