While there are many short actresses in Hollywood (like A-lister Reese Witherspoon who is only 5ft1in), there are plenty of tall ones, too.
Often they are not the people you would immediately think of.
Some are household names that seem as if they would be average in height when in reality they are over 6ft tall.
When they star in movies, these women are usually paired with very tall male actors to balance the height out.
Think of when Geena Davis (6ft) costarred with Jeff Goldblum in The Fly in 1986; she looked petite next to him as he is an impressive 6ft4in. That four inches really made a difference.
They went on to costar in two more films: 1985’s Transylvania 6-5000 and 1988’s Earth Girls Are Easy.
Of course, sometimes it is good if the actress is tall for a visual affect like when Nicole Kidman (5ft11in) bosses around her lover, played by Joaquin Phoenix (5ft8in), in the 1995 thriller To Die For.
Here is a looked at the taller ladies who are all 6ft or higher (scroll down for a list of the shortest actresses in Hollywood).
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LINDSAY KAY HAYWARD
HEIGHT: 6FT8IN
Lindsay Kay Hayward is an American actress and retired professional wrestler.
The blonde is better known by her ring names, Isis the Amazon and Aloisia.
In 2015 she was in Internship Games, about six college students from different universities around the country are selected to participate in Econo Air’s annual, company program to compete for an internship.
That same year she played Jade Bell on Grey’s Anatomy and she was on the reality TV show My Tall Life.
Lindsay says she has been 6ft8in since she was 13-years-old and sometimes it makes dating ‘difficult.’
GWENDOLINE CHRISTIE
HEIGHT: 6FT3IN
Gwendoline Christie is an English actress who has found great success in show business even though she is head and shoulders above her contemporaries.
The versatile actress is known for portraying Brienne Of Tarth in the HBO fantasy-drama series Game of Thrones.
And she was the First Order stormtrooper Captain Phasma in the films Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Her 6ft3in frame made her appear intimidating while in her shiny steel costume as she went up against Finn, aka FN-2187.
When she attended the Met Gala this year, her height helped her make a radiant impression in a maroon velvet gown and black sheer cape.
ELIZABETH DELBECKI
HEIGHT: 6FT3IN
Elizabeth Debicki is an Australian actress who has legs for days.
She is known for starring in the BBC limited series The Night Manager.
And she gained wider recognition for her portrayal of the late Diana, Princess of Wales in the Netflix drama series The Crown.
Princess Diana was on the taller side too at 5ft10in.
She has said that her height has come up during casting sessions for acting roles.
In a 2016 BBC America interview, Debicki revealed she ‘used to slump a lot’ when she was a teen. At the time, she felt too tall, but now she has learned to embrace her height, she shared.
JANET MCTEER
HEIGHT: 6FT1IN
Janet McTeer began her career training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
She then landed several stage roles that cemented her reputation as a true talent.
She has also starred in many films like Albert Nobbs in 2011, The Woman In Black in 2012, Me Before You in 2016, The Exception in 2016 and The Menu in 2022.
One of her more recent hits is Ozark where she starred as a Mexican drug cartel’s lawyer opposite a doomed accountant played by Jason Bateman.
In 2016 she told The New Yorker that her height was something that worried her when she was a teen: ‘I was incredibly self-conscious about the way I looked.’
IRELAND BALDWIN
HEIGHT: 6FT1IN
Her height got her many modeling jobs as she worked for Guess and BCBG Max Azria.
But it was only a matter of time before Ireland Baldwin – the daughter of actors Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin – went into acting.
She costarred with Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone in Grudge Match in 2013.
And she also played Madeleine in the 2020 movie A Dark Foe.
Her cousin Hailey Baldwin, who is married to and expecting a baby with Justin Bieber, is much shorter.
Though Ireland has not talked much about being tall, Hailey has brought up her relative’s height: She said on her twitter page, ‘Ireland is 6’2 and I’m 5’8 – she’s like my basketball boyfriend and I’m her shawty.’
BRIGITTE NIELSEN
HEIGHT: 6FT1IN
Brigitte Nielsen is pretty much known for her height.
The Danish actress was a towering force in her 1985 film Red Sonja where she looked larger than life while wielding her sword.
Her height also was interesting when she costarred with Sylvester Stallone in Rocky IV.
She and Sly married then starred in the 1986 film Cobra. They divorced in 1987.
The import said in 2023: ‘Photographer Helmut Newton always said you can never be tall enough.’
ALLISON JANNEY
HEIGHT: 6FT
Allison Janney seems to have consistently used her height to play powerful people.
She is best known for her smarty-pants part as White House Press Secretary CJ Cregg in the long-running TV series The West Wing.
And her height allowed her to tower over Anna Faris to comedic effect on the sitcom Mom.
Janney has said she thought her height would stand in the way of her success but it never has: She has won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and seven Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for two Tony Awards.
‘When I first started out in this business, with my size and whatever, I couldn’t even get arrested in this business. I was ecstatically surprised when it turned out there was a place for me in this industry,’ she said.
JANE LYNCH
HEIGHT: 6FT
Jane Lynch’s height worked to her benefit when she played coach Sue Sylvester on the smash hit TV series Glee, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award.
She was on the show from 2009 until 2015.
And she has had many other successes.
In November 2021, Lynch voiced Ole Golley in the Apple TV+ animated series Harriet the Spy.
Lynch also plays a recurring character in the comedy mystery television series, Only Murders in the Building.
Jane has also said she landed a role in the Nora Ephron movie Julie And Julia because of her height.
GEENA DAVIS
HEIGHT: 6FT
Geena Davis was a tall fashion model who looked great in gowns during runway shows.
So she was a perfect fit as the leggy soap opera star in one of her first hits, 1982’s Tootsie with Dustin Hoffman.
When she worked with Jeff Goldblum in three movies, starting with The Fly, she seemed petite as he is 6ft4in.
Davis is considered one of the best actresses in Hollywood: she has earned an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
But being tall used to bother her. She told The New Yorker: ‘I was tall from a baby. I was always the tallest kid in class, male or female, right up until senior year. And I found it very stressful to stand out so much, because the last thing I wanted to do was stand out.
‘It’s not like kids teased me—I just felt it. I didn’t fit in. But everybody has their thing in high school, their personal torture.’
AISHA TYLER
HEIGHT: 6FT
Aisha Tyler is a star who has crossed into many paths: she has been a model, an actress and a talk show host.
She is known for playing Andrea Marino in the first season of Ghost Whisperer, Dr. Tara Lewis in Criminal Minds, Mother Nature in the final two The Santa Clause films, and voicing Lana Kane in Archer.
Tyler has not said that her height held her back in Hollywood.
But she did acknowledge that when she dated actor Sam Rockwell in high school, she used to lean down during photos with him. She called it her ‘A pose.’
Tyler previously told Paste magazine that she ‘fell in love’ with Rockwell when the two attended the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts.
KRISTEN JOHNSTON
HEIGHT: 6FT
Kristen Johnston is the leggy blonde with a pretty face and excellent comedic timing.
She is best known for her work on television sitcoms.
Her longest role was as Sally Solomon in 3rd Rock from the Sun. She twice won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her part.
And she has also appeared in many films like Love Sick, Vamps and Life Happens.
Johnston has addressed her towering 6ft tall stature publicly.
‘When you’re that tall, people talk about it all the time,’ she has said.
She told the Huffington Post in 2021 she suffered when she was a child: ‘I really was a loser; I’m not exaggerating. It wasn’t just that my height (6ft) was wrong. I was very loud. I always said the wrong thing at the exact worst moment. They called me “learning disabled” even though I wasn’t. I had to wear corrective shoes, and everything I wore was totally ill-fitting only because my mother could not keep up with my height.’
BROOKE SHIELDS
HEIGHT: 6FT
Brooke Shields cashed in on her height as a teen when she started modeling for brands like Calvin Klein.
Later her height forced her to work with tall male costars like Christopher Atkins (5ft10in) in 1980’s The Blue Lagoon and Lambert Wilson (6ft3in) in 1983’s Sahara.
She still makes sure her male counterparts are tall: for her next film, Mother Of The Bride, her love interest is played by the very tall Benjamin Bratt who stands at 6ft2in.
Shields has been very aware of her height.
In 2017 she told Health magazine that she hated when stylists brought her sample sizes that didn’t fit: ‘I was always considered the athletic one, and that translated into big. I was the big one. Thankfully, so many more body types are accepted these days.’
In 2023, Brooke said it was ‘really unconscionable’ that Barbara Walters asked about her body measurements on television when she was just 15.
SIGOURNEY WEAVER
HEIGHT: 6FT
Sigourney Weaver came to fame as the very fierce Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott’s science fiction film Alien (1979).
She reprised her role in James Cameron’s Aliens (1986), for which she received her first Academy Award nomination, and again in Alien 3 (1992) and Alien Resurrection (1997).
She reunited with Cameron in Avatar (2009) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), two of the highest-grossing films of all time.
Her height has never seemed to be an issue.
And she has had a stunning career in Hollywood with the films The Ice Storm (1997). Her other notable films include Copycat (1995), Galaxy Quest (1999), The Village (2004), Vantage Point (2008), Chappie (2015), and A Monster Calls (2016).
In 2009 she admitted being 6ft has been a problem, however.
‘I’ve lost a lot of roles because of my height, I’m 6ft3in in heels,’ said the star. ‘Producers are short and I was never their sexual fantasy. As for actors, if I enter a room and an actor stands up then immediately sits back down, I hear myself saying, “This job isn’t for me.”‘
FAMKE JANSSEN
HEIGHT: 6FT
Famke Janssen was a top Vogue model before becoming an actress.
The first role the Dutch native made a splash with was GoldenEye for which she played Xenia Onatopp.
She stood eye to eye with her costar Pierce Brosnan who is 6ft1in.
Then she starred as Jean Grey / Phoenix in the X-Men film series, and Lenore Mills in the Taken film trilogy.
She made her directorial debut with Bringing Up Bobby in 2011.
She told The Independent in 2022 she feels she has been typecast and that may be in part because of her height: ‘I feel incredibly misunderstood at times. It’s the dichotomy between the way I look and what is happening inside. But that comes with being in a Bond movie and playing this crazy assassin.
‘All of my friends and family know that I’m goofy, and sensitive, and that I play these characters who are so different from that; other people probably think I’m just playing myself.’
