How many times have we heard a woman describe their ideal type of man as “tall, dark and handsome.”? In the world of dating, it’s fairly common that women will seek after the burliest, tallest guy to be their knight in shining armor and, it’s almost perpetuated through who we glorify in Hollywood for it. Take actor Chris Hemsworth: we can’t ignore that the hunky actor’s success playing the mighty God of Thunder and son of Odin, Thor, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t— in some (major) way— attributed to him being 6′ 3″ in height. Face it, the world is obsessed with men who don’t need help reaching things off the shelves in Home Depot.
But these days, there are women who are being celebrated for their impressive height. The days of a couple consisting of a taller man towering over a shorter, petite woman are slowly dissipating as even visual representation of taller women have come to the forefront of viewer’s experiences. Take Princess Peach, for example. In the 2023 American computer-animated adventure film The Super Mario Bros. Movie, not only is Peach presented (as she always was) as taller than Nintendo’s legendary hero Mario, but she immediately comments on his height (specifically the lack thereof) as soon as they meet. To top it off, the film presents the ever-damsel-in-distress as a dynamic heroine shows women can be just as commanding, capable and tall their male counterparts. To support this notion, here is a list of female celebrities known for confidently being taller than their male partners.
8 Cameron Diaz And Benji Madden
Cameron Diaz and Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden were introduced by Diaz’s pal, Nicole Richie in 2014, who is married to Madden’s twin brother, Joel Madden. When the two are spotted in public it’s hard not to notice that the leggy actress stands a few inches over her rocker spouse. Diaz is 5′ 9″ while Madden is 5′ 6″.
The actress—who previously retired from acting— is back in action, and set to return to the big screen in her upcoming film Back in Action.
7 Eniko Parish And Kevin Hart
Actor and comedian Kevin Hart is known for his small stature, in fact, he’s basically made his career off of embracing his height. Hart is known to make jokes about how short he is before anyone else can, and often makes headlines off of how he looks standing next to people much taller than him.
But there’s one person that, when he’s standing next to her, it’s a slightly “bigger” deal— and that’s his wife, Eniko Hart. While she’s a mere 5′ 7″, it seems drastically taller while she’s next to Hart who is 5′ 5″ by comparison.
6 Erin Darke And Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe knows he’s not particularly tall. The Harry Potter actor even got candid about looking up the height requirement to be a marine when reading a script. While it seems Radcliffe’s height makes him selective on which roles he can tackle, the actor didn’t seem to be all that selective in pursuing a significant other who would make his short stature less noticeable.
Radcliffe’s girlfriend, actress Erin Darke is 5′ 7″ in comparison to his 5′ 5″. The two are also expecting their first child together— perhaps their child will be a happy median between them in height.
5 Helen Lasichanh And Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Williams is such an iconic figure in the music industry that he needs only go by his first name because people know exactly who he is. The ever-stylish producer is always turning heads on the red carpet alongside his model wife, Helen Lasichanh.
Williams could stack his thirteen Grammy Awards, and they probably still wouldn’t compare to gorgeous wife who is a stunning 6′ 0” in comparison to his 5′ 8″.
4 Nicole Kidman And Keith Urban
On the red carpet, actress Nicole Kidman is always taller than her country star hubby, Keith Urban. The Oscar winner is roughly 5′ 11″ compared to Urban’s 5′ 10″. Despite Kidman’s fame, the actress opened up to People about childhood insecurities surrounding her tall stature.
“I was a teenager who wouldn’t conform, but I had a lot of fears and insecurities because I was very tall. I was 5ft10in’ by the time I was 13 years old,” Kidman, 53, said.
3 Tina Fey And Jeff Richmond
Tina Fey and her husband Jeff Richmond have been together for over 20 years. True love really does defy all odds the 30 Rock alum and her husband, whose respective careers have been able to thrive— even when they’re in different states. It seems that, whatever hurdle in their way, they’ve seemed to jump over it together— and Richmond may jump slightly less high than Fey who is about 5′ 5″ in comparison to him being about 5′ 2″.
2 Sophie Turner And Joe Jonas
Game of Thrones’ Sophie Turner is actually taller than her musician husband by 2 inches. Turner is 5′ 9″ while Joe Jonas is 5′ 7″. Jonas— who previously dated Taylor Swift— seems to have no problem dating taller women. All seems to be well between Swift and Turner, though, as both women— with their stunning height— have taken the high road since Jonas and Swift’s messy break-up in 2008.
1 Zendaya And Tom Holland
Euphoria star Zendaya and Tom Holland started publicly dating in summer 2021, long after working alongside each other in the on the set of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. After appearing in the film the actress faced reactions surrounding the height difference between her and Holland, specifically during their onscreen kissing scenes. This was because, where Tom Holland stands at 5’8″, Zendaya stands gorgeously at 5’10”.
The actress opened up to Variety in August 2017 about her initial apprehension when she began filming for the Spider-man franchise, as she was nervous about the public’s perception of their height difference.
“I was worried because he’s so much shorter than me. I was like, ‘Damn it! It’s going to be weird because I’m super tall.’ But then we ended up doing the audition sitting. So that was good.” she said.
Both stars have since brushed off comments about their height differences especially since making the relationship public. While promoting Spider-Man: No Way Home at a Sirius XM Town Hall event in December 2021, they shut down assumptions surrounding their height difference.
Holland said thinking it would be an issue in their relationship was “a stupid assumption,” and Zendaya elaborated, pointing out how normal their height difference actually is. “This is normal too,” she said. “My mom is taller than my dad. My mom’s taller than everyone.”.