One of my articles from The Phoenix around 2006-2007...
Hollywood is standing a little taller these days, thanks in large part by some small actors.
Meredith Eaton-Gilan is considered a "little person" ( short-statured actors and dwarves are acceptable descriptions) standing at only 4"3. She won acclaim on TV for a role in the program :Family Law", but then disappeared from the scene when the series was canceled. She found it hard to come by good scripts and roles for short people, so, at age 32, she left Hollywood and earned her Master"s Degree in clinical psychology.
But now she is back on the tube, stronger than ever, in a recurring part on "Boston Legal".
There are roughly 125 short-statured actors who are members of the Screen Actors Guild. They have felt for many years they have been pigeonholed by producers, directors and writers because of their height ( or lack of).
But things are getting better, thanks in part to a wonderful actor named Peter Dinklage, who won worldwide acclaim in 2003 for his role in the movie "The Station Agent". Peter is a little person too, but that didn"t stop him from fulfilling his dream of acting- even being considered a sex symbol. He is still working, currently filming a movie with the Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon.
Verne Troyer, better known as Mini-Me in two of the Austin Powers films, still finds work in commercials/ Charla Faddoul became a reality TV star in the program "The Amazing Race. And the Learning Channel is preparing new episodes of its series called "Little People, Big World", a reality show involving a married couple who happen to be short-statured.
:We"re getting more positive exposure and that"s going to help people of short stature (to be) treated as regular people," says Gary Arnold, spokesman for the Little People of America Advocacy group.
Still, prejudice exists- both on and off the silver screen.
Short-statured actors are realistic to the fact that their careers may always be somewhat limited.
"People may be a little more open nowadays," states a veteran short actor who has made a 25-year career of playing everything from elves, munchkins and aliens to Star Wars ewoks.
"But they don"t want me for a part opposite Sharon Stone", he says.
Many short actors often end up playing comedic foils, Christmas elves or stand-ins for child actors, just because the parts aren"t there.
However recently, some films have made height a counterpoint to its central theme- the idolization of physical perfection. Hence, one sees more short-statured actors in so-called "regular" roles with able-bodied acting peers.
"Obviously, everything needs to move forward a bit in Hollywood," said Dinklage, 37. "It"s a alot better, but its two steps forward and one step back. There"s still a lot of idiocy out there."
Danny Woodburn is a small person who played a sidekick for many years on "Seinfeld". He prefers to wait for better roles now, rather than fit into the stereotypical role which Hollywood has perpetuated over the years. "Any role that I can get where I can diminish these perceptions, that"s a breakthrough, " he says.
It is a tough decision for a struggling actor- accept a stereotypical role to work, one which make the prejudice even worse- or pay the bills?
Many of the shorter actors, Dinklage included, are developing their own film and TV projects, with hopes of erasing this prejudice which exists in Hollywood, and ultimately, will help anyone who happens to have a disability- actor or not.
UPDATE: Peter Dinklage now stars in the HBO TV series "Game of Thrones", which has earned him two Emmy awards since 2011.
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