In the past, mainland Chinese male celebrities used to inflate their heights upwards, but now some are claiming to be shorter than they actually are. Representing this trend are post-90s male stars Zhang Linghe, Liu Yuning, and Hu Yitian.
Zhang Linghe rose to fame with the drama “The Mist of Dream Boat” and has since been continuously cast in various TV series, releasing multiple works in a year. His official height is listed as 188cm, yet according to reports from mainland media, he has confessed on a variety show that he is actually 190cm tall. He chose to understate his height because he was advised that being too tall might make it difficult to find female co-stars. Acting alongside petite actresses would lead to constant cute height differences in scenes, even with the help of actresses standing on boxes.
Making his debut in the detective drama “Miss Lady,” Zhang Linghe has co-starred with popular young actresses like Chen Yao, Yu Shuxin, Bai Lu, and Zhao Jinmai. His co-stars have consistently been popular young actresses in the industry.
Liu Yuning, who collaborated with Liu Shishi in “A Thought Away,” has an official height of 189cm but is actually over 192cm tall. Due to his long legs, he is often found doing splits for photos or scenes. Liu Yuning jokingly acknowledged that due to his corrected posture and continued growth, he has surpassed 190cm. When working with the actress Zhao Lusi, who is claimed to be 161cm tall, she humorously remarked, “He’s too tall, I almost needed to hang steel wires next to him.”
Born as a popular internet personality, Liu Yuning has recently ventured into acting besides singing theme songs for hit series. Despite announcing his height as 189cm, he shared during a live broadcast that his parents are of average height, with his mother standing at just over 160cm and his father a little over 170cm. He jokingly attributed his unexpected height to a genetic mutation.
Although Liu Yuning’s height story started as a joke, he emphasized that his ability to grow to 189cm was due to being bullied in school, leading him to practice martial arts and reach such height. Notably, he mentioned during a live broadcast last year that he has continued to grow and is now over 190cm. Despite not revealing his exact current height, he mentioned, “It’s enough, I don’t want to grow taller anymore, buying pants is already a struggle.”
Hu Yitian, a 30-year-old male star, officially listed at 188cm but likely exceeding 190cm according to fans’ estimations. During his modeling days, his stated height was already 190cm, causing other male celebrities, like Chen Zheyuan, who is 180cm tall, to appear significantly shorter in comparison, attracting online scrutiny.
Currently, excessively tall male stars are finding it challenging to find roles due to height disadvantages. Scenes with female leads are difficult to capture when there’s a significant height difference, often requiring actresses to stand on boxes or needing restrictive camera angles. The visual discrepancy often makes the male stars appear as if they are accompanying someone much younger or smaller, presenting various obstacles.
Recently, mainland China’s first director to achieve a box office record of over 10 billion RMB, Chen Sicheng, encountered a lukewarm response to his 5 billion RMB production “Decryption” after its release on August 3rd. In an interview, when asked about any concerns regarding casting the 185cm-tall Liu Haoran as the lead role, he expressed worries about the actor’s height being too tall, emphasizing the challenge in finding actors who match the original characters from the source material accurately.