Insights From an Amazon...
This is the Interview I did with Tall Girl 2 Tall Girl:
Do you know Caitlyn Larimore? Well, you should… Her YouTube video “S##t EVERYBODY says to TALL Girls” has over 50,000 views.
I first saw this video last weekend and was in tears by the end of it from laughing so hard. But I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to know more about the girl in the video. I followed some links and did some reading and found out that she’s not only tall, but also an up and coming actress. You might have seen her Best Buy commercial or even in an episode of Leverage (TNT), and you know what else… She’s down to earth and I haven’t even met her. With my reading and link following I spotted some contact info thinking to myself, “Let’s see what happens”. And before the day was out I had a reply from a very enthused Caitlyn who wants to be a part of this Tall Girl Movement. After a couple exchanges here is what she had to share…
Hi, I’m Caitlyn! I’m a Los Angeles based actor who as an affinity for dinosaurs, Star Wars fruit snacks and being 6 feet tall.
1. At what age did you notice that your friends had stopped growing?
As a young gangly thing, I had a propensity to be oblivious to my differences until it smacked me in the face; like discovering in my 7th grade bathroom mirror that not only was I wearing 100% mismatching clothing, but that my pants were so short the school could have flooded without my pants getting wet. Hello self-awareness! I’m not sure that I can recall a specific moment where I realized my friends had stopped growing. Ever since my 4th grade class photo when I was placed in the back with the boys I had been aware that I was among the tallest of my peers. I was just used to being “the tallest.” Again, not being the type to notice that I was a weirdo –granted, it was probably a version of mental protection, as I was the kid galloping around alone at recess in the field, howling like a wolf. 10 year old Caitlyn was very proud of her authentic wolf howl.
I had growth spurts the same time most kids did, so my being taller was a familiar constant, rather than an abrupt discovery. However, I grew until my freshman year of college, and that last inch I DEFINITELY noticed, as it was that golden and terrifying threshold to cross as a girl, into the foreign world of six feet.
2. When would you say your height was no longer an issue for you or was it ever?
Growing up, my height seemed normal to me. I had a very tall dad (6’8″) and a Mom who encouraged a healthy body image, always telling me how lucky I was to be tall. My Grandfather, I assume he knew I was going to be a tall woman someday, constantly told me to “stand tall” and never “stoop just to accommodate those shorter than you.” (He meant that in a grandfatherly loving way, not in some height elitist family way.)
The one year of my life I became self-conscious of my height was my freshman year of college. Up until that point I had been a long-limbed theatre and band geek who had been in school with roughly the same crowd since elementary school. My height was rarely noticed, or mentioned, at least as far as I was concerned. Perhaps people brought it up when I wasn’t around, it WAS high school, you know.
It began a week before college when I spoke to my soon-to-be roommate on the phone and we realized we were going to be the strangest pair at 4’11″ and 5’11″. She ended up being one of the most loving and beautiful people I have ever met, plus, we had no problems choosing shelves. The insecurities began when I noticed my height was constantly mentioned in the obligatory “what major are you, where are you from” questions. I had never thought about it before, and suddenly I was so tall everyone was bringing it up. Which quickly morphed in my mind to me being a gangly, long limbed, tree monster girl who should be burned at the stake if she even thought about wearing heels. I became obsessed with finding the flattest of shoes.
The scale tipper was my first audition where they decided to line up all the freshman on stage…by height. OH SH*T.
Everyone awkwardly milled around the stage sizing each other up and slowly finding their place, I was a sweaty-palmed mess. As I inched toward the end of the stage I thought, “Oh my god, this is happening. I am going to be the tallest! I’m the ONLY girl down here– what the hell is that boy looking at, don’t look at me– I mean, I wore my converse, is there a flatter shoe than converse– I’m never going to be cast in anything, I’m a femmonster who is too tall to be an actor, I might as well just die!” So I did what any insecure young woman who is worried about
fitting in would do.
I slouched.
Knees bent, shoulders slightly forward like a kennel dog trying to be adopted, I kissed off the good posture my mom was so proud of.
Worst decision ever.
Here’s something funny about slouching. People can tell. And you look like an elephant trying to pass as a hippo.
How it turned around: After a very tame “suburban kid self-realization frosh year” I went home for the summer to my family and friends who I knew didn’t see me as an elongated gumby freak, or at least were so used to it they’d never say anything. Having a break from constantly meeting new people gave me time to think. One summer day while I was jogging on treadmill thinking about why I was so obsessed with being shorter, some terrible pop song came on. I don’t remember the song. All I know is it was so upbeat it could have been written by actual coffee beans, and it triggered my hyper brain into self-confidence-montage-mode. There I was, running, sun shining, unicorn punching, tall. “I’m tall!” I thought. And in my pop song induced craze I realized that there was literally nothing I could do about my height. If you’re short you can wear heels, if you have small lady boobahs you can do multiple things, and plastic surgery can change all sorts of body parts, including give you horns. But if you’re tall, you’re freaking tall! Something about acknowledging I could do nothing about being a tall woman but BE a tall woman was very liberating. When I stepped off that treadmill I was taller. And I haven’t looked back. Or down.
3. How do you react when approached with a “Tall Girl” question or comment? Is there one that sticks out more than the others?
So many questions from people, so many answers. It depends who is asking, HOW they ask and what I’m doing at the time. (I’m sure that’s true for most people who get asked the same thing a lot.) Some common scenarios and my reactions, (for our purposes, I’ll use good/bad mood as our spectrum):
A. At work, a stranger meets me, looks at my feet, gazes at the top of my head like there might be a majestic bald eagle nesting and asks in awe, “how tall are you?” This question I don’t mind so much, and will answer on command as if someone clicker-trained me to do so. What I do mind are the follow up questions and/or chit-chat about it. “Wow, you must blank blank– my son/daughter/friend/invalid neighbor is blank tall– is it hard to blank blank– it’s very becoming blah blah.”
In a good mood: I stare politely, and discuss my height briefly as if I too, find it fascinating.
In a bad mood: I stare blankly and fight back asking how much they weigh or how old they are.
B. This next one only happens with a certain type of man, and if it occurs when I am in a bad mood, that man better have come prepared to have his illusions about his ‘real’ height shattered. After asking me how tall I am and getting the (accurate) answer of “six feet,” this very particular breed of man will insist this isn’t my actual height. Why would this stranger think it normal to disagree with a personal fact about me? Because HE is six feet, which means I HAVE to be at least 6’2′”. Then they insist a back-to-back height check. If only we were going to walk 3 paces and shoot… This little song and dance has come in neatly wrapped packages of men interrupting me at work, crossing streets for the sole purpose, and the best one: (a total stranger) getting up from a dinner table WITH HIS WIFE.
In a good mood: I laugh and assure them I am just 6′ and that I don’t have a problem with my height, do they have a problem with theirs?
In a bad mood: My eyes become angry little lasers which bore into the 5’10″ affronting head in question. I then, bluntly inform them that I know my height and it’s unfortunate he was misinformed about his, moreover that the only people that ever argue or care how how tall I am are men, just like him, who believe their masculinity is defined by the physical and material– and I would tell him to get out of my face, except he can’t reach it. (I’ve never said that last part.) (Side note: I generally refrain from confrontation and shattering people’s hopes and dreams…and don’t endorse taking offense to height based questions: it’s better to just understand people are curious, feeling awkward or have nothing better to say and accept these types questions are always going to happen. The More You Know! *Star* Now, let me tell you one more time I was pissed off…)
C. Do you play Basketball? No.
In a good mood: I always give a blunt “no” and laugh at this, (because if you know me, you know I have the coordination of a gazelle on an ice rink and you laugh at this too,) and change the subject. No more questions, you don’t know why I’m laughing, and no, I didn’t play volleyball either.
In a bad mood: Just the one time… my height had been brought up what seemed like 100 times that day and some mega-bro-douche at a bar counter asked the clever question about basketball. Snap. I picked up a piece of bread roll and said “No, want to see why?” I motioned with my bread toward a garbage can that was somewhat near him, I was going to attempt a basket. I threw the bread directly at his head.
4. Being an up and coming actress have you noticed any obstacles because of your height?
Yes.
It works against me in that there is a high percentage of men under 6′ who are actors, giving me a much smaller pool of men to be paired against –in the “man is always taller than woman” social standard. I am also taller than a lot of women, so putting me in any group has to be calculated, unless they are purposely trying to accentuate my height.
However! It definitely works for me, more than against me. I don’t spend much time thinking about how my height is cheating me out of roles I WOULD have been perfect for. Chances are my photo has been on tables in casting rooms and the collective decision was that I was too tall. But, spending any time thinking about how I would have been perfect for X,Y,Z if it weren’t for my height (or anything else really) means that I wasn’t in fact, perfect for it. And, for all the roles I didn’t get because of it, I have gone into and booked jobs that specifically wanted a tall woman. I am tall. But I am also a lot of other things. And it is the combination of all those things that define me, not just one of them.
Whether you’re an actor or not, everyone has their “something” that makes them different and unique. My height sets me apart from all the other brunettes who are funny and “girl-next-doory” and I wouldn’t trade it.
5. What advice would you give to a tall girl growing up in a short world?
First of all, I would tell her it’s not a short world! It’s a giant world full of whales, ants and everything in between. The responses to my “Shit Everyone Says to Tall Girls” have mostly been tall people celebrating or commiserating our shared experiences. But, whenever I’ve read a comment from a young girl being pained by the negative attention she’s getting, I want to ride a giraffe to her and give her really tall hug. All the tallies of the world remember when they were made to feel bad for their top-shelf-reaching bodies, instead of proud. Get ready, I’m bustin’ out the cheese wheel because I really care about this.
My advice for tall girls (and really anyone who has anything about their body that makes them feel different) is to first ask yourself, different than what? What standard have you set that is ideal? Why would you want to be anything different than you? Is it 5’9″ and this and that and the other? Realize that for the 6 dozen things you believe that other type of person gets and you don’t, your type of person gets 7 dozen. You’ve convinced yourself life would be so much easier if just this one thing about you were different? Guess what? You’d have some other issue you didn’t like or that was making you insecure. Confidence begins by knowing that you are unlike anyone else, and this is your most amazing gift you can give the world. Appreciate and relish in your uniqueness. Find ways to forgive those who try to tell you that you are wrong for loving yourself. They hate something about themselves and try to distract you from it by making you hate something about yourself.
And specifically to my young tallies:
1. Being tall IS AWESOME. No. Really, it’s amazing. (Except
pants shopping, we all know this.)
2. Stand tall, and don’t stoop to accommodate those shorter
than you.
3. Some types of guys, especially young ones, may try to
convince you to be embarrassed about being tall. F**K THAT. If you meet a guy
(or girl) like this, know that it is 100% about how your confident stature is
drawing out insecurities they already have. They have bought into society
telling them men are always tall, dark, drive Ford trucks, drink beer, kill
bears with their fists and women should be shorter than them always, and if
they’re not they should be in the WNBA where he can tell them it’s not a real
sport.
4. Have good posture. Take pride in your good posture.
Encourage others to have good posture.
5. Don’t brag about how tall you are, it makes you look like
an insecure jerk wagon.
6. Know that people will always, always ask you about your
height. Learn to love it. And when you don’t… you can always throw bread.
*Bonus question*
Do you have any projects we should keep a lookout for?
Yes! Everything! All the time! Always! The acting world is a funny place and I have a lot of eggs in a lot of baskets and I’m not allowed to count any of them!
For now, the best places are my twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/DinosaurDisco
And my Youtubes for varying degrees of weirdness: http://www.youtube.com/altachica ANDhttp://www.youtube.com/SororityDORKS #
Don’t you love her?