MovieChat Forums > Goodbye Bafana (2007) Discussion > Mandela's Size

Mandela's Size

posted 15 years ago by Surf_Nazi_No5
9 replies | jump to latest

Haysbert appeared physically bigger than expected of Mandela. Is that so?

yeah, i always got the impression that mandela's a fairly small guy.
but haysbert is huuuuge
i think they should have gone ahead and cast chris rock instead

[–] osgrath-1 15 years ago

I don't think the movie was intended to be a comedy. Chris Rock has his charm, but to play a role like Nelson Mandela you need someone with the quiet dignity the historical figure projects.

[–] Surf_Nazi_No5 15 years ago

So, "muppet fingers" would be innappropriate?

[–] noirprncess 15 years ago

Actually Mandela is listed as having a height of 6'. Dennis Haysbert is 6'4. Not a glaringly huge difference.

[–] stevehadd 14 years ago

Nelson Mandela was a Heavyweight boxer in his day. If you look at photo's of Mandela handing the Rugby Union World Cup trophy to Francois Pienaar (the subject of the movie Invictus), he is about 2 inches shorter than Pienaar who is about 6'4", and this is when he is in his late seventies, and thus an inch or 2 shorter than when he went to prison.

[–] khazmir 14 years ago

I had no idea that Mandella was 6' tall. I thought he was shorter as well.

[–] Demarates 14 years ago

In his days as The Black Pimpernel, the SA police organized a nation-wide manhunt and described him as "lanky and tall", so 6'4" seems pretty reasonable.

He may appear shorter now, but he's also much older.

Then again, maybe the SA police got it wrong. It certainly would explain why they had so much trouble catching him.

Smiling is for the weak.

[–] penborelli123 13 years ago

Not necessarily I was speaking to someone a few weeks ago who met mandela they said that you don't realise what a huge man he is. He is 93 now so he may not seem it.

[–] Movie_Piranha_1979 10 years ago

I thought exactly the same thing, if i'm not wrong, Madela was smaller than Haysbert...

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