Danny Devito always felt insecure about being short.
The diminutive Hollywood star – who measures in at 4ft 10in – had hang ups about being small when he was growing up in New Jersey but he decided to throw himself into drama and embrace his love of acting to give himself more confidence.
In an interview with The Times newspaper, Danny said: "We all have these little things, our insecurities about ourselves. My height and my demeanour. I’m a little rough around the edges. I was always a little shy about it. I kind of went into the mouth of the dragon. Instead of hiding in the background I went up to the front. I said, ‘Here I am. This is what I do.’ "
Although he had insecurities, the ‘Batman Returns’ actor was never bullied at school and feels lucky to have always had good friends and a loving family behind him.
DeVito – who attended Oratory Preparatory School before training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, from which he graduated in 1966 – said: "I’m like Jesus, you know what I mean? I lived at home with my mum, I had a bunch of friends I hung around with and she thought I was God. I always had people around me to protect me."
DeVito can currently be seen playing circus master Max Medici in ‘Dumbo’, which is a remake of classic 1941 Disney animation.
Once he heard that Tim Burton was remaking ‘Dumbo’ – which follows the journey of the titular elephant whose oversized ears means he can fly – the 74-year-old actor decided he had to be in it because he has so many happy memories of watching the original cartoon movie and he respects the director so much.
DeVito – who has now worked with Burton on four films – said: "That moment in the morning when the kids get up and you sit ’em on the sofa with a bowl of cereal and you’re groggy and you haven’t had your coffee yet, and you go get ‘Dumbo’ and stick it into the VCR.
"And Tim and I go way back. There’s a great brotherly kind of camaraderie, you know, even though he’s my baby brother. Sometimes he’s like my dad. And sometimes he’s like my kid."
Danny DeVito was insecure about his height
