MovieChat Forums > Tom Cruise Discussion > Not as short as people think

Not as short as people think


The man is 5'7¾, a hair under 5'8". One inch & a quarter below the average for fully grown American males (5'9")
Yet people think he's a 5'2" manlet like Kevin Hart. That's just plain not true and makes no sense.
He does frequently date and co-star among tall women who are 5'10"+ and wear heels. This gives the illusion that he's tiny.

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but 4'6" of that is his head

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Lol. True!

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People are generally very poor judges of height I find. Any time the subject of someone's height is brought up such as on forums like this, you'll get a number of people "claim" they're a lot shorter than they are, and underestimate it as ridiculously as something like several inches. Cruise looks legit in the 5'7 to 5'8 bracket, which is shorter than average but it's still a common height for many guys, myself included. Anyone who thinks he's as short as 5'5 for example, is clearly clueless and probably thinks an inch is close in size to a foot.

He maybe does or has been unfairly picked on over his size compared to other stars, but I put that down to being a leading guy with good looks, who has played a heartthrob type in many films. When you play those sort of roles then it becomes a stick to beat you with, whereas I guess an actor like Pacino has never had that problem on account of being more a character actor in his career.

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Its less to do with poor judging and more to do with Tall Poppy Syndrome. That´s why people don´t mention the really short actors who are clearly shorter than Cruise but are less successful, so someone like Cruise who is slightly under the average height but by no means a midget, is an easy target.

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Well the poor judging is just another wider issue that concerns all celebs not just Tom Cruise. Any thread like this talking about height for someone famous always leaves me scratching my head at people who clearly don't know height measurements very well.

Like I say about Tom Cruise, it doesn't help that he is a good looking guy, playing the action hero/romantic lead in films in regards to him receiving stick for his height. Yes the fact he's successful with those sort of roles make him an easy target, compared to say Hoffman or Pacino who aren't conventionally good looking action hero types. Though it's not been the stick to beat Cruise that it used to be.

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Yes but I think with any celeb in general, its less about being poor judgement and more about wanting to find faults from someone who is highly successful. People on here are calling him 5´5. lol. I think it can be absolutely proven he is not that short from appearances with other taller actors and what not. And yes, the more successful, rich, good-looking you are, the more of a target you become. I think most of it is just pure envy and insecurity.

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Seems like you're the one that's insecure about what people say about his height. Why does it matter so much to you if he's as successful as you say?

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Its not even about height. Obviously in Cruise´s case it is but go to any other famous celeb page, its about how ugly they are or how badly they are aging or how washed up they are. People put down others because of their own insecurities, and if you can´t see that you are just as lacking in self-awareness as they are.

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He's a public figure, this discussion comes with the territory. By your dumbass logic, no actor on this site should be criticized because they're all more successful than the people discussing them. He is extremely short for an action star, there's no way around it. The better question is why do his fans get offended when his height gets mentioned? Probably because they're similar in height and also insecure about it. Furthermore, he has been known to wear lifts. If he's not that short, why would he bother? He's obviously insecure about his height and his success hasn't helped that.

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No my logic simply states why people are criticizing. People are free to do as they please but its very obvious to me where the criticism comes from. Envy pure and simple. I never said he wasn´t short, all I said is that he gets singled out more than others who are much shorter than him. He´s a short action star, so what? He´s been a short action star for over 30 years, its hardly news. Also if he was so insecure about his height, why are tall villains cast in his movies? If he were so self-conscious he wouldn´t higher any actor taller than 5´8 to share the screen with him and if he´s wearing lifts on screen, they certainly aren´t helping him, since he always looks shorter than his male co-stars.

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I doubt he is almost 5'8"

Acting is a profession that seems to attract shorter men, probably because it's a good alternative to sports

If he were around 5'8" he wouldn't be so famous for his shortness. He must be like 5'6" or on the lower end of 5'7"

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You're doubting that he's almost 5'8 because of being famous for shortness, and that you believe he's probably on the lower end of 5'7.

So not 5'7"¾, but 5'7"¼, basically a half an inch difference.

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Dude he's shorter than that or he wouldn't wear lifts everywhere.

If he were really as tall as you claim he wouldn't feel the need to wear lifts everywhere he goes in public. Mark Wahlberg is 5'7"3/4. He wouldn't be caught dead sporting lifts. Wahlberg doesn't have a rep for being short like Cruise.

Lifts are going to add a couple inches at least.

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Tom Cruise is 5'7"¾ (172.1 cm)
Mark Walhberg is 5'8" (172.7 cm)

They're actually pretty similar in height. I've never seen them stand next to each other, but I'm gonna go ahead and assume maybe the reason Cruise wears lifts is because he often dates women who are slightly taller than him and wear heels.

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That still makes his natural height 5'6" and that's being generous. I still think he's closer to 5'4" (which is what was widely reported in the early nineties as to the reason he insists on a clause in his contracts that prohibits any director from portraying him as short) before he became an even bigger star and got his team of PR specialists involved in promoting his height as 5'7"3/4.

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You're right, he's probably on the short end of 5'6. Maybe even on the short end of 5'5. My mistake

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Shorter homo sapiens tend to be quicker and smarter than taller homo sapiens.

Shorter homo sapiens tend to have nicer genitalia than taller homo sapiens.

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Good point.

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Straight facts

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I saw him on stilts once and he was 12’ tall.

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11 of it was probably the stilts. LOL.

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I hear he wears lifts and elevator shoes so hes like Maybe 5'4 or 5'5. Even Brad Pitt who's around 5'10 or 5'11 wears them and claims to be a 6'0 footer. I never got the 5'10 vibes from Clooney

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Lifts and elevator shoes, and standing next to tall guys or tall women in heels in most pictures or presentations people see him in, and in movies they've been giving lifts to men since the 1940s to be taller than their on screen romance partners. I follow celebheights dot com and they say he's almost 5'8. i believe it.

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I follow that site too but i believe him being almost 5'8 same with Clooney being almost 5'11. I trust the site but a few celebs i disagree

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Who cares? People who talk about his height are obviously unsuccessful losers. I only discuss height in regards to professional athletes, when I'm talking sports, like a normal dude.

The truth? Guys with small d!cks talk negatively about shorter males. Guys with large c0cks are comfortable in their own skin. Women talk negatively about shorter males because of the way they were abused for centuries; now that they aren't pressured by violence like in the past, they feel they can say anything. They feel the need to "get revenge" on those males that they can. They are insecure creatures. Women also generally have lower IQs than males, and just say stupid sh!t in general.

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It's little dick syndrome. You are correct.

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I can't believe this has been up a year and no one gave you your setup response:

WELL, THEN, HOW SHORT IS HE?

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