O.K., denquixote, let’s compare your examples to mine.
Actor shorter than character played:
4’10" J. M. Barrie was played by 5’9" Johnny Depp, so actor is 11" taller than character.
5’3" Truman Capote was played by 5’9.5" Philip Seymour Hoffman, so actor is 6.5" taller than character.
4’8" Edith Piaf was played by 5’6.5" Marion Cotillard, so actress is 10.5" taller than character.
5’5.5" T. E. Lawrence was played by 6’3" Peter O’Toole, so actor is 9.5" taller than character. (He was also played by 6’1’ Ralph Fiennes, so actor is 7.5" taller than character.
Actor taller than character played:
6’0" Ron LeFlore was played by 5’7" Levar Burton, so actor is 5" shorter than character.
6’3" Abraham Lincoln was played by 6’1" Henry Fonda and 6’1" Raymond Massey, so actors are 2" taller than character.
So my five examples are actors 6.5" to 11" off the real height, while your two examples are actors 2" to 5" off the real height. As I said, I don’t know of any examples of characters being played by actors who are significantly shorter than the character.
Also, you write:
> There are so many really short actors that there are probably a lot more
> examples.
Cite? I’ve heard this offhand claim before, but I don’t believe it. Indeed, I believe that actors tend to be a little taller than average. I believe the reason that people make this claim is that they get the impression that certain actors are average to tall, mostly because they are carefully filmed to look taller. When they meet them in person, they discover that they are average height or a little less. Does anyone have any statistics (not anecdotes) about the average height of actors?
Indeed, the interesting thing is how few male actors (particularly lead actors) there are between, say, 4’10" and 5’3", short enough to be significantly short without being a midget or a dwarf. There are a fair amount of men of that height, and yet there are very few actors (particularly lead actors) of that height. There may be more male actors less than 4’10" than there are male actors between 4’10" and 5’3", and yet there are comparatively few men less than 4’10".
