Here Are the 40+ Tallest Actresses in Hollywood

All-star basketball player Lisa Deshaun Leslie almost single-handedly turned women’s basketball into a professional sport, picking up an Olympic gold medal along the way. But, did you know she also slamdunks it as an actress? At 6’5″, she starred in Inconceivable and Think Like a Man and played herself in The Simpsons.

She’s only one inch shorter than Darth Vader. The original Chewbacca actor stood 7’0″, while the original Predator actor was a mind-boggling 7’2”!

Gwendoline Christie hogs every scene she’s in, and not just because of her immense acting talents. The English stage and screen actress towers above her peers, and her lofty status helped her win roles as the fearsome female warrior Brienne of Tarth in HBO’s Game of Thrones, the equally scary Captain Phasma in Star Wars, and Commander Lyme in The Hunger Games.

Gwendoline was bullied about her height when she was young — but watching another tall English actress, Tilda Swinton in Orlando gave her the confidence to pursue acting.

In the blue corner, standing a whopping six-feet-three-inches is Dorothy-Marie Jones. The former athlete was once an accomplished track runner, weight lifter, and shot putter and is a 15-time arm-wrestling world champion! After retiring, she swapped sports for acting and is best known for playing Coach Beiste on the beloved musical TV show Glee.

For this role, ​​instantly recognizable Dot-Marie was nominated for three Emmys as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. She played another sports coach, Coach Kelly, in Lizzie McGuire and also Butch Brenda in Material Girls.

If you don’t recognize the name, 6’2” Judy Gold is an award-winning actress and comedian who’s been in the industry for more than two decades. She wrote and produced The Rosie O’Donnell Show,  winning two Emmys.

Her one-woman show, The Judy Gold Show: My Life as a Sitcom, garnered rave reviews back in 2011. Gold by name, gold by nature! Judy Gold towers over most of her fellow stand-up comedian friends.

If you don’t know Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki, you might know her better as Ayesha, High Priestess of the golden Sovereign alien race in Guardians of the Galaxy. She also towered over Leonardo DiCaprio in The Great Gatsby. In 2016, Elizabeth revealed she comes from an “Amazonian Family” and that her 16-year-old sister was already six foot.

She also explained she loved playing opposite six-footers Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie in The Night Manager because “it was lovely to look a co-star in the eye and not have them standing on an apple box.”

Who’s the tallest member of the Kardashian-Jenner family? It’s gotta be Khloé Kardashian, standing in at 5’10”, right? Well, Caitlyn Jenner stands four inches taller than her stepdaughter Khloé without heels!

In the 1970s, Caitlyn was a famous athlete and picked up a gold medal in the 1976 Montreal Olympics decathlon before she became an actress and reality TV star. With all that running, it’s no surprise to hear that height runs in the Jenner family. Caitlyn’s daughter, model Kendall Jenner, is the same height as Khloé.

Brigitte Nielsen shot to fame in the 1980s, starring in the sword and sorcery epic Red Sonja. She dated Arnold Schwarzenegger and then married Sylvester Stallone, who she starred with in Rocky IV and Cobra. In 2018, the eccentric 6’1″ Danish actress teamed up with her ex-hubby to appear as Ivan Drago’s wife in Creed 2.

But that’s not the most impressive thing she did that year. In June 2018, Brigitte Nielsen gave birth to a daughter named Frida Dessì. The impressive thing was becoming a mother again at the age of 54.

Six-footer Aisha Tyler has appeared as an actress in Friends, 24, CSI, Ghost Whisperer, Criminal Minds, Nip/Tuck, and Boston Legal. She also played Mother Nature in The Santa Clause films. She also voices Lana Kane on Archer and co-hosts CBS’s The Talk with Sara Gilbert, for which she won an Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host.

Since 2013, she’s graced our screens as the host of the latest incarnation of the popular improv TV show Whose Line Is it Anyway?

Uma Thurman is almost as famous for being tall as she is as an actress. She first turned heads when she graced the cover of Vogue magazine. Her first Hollywood turn was in 1988’s Dangerous Liaisons before becoming Quentin Tarantino’s go-to girl as Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction and the yellow jumpsuit-wearing assassin known only as The Bride in Kill Bill.

Speaking with Jonathan Ross on the BBC in 2006, Uma admitted, “I was always physically insecure… big feet, too tall, not co-ordinated or together.”

Jane Lynch will forever be etched in our hearts as the unforgettable Coach Sue Sylvester from the hit series Glee. More recently, she played Sophie Lennon in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Lynch’s presence and comedic genius saw her appear in a whole host of other popular shows you may not know about — like the classic ’80s sitcom Married… With Children. She’s also been in Role Models, Wreck-It Ralph, Two and a Half Men, and Party Down.

Allison Janney has won almost every award going. She won an Oscar for her role in I, Tonya, a Golden Globe, and seven Emmy Awards. However, to most of us, she’ll always be C.J. Cregg from The West Wing.

Janney confessed, “I say I’m 5 feet 12 inches. I’m definitely 6 feet. In my heels, I’m 6 feet 3 inches […] As a kid, I was always sort of a late bloomer in a lot of things.” And she’s not wrong — aged 62, she became an action hero in Lou (2022).

Alison Janney is not the only West Wing resident to clock in at six feet tall. Equally tall, Geena Davis played the United States’ first female president in the ABC series Commander in Chief.

The Thelma and Louise actress told The New Yorker — “I was tall from a baby. I was always the tallest kid in class, male or female, right up until senior year. And I found it very stressful to stand out so much because the last thing I wanted to do was stand out.”

Kristen Johnston played everyone’s favorite alien lieutenant Sally Solomon in 3rd Rock From the Sun. More recently, she appeared alongside Alison Janney in Mom as another proud member of the six-foot club. But Kristen wasn’t always proud of her body.

In 2012, Johnston admitted to The Advocate, “When you’re, that, at that vulnerable age of, you know, 10, 9, 8, 11, in that age range, and I was already six feet tall and a loser too, and I was loud. I think I’ve always been a freak.”

Brooke Shields’ good looks propelled her modeling career…. but so did her height. By 14, she was 5’10 and became Vogue’s youngest-ever cover girl. Then, she shot to fame and became every schoolboy’s crush by getting herself marooned on a tropical island in 1980’s The Blue Lagoon.

Shields later embraced her comedy chops in NBC’s Suddenly Susan. Now in her 60s, Brooke — who is six foot tall barefoot — admits she wears high heels to make her as tall as possible.

Comedians often hide their insecurities behind humor, and comedy goddess Leslie Jones is no exception. She worried about her skin and height once boys entered the equation. “People used to call me names, so my mom had this beautiful African lady come talk to me. I was like, ‘Oh my God, if I’m going to look like you, then I don’t care what anyone says about me.'”

Overcoming her demons, the proud six-foot star slayed it for five years on Saturday Night Live and busted some ghosts along the way. Who ya gonna call?

British-American actress Saffron Burrows has appeared on the big screen in movies like Troy, Deep Blue Sea, and Peter Pan. She’s also been on the small screen in TV shows Boston Legal, My Own Worst Enemy, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Mozart in the Jungle.

Saffron got bored of playing characters who “were always running for their life in high heels.” She admitted, “If I read that on page five, I would stop reading.” But that’s not just because she stands six feet tall — it’s more about her artistic integrity.

Sigourney Weaver stands six feet tall, but in terms of stature, she’s a goddess. Her Alien franchise character achieved legendary status by shooting xenomorphs out of airlocks into space. Ellen Ripley was perhaps the film industry’s first true feminist action hero.

The future actress made her height a strength, admitting, “Even at 11, I was being shunned by normal-sized children. It led to me changing my name from Susan to Sigourney at 13. I felt too tall to have a short name like that and saw ‘Sigourney’ in F Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby.”

In her modeling days, six-foot Australian model Elle MacPherson was so statuesque she was known as The Body. But did you know she was also an actress? As an actress, Macpherson appeared in supporting roles in Sirens, The Mirror Has Two Faces, and opposite George Clooney in Batman and Robin — where she played Bruce Wayne’s high society girlfriend, Julie Madison.

In Friends, she played Janine LaCroix, who moved in with Joey after Chandler moved in with Monica. Elle also starred opposite Anthony Hopkins in The Edge and appeared in the Notting Hill rip-off romcom, South Kensington.

Stunning Dutch actress Famke Janssen found fame playing the hilariously named Bond villain Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye. Her character’s skillset included crushing men with her thighs! After being thrown to the wolves for playing that character, her career literally blew up playing telekinetic mutant Jean Grey/Phoenix in the X-Men films.

More recently, she used her very particular set of skills — skills she has acquired over a very long career — to play Lenore Mills in the Taken film trilogy, and she’s only four inches shorter than 6’4″ star Liam Neeson.

Beautiful English actress and singer Hannah Waddingham has finally got the recognition she deserves. She’s appeared in the West End, singing on stage in Spamalot and Into the Woods, and playing the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, picking up three Olivier Award nominations.

She also played Septa Unella in Game of Thrones. You’ll recognize Hannah for playing Rebecca Welton in Apple TV’s much-loved soccer comedy drama Ted Lasso. A role she recently won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress.

Willowy British actress Tilda Swinton has been in Orlando, We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doctor Strange, and the remake of Dario Argento’s classic 1977 horror movie Suspiria.

Tilda won an Oscar for Michael Clayton, appearing opposite George Clooney. She said, “I like being around him. In the film, I wore high heels, so as I am 5’11”, I was towering above him. I bent my knees a bit so we could look the same height. He pretended that he liked the fact I am tall.”

Nicole Kidman has thrilled audiences across five decades. From the 1980s kid’s film BMX Bandits through The Hours and Moulin Rouge, right up to the present day in Pretty Little Liars. She towered over ex-husband Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder and Far and Away, but the Australian actress faced childhood insecurities about her height.

Nicole told Glamour UK magazine, “I was a teenager who wouldn’t conform, but I had a lot of fears and insecurities because I was very tall. I was 5’10” by the time I was 13 years old.”

Rebecca Romijn is best known for her role as the blue mutant shapeshifter Mystique in the first X-Men trilogy. She refers to herself as the “Jolly Blonde Giant” because she’s only three inches shorter than her husband, Jerry O’Connell, who stands tall at 6’2″.

When she was younger, a growth spurt caused Rebecca to suffer from a curvature of the spine. Nowadays, you can catch Rebecca seeking out new civilizations aboard the USS Enterprise playing Una Chin-Riley, aka Number One, in CBS’s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Missi Pyle may not be a household name, but the actress has been in more movies than you’d think. She’s starred in Galaxy Quest, DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, 50 First Dates, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Gone Girl.

But, Missi is a woman of many talents because she’s also one-half of the desert country-rock duo Smith & Pyle. She’s married to naturalist Casey Anderson, whose best man was the only creature taller than the bride. That’s because the best man was Casey’s pet grizzly bear, Brutus!

Kristanna Loken starred alongside Arnie in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. She played a red leather-clad female T-X model, Terminator, sent back in time to stop John Connor from becoming the leader of the human resistance.

Loken has also appeared in movies BloodRayne and Bounty Killer — plus TV shows The L Word and Burn Notice. The 5’11” actress comes from Norwegian stock, and those Scandinavians are known for being tall, blonde, and gorgeous.

Brazilian supermodel and ex-Mrs Tom Brady Gisele Bündchen is known for her beauty and towering height. And every inch of her impressive 5’11” frame has propelled her to success. She used to be married to the NFL’s greatest-ever quarterback, Tom Brady, who stands only five inches taller than Gisele.

But it hasn’t always been plain sailing for The Devil Wears Prada supporting actress. Gisele once revealed she was picked on in school because of her height. Then again, she was also told she’d never land a magazine cover because of her nose. How wrong those bullies were!

Adrianne Palicki played Tyra Collette on NBC’s popular small-town football drama Friday Night Lights. Standing 5’11”, she was the ideal candidate to play Wonder Woman. Ally McBeal creator David E. Kelley cast Palicki in the lead role for his 2011 Wonder Woman pilot for NBC.

But the pilot episode was an unmitigated (and unintentionally hilarious) disaster. Needless to say, it was not picked up to go to series. Since then, Adrianne has redeemed herself in Legion, Red Dawn, John Wick, and as Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird in Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD.

Alyssa Sutherland is an Australian former model and actress and a giant on the screen. That said, she’s so thin, she seems even taller than 5’10”. After appearing in indie films, she won her first major TV role playing Queen Aslaug in Vikings.

Hailing from Brisbane, the devastatingly tall and lithe Aussie went on to appear in the awful TV adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist. However, Alyssa made up for that misstep by literally clawing her way back from the dead, playing the lead role in 2023’s Evil Dead Rises. Check out those cheekbones!

Before you say Taylor Swift isn’t an actress, she’s been in Hannah Montana: The Movie, The Lorax, Cats, Amsterdam, and many more films. Put her in high heels, and the 5’10” award-winning country-pop warbler reaches well over six feet.

The “Gorgeous” singer said she finds it hard to find a “Cardigan” to fit her on account of her height. But “Innocent” Taylor had an “Epiphany”, realizing that “Everything Had Changed” when she discovered a New York boutique that caters exclusively to taller ladies.

Not only did Liv Tyler inherit her rock star dad Steven Tyler’s good looks, but the Aerosmith lead singer also passed down his height. Dad and daughter both stand 5’10” tall. Liv began modeling at 14 years old and became a Hollywood favorite, starring in Armageddon and playing Arwen in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Speaking about her difficulty finding shoes that fit, The Leftovers star said, “I’m 5’10”, a giant, and I wear a size 10 shoe. Sometimes, I just have to settle for what fits.”

Tyra Banks has to be one of America’s most famous models. After a hugely successful catwalk career, the Victoria’s Secret Angel created and hosted America’s Next Top Model. However, she’s also acted in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Coyote Ugly, Life-Size, Gossip Girl, Blackish, and Halloween: Resurrection.

Tyra’s also played herself in Tropic Thunder and Hannah Montana: The Movie. Oh, and let’s not forget the sky-reaching star also hosted her own talk show, The Tyra Banks Show, from 2005 to 2010.

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Leggy Canadian actress Natasha Henstridge played Sil, a genetically engineered alien/human hybrid in the Species sci-fi trilogy. She also starred opposite Ice Cube in the greatest film ever made, John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars. She once revealed directors often had to hide her height difference and Hollywood’s many short actors.

Natasha also played the Speaker’s Chief of Staff in Commander in Chief. What with Geena Davis, Alison Janney, and now Natasha Henstridge, it seems you have to be tall to achieve high office!

Anjelica Huston is proud of her grand stature, which she needed to play the Grand High Witch in Roald Dahl’s The Witches. The larger-than-life actress made her acting debut in her father’s film A Walk With Love and Death (1969), won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in Prizzi’s Honor, and dated Jack Nicholson for years.

Anjelica’s father was famed director John Huston, and her grandfather was Walter Huston. But talent isn’t the only thing they passed down. Both her father and grandfather stood over six feet tall.

As well as Nicole Kidman, Elizabeth Debicki, and Elle MacPherson, Lucy Lawless is another tall actress from down under. It must be something they put in the water! Lucy hails from New Zealand and is best known for playing Xena: Warrior Princess.

She started off playing the fearsome female warrior in Hercules, but Xena was so popular she got her own spin-off show, which usurped Kevin Sorbo’s character and ran from 1995 to 2001. Most recently, Lucy has been seen in Agents of SHIELD, Ash vs. Evil Dead, and standing up for LGBTQ+ rights.

Singer-songwriter Mandy Moore is best known for her roles in The Princess Diaries and This Is Us. She told The Indiana Times, “I’m 5-foot-10 now, and I love being a tall woman. I was pretty average until I was 14, and then I went through a spurt where I grew 4 inches in one summer. At first, I felt a little gangly, but now I’m proud.”

She’s married to musician Taylor Goldsmith now, but back in 2000, she told the Detroit Free Press, “Height is a big thing since I’m 5-foot-9. I like to feel protected.”

Blake Lively is just four inches taller than her 6’2″ husband, Ryan Reynolds. Mrs. Deadpool said she was bullied in elementary school for her height and blonde hair and revealed that the other kids called her Big Bird from Sesame Street.

But then she went on to become a Hollywood actress, appear in Gossip Girl and the underrated shark film The Shallows, win awards, marry a rich and famous actor husband, and become a mom to America’s most wholesome family. The bullies who called her Big Bird did not. Just sayin’!

Gwyneth Paltrow won an Oscar for Best Actress for 1998’s Shakespeare in Love. She played Tony Stark’s assistant and love interest Pepper Potts in Marvel’s Iron Man and Avengers movies. But nowadays, Gwyneth is just as famous for running her own modern lifestyle company, Goop, and selling oddly scented candles.

In a bizarre court exchange over a skiing accident, Gwyneth said she was 5’10” but was shrinking. The plaintiff’s lawyer replied, “I have to wear four-inch heels just to make it to 5’5.” Paltrow replied, “Well, they’re very nice.”

Super tall Daryl Hannah’s breakthrough came in Brian De Palma’s 1978 supernatural horror film The Fury. She played acrobatic emo replicant Pris in Blade Runner before finally making a splash playing a Mermaid in a movie called errr… Splash.

She also appeared alongside super-sized Uma Thurman in Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies and married musician Neil Young in 2018. In 1993, Daryl played the title role in 1950s-style B-Movie Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, so in fairness, she should top this list by about 43 feet and six inches!

Can you believe that after the most traumatic home life, South African beauty Charlize Theron was often unwell with jaundice as a child? Her agent discovered her in the mid-’90s when they saw her in a bank, pleading with the teller to cash a check.

Since then, Charlize has picked up a Best Actress Oscar for playing Aileen Wuornos in Monster. In a 25-year acting career, she’s played the mighty Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road and has become one of the world’s highest-paid actresses.

Cameron Diaz shot to fame opposite Jim Carrey in The Mask, then went on to save the world in Charlie’s Angels, use questionable hair gel in There’s Something About Mary, and swap houses with Kate Winslet in the heartwarming Christmas rom-com, The Holiday.

Somehow, delightful Cameron doesn’t seem as tall as some other of our actresses who clock in at 5’9″. For example, Maggie Gyllenhaal seems much taller, right?

You may be surprised to see Sherlock’s sister, Katie Holmes, but standing just three inches under six foot, she deserves her place on this lofty list. At 5’9″, she towered over her ex-husband Tom Cruise, who’s officially 5’7″ but has always stood on raised platforms in movies and worn heeled shoes in real life to make himself seem taller.

Katie shot to fame on Dawson’s Creek and played Gotham’s Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins. But she wasn’t available for Christopher Nolan’s sequel, so she was replaced by…

Yes, Maggie Gyllenhaal took over playing Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight from Katie Holmes. And it’s weird to think that Katie is the same height as Maggie, as they don’t seem the same height at all. Gyllenhaal is thinner, so she looks a bit more like a beanpole.

Like Kristanna Loken, Maggie’s ancestors were Scandinavian. In fact, she and her even more famous brother Jake are descended from the Swedish noble Gyllenhaal family on their father, Stephen’s side.

Julia Roberts might have appeared in Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve, but she’s only five foot nine. The lovely-looking actress shot to fame in Pretty Woman and has kept going ever since, appearing in romcoms like My Best Friend’s Wedding and Notting Hill — and winning an Academy Award for Best Actress for playing the titular role in hard-hitting environmental activism drama, Erin Brockovich.

She might be one of Hollywood’s tallest and leggiest actresses, but Julia shrunk to a tiny six inches to play Tinkerbell in Steven Spielberg’s Peter Pan movie, Hook.

Jennifer Garner rocked to fame starring as CIA officer Sydney Bristow in J.J. Abrams’ brilliant action thriller series Alias. Then, she used her height, physique, and martial arts skills to play Elektra opposite her former boyfriend/husband, 6’2″ Ben Affleck, in Daredevil.

She was so popular she reprised the role in her own spin-off movie, Elektra, two years later. And it seems height runs in the family. Jennifer and Ben’s eldest daughter, Violet, was already taller than her mom by the age of 16.

Wonder Woman comes from the ancient, exotic, and enchanted island of Themyscira. She comes from a long line of Amazonian warriors, so who better to play her than gorgeous Israeli actress Gal Gadot?

Standing five foot nine, Gal always cuts a fine figure, whether she’s wearing posh frocks as Diana Prince or flying through the skies as Wonder Woman. She was crowned Miss Israel 2004 and represented her country at Miss Universe the same year. Hollywood took a punt casting an unknown actress as the world’s most famous superheroine, but Gal made the role her own.