FRIENDS star David Schwimmer is 6 ft 1 in tall but he had to borrow a trick from Tom Cruise’s book to appear alongside one 6 ft actress in the series. Aisha Tyler played Charlie in the popular sitcom and stood almost shoulder to shoulder with the Band of Brothers actor. However, the duo played a couple and Schwimmer wanted to appear a couple of inches taller than Tyler.
Other cast members of FRIENDS are shorter compared to both Schwimmer and Tyler. Matthew Perry was 5 ft 11¼ in tall, while Matt LeBlanc is 5 ft 9½ in tall. Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel opposite Schwimmer, is the shortest among the cast members at 5 ft 4¾ in.
David Schwimmer Did A Tom Cruise Trick To Appear Taller Than Aisha Tyler in FRIENDS
During the ninth and tenth seasons of FRIENDS, Criminal Minds star Aisha Tyler appeared as Ross’ girlfriend Charlie. Her casting in the series was a significant addition since she was the first major Black character in the popular sitcom. Tyler’s 6 ft height proved to be a big challenge for series regular David Schwimmer.
According to Celeb Heights, Schwimmer is an inch taller than the Whose Line Is It Anyway? host. However, he wanted to appear taller and eventually resorted to a trick, that Tom Cruise used to appear alongside taller actresses. Schwimmer used lifts in his shoes during the scenes with Tyler’s Charlie.
The information comes from WatchMojo‘s Top 10 Behind the Scenes Stories of Your Favorite FRIENDS Scenes. It was also reported that Tyler was made to walk barefoot in many of the scenes. It almost seemed that Schwimmer was uncomfortable with Tyler’s height after working alongside much shorter women in the sitcom.
Besides 5 ft 4¾ in Jennifer Aniston, the other female cast members Courteney Cox is 5 ft 5 in and Lisa Kudrow is 5 ft 8 in. Tyler lasted for nine episodes in the series before she was written off the show. She was Ross’ last significant romantic relationship before he got back with Rachel in the grand finale of the series.
Now, Matt LeBlanc is two inches shorter than Tyler and they played a couple during the latter’s first two episodes in the show. It is unknown whether LeBlanc resorted to shoes with lifts.
Tom Cruise Allegedly Used The Lifts Trick To Appear Taller In Red Carpets
Tom Cruise is one of the shorter leading actors in Tinseltown, standing at 5 ft 7 in. His ex-wife Nicole Kidman was 5 ft 10 in, but all the photos showed him standing shoulder to shoulder with Kidman. Fans scratched their heads in confusion for years before coming to the conclusion that Cruise wore lifts to appear taller.
According to GuidoMaggi, the Top Gun actor’s shoes are what they call elevator shoes. The luxury shoes will allow him to put on those extra inches and stand tall on international red carpets. According to Tallerly, it is not just Cruise who uses these elevator shoes.
Other actors like Robert Downey Jr., Daniel Radcliffe, Mark Wahlberg, Sylvester Stallone, Vin Diesel, George Clooney, and Brad Pitt also use these shoes. FRIENDS is now available for streaming on Max.
