Back in the day it was André “The Giant” Roussimoff, who died in 1993. More recently we’ve had Hafthor Bjornsson “The Mountain” best known for his role in the Game of Thrones series. But that’s receding into the past now so I was wondering if anyone else has become the byword for the big guy to whom all other big guys are compared.
Shaq stays in the public eye in commercials and ads.
The only one who springs to mind is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Him, Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa. Although none of them are close to Andre in size.
Carel Struycken. He was Lurch in the two 90s Addams Family films. 7 feet tall.
He’s old now. The next Big Guy should be a woman. That’s only fair.
Taylor Swift is six feet tall. Is that big enough?
How about Gwendoline Christie, also from Game of Thrones?
And from Wednesday, so a tie back to Lurch also.
At 6’3”, she’s eye-to-eye with Elizabeth Debicki.
I know, I was just thinking about her too. The thing is that unlike Christie, Debicki generally doesn’t play “big person” roles that emphasize her height.
The only big guys I can think of now are that German guy who fought the Rock in FF6 and Alan Ritchson from Reacher. But they’re both huge, not tall like Jaws.
Shaq is actually taller than Andre ever was. He’s not quite as heavy but could easily pack on that much weight if he wanted to. Shaq didn’t suffer from acromegaly so he didn’t end up with the distorted body shape that gave Andre a more giant-like appearance.
There really is no one else like Andre because he was alone among men that size during his time. Professional wrestling brought forward every giant they could find in that time to face Andre.
Really, it’s Shaq today. I can’t think of anyone else. In the UK, maybe Greg Davies, but he’d be petite beside Shaq.
Paul White, AKA The Big Show, was about as tall as Andre’s actual height, and could have ended up taller but he had surgery at around the age of 20 to treat his pituitary condition and stopped growing taller. He says his weight increased greatly after that and he weighed around 400 lbs. for much of his life, reportedly much more on occasion. By getting his growth under control he appears to be a very large man of typical proportions. Now mostly retired he didn’t impress the world as a giant, not the same kind of success in wrestling that Andre found. He has worked as an actor like Andre, but nothing like Andre’s well loved role as Fezzik in The Princess Bride.
He would be the perfect answer, except I had never heard of him before. I’m not real big on pop culture though, so maybe he’s more famous than I realize. Found this great clip. LOL!
Missed the edit window. His name is actually Paul Wight.
Smart, funny dude.
What about Brad Garrett? His height (6’8") is often emphasized in the characters he plays.
“Pop culture” is not quite equivalent to “show business”. So not real sure which direction the OP is aiming their inquiry.
In the USA, I’d say Shaq is far better known than anybody else, but Paul Wight (AKA Big Show) is well-known amongst anyone who watched WWF/WWE during the correct years.
They’re both of retirement age, at least from major roles as big dudes that would keep them in teh public eye and make them the top-of-mind “Biggest big dude” the OP seems to be seeking.
Alan Ritchson or Dwayne Johnson are probably next, but they’re not so much crazy oversized as crazy over-strong (and still darn big).
I suspect medical science is going result in fewer Andre the Giant types, and more Paul Wights (big but growth-controlled before it got personally dangerous) in the future.
So looking for a single standout “biggest well-known dude on Earth” is probably an obsolete pastime. As vast as pro sports + showbiz and pop culture are now, there’s gonna be several big ones, but no single obvious standout.
Yeah, I think Dwayne Johnson has the “action star who is big and muscular and charismatic” crown, and for all intents and purposes took over for both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. Jason Momoa is runner up.
I suspect Alan Ritchson is in the “big imposing actor” club along with a few others like Dave Bautista, Rory McCann, Hafthor Bjornsson, and most of the ex-football players, who are all being cast because of their physical size alone.