The Biggest Hollywood Actor In Real Life Is Not Who You Think

The biggest actor in Hollywood is a title that changes pretty frequently, based on box-office hauls and star-power ... but that definition of the word "biggest" isn't actually what we're here to discuss today. In that sense, "big" or "biggest" is metaphorical, imagining that one performer's weight in the industry looms large over his or her contemporaries. What we're focusing on in this article is the actual biggest actors in Hollywood. Like, who's the tallest actor; the actor who literally looms over his contemporaries.

Hollywood is filled with enormously tall people, as it happens; for every short king like Daniel Radcliffe, there's a John Corbett or a Joe Mangianello, both of whom are six feet, five inches tall. So which actors are on the proverbial Mount Rushmore of big tall boys in the industry? (Though this list is entirely comprised of men, it should be noted that super-tall actresses like Gwendoline Christie — who is 6'3" — are also a fixture onscreen.) Who are five of the tallest dudes in Hollywood, and does their height have anything to do with their success?

Alexander Skärsgard stands at six feet, four inches, placing him firmly at the bottom of this list — though that kind of height is nothing to sneeze at. This Swedish behemoth made his film debut in 2001 with a small part in "Zoolander" and hit the ground running in 2008 when he joined the cast of HBO's steamy vampire series "True Blood" as the sly ancient vampire Eric Northman. After that show ended in 2014, Skärsgard kept working with HBO, which took his career to new heights. From 2017 to 2019, the actor played Perry Wright — the wealthy and abusive husband to Nicole Kidman's Celeste Wright — on the premium network's massive critical darling "Big Little Lies," earning Skärsgard his first Emmy nomination and win; in 2021, Skärsgard ended up joining the cast of "Succession." Throughout the show's fourth and final season, Skärsgard played the enigmatic tech billionaire Lukas Matsson, brilliantly facing off against the Emmy-winning series' ensemble cast.

Skärsgard is an incredibly talented and versatile performer, but his massive height certainly doesn't hurt; his presence feels imposing on-screen, lending a certain weight to each character he plays. Though he's not the highest-grossing actor on this list, he's one of the most well-regarded by critics and audiences to boot thanks to his work on multiple prestigious TV shows ... and, just to drive the point home, he's extremely, enormously tall.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson carved out a successful career as a wrestler — due in large part to his impressive and enormous physique — before transitioning to acting, and ever since he made his on-screen debut in "The Mummy Returns" in 2001, he's made a name for himself as one of Hollywood's largest and most successful performers. Johnson and his six foot, four inch tall frame have appeared in plenty of major movies, but Johnson is very likely best known for his role as Luke Hobbs in the "Fast & Furious" franchise, which happens to be one of the highest-grossing franchises in cinematic history. Johnson has dabbled in animated films ("Moana" and its upcoming sequel), comic book movies ("Black Adam"), and comedies ("The Other Guys," "Central Intelligence"), and his towering height certainly is a great asset to his starpower.

All in all, Johnson is one of the highest-grossing actors in the entire entertainment industry; his movies have grossed over $5 billion in total at the box office throughout his entire career. That's not just because he's a big, beefy boy. As with Alexander Skärsgard, though, it certainly doesn't hurt ... and his height is probably a big part of Johnson's status as a reliable action star.

Vince Vaughn, who stands at six feet, five inches, is one of the funniest people in Hollywood — and he's also a freaking giant. The star, who got his start in projects like "Rudy" and "Swingers" before starring in "Frat Pack" movies like "Old School," "Dodgeball," and "Wedding Crashers," is a particularly tall guy, and even though he very rarely plays imposing characters, his height can lend a strange levity to some absurd situations. (For example, the absolutely wild height difference between Vaughn and his on-screen love interest in "Wedding Crashers," played by the diminutive Isla Fisher, makes a lot of their romance unintentionally hilarious.)

Vaughn is a pretty solid player in the entertainment industry, all things considered; aside from comedies, he's appeared in dramas like "Hacksaw Ridge" and the thriller "Seberg," but he still shows off his sense of humor pretty often in projects like "Curb Your Enthusiasm" or the comedy "Queenpins." Next time you watch Vaughn on-screen, pay attention to just how tall he is — and how he uses his massive height to make simple scenes funnier just through pure physicality.

James Cromwell isn't a massive action star. He's never played a sexy vampire. He's not exactly known for his irreverent yet silly comedies. What Cromwell is, though, is very tall; he stands at an impressive six feet, seven inches. In fact, according to an interview with The Guardian, he was told by his father — actor John Cromwell — that his height would hinder his career. Revealing that he left college to pursue acting, Cromwell mused, "It was the last thing my father wanted. He said: 'Well, don't be an actor. You're too damn tall.' I thought: 'I guess I'll have to be a director.' I tried and failed for 10 years to be a theatre director but did get jobs as an actor."

Luckily for audiences around the world, Cromwell's father was completely wrong — and the younger Cromwell is one of the most recognizable character actors in the entire entertainment industry. On both the big and small screen, Cromwell has shown up in everything from "Babe" (which, amazingly, earned him an Oscar nod for best supporting actor) to "L.A. Confidential" to "The Green Mile" to "Spider-Man 3" to "American Horror Story: Asylum," and fans of "Succession" likely remember his Emmy-nominated turn as Ewan Roy. Cromwell's height certainly hasn't gotten in the way of his success; it's even, perhaps, helped Cromwell become one of the most in-demand performers in Hollywood throughout his extensive career.

There are many enormously tall actors in Hollywood, and many who hover well above six feet tall. Very few reach the literal height of "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Brad Garrett, who stands at six feet, eight inches tall. Anyone who watched "Everybody Loves Raymond" likely remembers how Garrett — who won three Emmy Awards for his role as Robert Barone on the series — towered over his co-stars; he even made star Ray Romano, who is six feet, two inches tall, look tiny. Garrett starred on the popular sitcom from 1996 to 2005, but he has plenty of other credits to his name. 

In the years that followed "Everybody Loves Raymond," Garrett lent his distinctive gravelly voice to "Ratatouille" (his second collaboration with Pixar after also voicing the pufferfish Bloat in 2003's "Finding Nemo"), played an Easter Island Head in multiple "Night at the Museum" films, and also appeared on short-lived comedies like "I'm Dying Up Here," "Single Parents" and "Not Dead Yet." Garrett's height is definitely a talking point, but it somehow doesn't define him as an actor; he even once played Jackie Gleason in a television film despite the fact that Gleason was only five feet, ten inches tall. Aside from late actors like Peter Mayhew and Andre the Giant, Garrett probably holds the title of tallest guy in Hollywood; congratulations to him.