Jacob Elordi May Be 6'5", But Is He 6'5" Actor Jacob Elordi?
Jacob Elordi May Be 6'5", But Is He 6'5" Actor Jacob Elordi?
The great question of our time is at last answered.
I became a card-carrying Lee Pace fan — or a Pacer, as we call ourselves — around 2007 when the 6’5” actor starred in ABC’s Pushing Daises. A year later, when he accompanied Sarah Michelle Gellar to the Met Gala, I knew for certain we were long game. But it wasn’t until a decade-plus later, around 2019, that something shifted (mainly my gaze) and I started to look up.
From my November 2021 Paper Magazine column headlined “Welcome to the Lee Pace-aissance”: “What fueled the recent Pace-aissance? I'd look to September 30, 2018 as the core of the onion. On that day, the same day in which then-one term, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump said he ‘fell in love’ with Kim Jong Un, Pace, a relative recluse on social media, posted a shirtless selfie of him at the bow of a small boat. Big man; small boat. We'd gotten three shirtless photos posted previously, but this one with its subtle ‘come up and see me some time’ vibe immediately caught the attention of many.” I commented about the photo in December 2019, writing, “I can’t think of an image that had a more profound impact on my year than this one.” I stand by it!
But where did the obsession with his height begin? I dug deep into my archives.
March 6, 2019: “Next thing I knew I was pregnant,” I caption a photo that I posted of him attending the Guardians of the Galaxy premiere.
Nothing height-centric. Until!
August 20, 2019: “Stylish, queer, 6'5" and best friends with Sarah Michelle Gellar? We have no choice but to stan Lee Pace,” I caption a photo that I posted of him at a Build Series event (remember those?).
March 25, 2020: “HBD Lee Pace... who just as a reminder is 6’5” and dear friends with Sarah Michelle Gellar, two of the best things to be quite frankly,” I caption a photo diptych of him looking especially Lee Pace-like.
May 17, 2021: “Earlier today and without warning, actor and extremely tall person Lee Pace dropped a new selfie declaring in the caption that he is vaxxed and in doing so, shifted something in the universe’s equilibrium, bringing a unique kind of balance not seen in centuries if not millenniums. Suddenly, where there was drought, a rainstorm.”
So we’d gotten height into the mix, but it wasn’t until September that I landed the plane on the exact phrasing.
September 13, 2021: “Ahead of tonight’s Met Gala, I wanted to throw it back to 2008, when Sarah Michelle Gellar attended the ‘Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy’-themed affair wearing Bottega Veneta (taste!) arm in arm with her pal, 6’5” actor Lee Pace in Calvin Klein (again, taste — on many fronts!). A tad legendaric, NGL!”
Of course, I wasn’t alone in the drumbeat. “You ever just think about Lee Pace being 6’5?” a viral tweet from BAFTA-winning screenwriter Kyrell Grant read in March 2021. Was Grant surprised by the 30K likes? “Yeah, I assumed this information was common knowledge,” she tells me.
It was around this time that it became a full-blown thing. The fact that Lee Pace is 6’5” became a common reminder on Twitter akin to when daylight savings time takes effect. “Lee Pace put every inch of his 6’5” physique into this photoshoot,” for instance. “Goodnight to 6’5” long-haired king Lee Pace and ONLY 6’5” long-haired king Lee Pace,” for another.
It wasn’t just social media. “Lee Pace, Tall Man and Bodies Bodies Bodies Star, Is in His Hot Guy Era,” reads an August 2022 Daily Beast headline. “Lee Pace on Thirst Traps, Galactic Rule, and What It’s Like to Be 6’5”,” came an Interview profile title this past July, proving the conversation remains ongoing.
And look, it’s a height-obsessed world we live in. Not just for the talls! Smalls, too, get their love. “I’m a short king,” 5’7” actor Jeremy Allen White recently told GQ. But there’s always been a fascination with those especially statured Hollywood figures. Elizabeth Debecki, Arm*e H*mmer and Gwendoline Christie are just a few that come to mind. Oh wait, I left one out! A critical one that’s newer to the conversation, but a welcome addition nonetheless. “If there’s one thing about gay people, it’s that we have an encyclopedic knowledge of every celebrity’s height. Like we may not be proficient in STEM, but we can absolutely tell you that both Jacob Elordi and Arm*e H*mmer are 6’5”,” reads one very on-the-nose tweet.
Jacob Elordi saw his star rise exponentially in the last few months due to him being in press cycles around two major features: Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla and Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn.
Although his height — 6’5”, wouldn’t ya know? — isn’t new, it’s newer to being an addendum affixed to his name. On a recent appearance on The Tonight Show, when he responded “I’m 6’5”,” after being asked his height, the audience erupted into applause.
So it’s at this inflection point that we must consider: Yes, Jacob Elordi is 6’5” in height, but is he 6’5” Jacob Elordi in name? We pause here for deliberation. Please enjoy this photo while we wait for the verdict to come in.
I put the poll to Instagram. “Not yet… but soon,” said one follower. “There can be only one,” proclaimed another, accompanied by a picture of 6’5” actor Lee Pace. “I believe in free and fair elections, but as a 6’6” follower, I still have to say no… he will never be Lee Pace,” declared a third. “The distinction loses its interest if applied to more than one person imho,” remarked a fourth. “How dare you even question this,” stressed a fifth. “He needs to mature and weather a little before he is 6’5” actor Jacob Elordi. He needs to be able to give some wisdom with that moniker, and he doesn’t seem wise yet,” highlighted a sixth. “Is nothing sacred (Lee Pace)?” questioned a seventh. I’m sensing a theme!
As for the poll results:
While I respect democracy (the over 10K people who made their voices heard), I simply can’t go with the masses on this one. So, where do I net out? I’m gonna agree with the first comment in saying not yet, but amend it to maybe soon. Let’s keep watching — err, respectfully gazing at, this space.
So there you have it, all 6’5” of it.