‘The Hobbit’ Star Lee Pace Finally Addresses the One Thing Everyone Notices About Him First, and His Answer Is Priceless

Lee Pace has spent over two decades building one of Hollywood’s most genre-hopping résumés, moving effortlessly between fantasy epics, sci-fi prestige television, and Broadway stages. Along the way, one thing about him has remained a constant fixture of pop culture conversation: his towering, six-foot-five frame.

That height has become something of a defining trait for the actor, from his elven villain Thranduil in ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy to his current role as the clone emperor Brother Day in Apple TV+’s ‘Foundation.’ Fans have spent years fixating on his stature, and it’s clearly followed him into his latest press cycle as well.

In a new profile with Variety, Pace finally addressed just how aware he actually is of his own size, and his answer landed with the same self-deprecating charm fans have come to expect from him. “I don’t even always know it,” Pace told Variety, “but then I see a picture, and I’m like, I’m a monster!”

The comment came as Pace opened up about his upcoming role in ‘Practical Magic 2,’ the long-awaited sequel to the beloved 1998 fantasy film, which brings Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman back as sisters Sally and Gillian Owens. In the new film, the pair travel to England seeking help from Pace’s character, a professor of magic who’s been immobilized by a curse, setting up a comedic set piece once the sisters use their powers to bring him back to life.

That scene required Pace to be entirely naked for his first shot in the film, something he described with characteristic ease. “I’m lying on this bed, naked,” Pace said, “and the two of them come into the room and do some magic.” Given that his character remains frozen throughout the sequence, Pace explained the added acting challenge of lying still with his eyes closed while listening to Bullock and Kidman’s voices fill the room around him.

Nudity clearly isn’t new territory for the actor. He’s previously appeared fully nude in a fight scene during the second season of ‘Foundation,’ and before that, he regularly dropped trou eight times a week during his Broadway run in ‘Angels in America,’ playing Joe Pitt opposite a live theater audience.

Those who know Pace best describe his presence as something that extends well beyond his physical size. Actor Colman Domingo, a longtime friend, told Variety that something about Pace’s voice feels sensual, disarming, and frightening all at once, a description that seems to track with the soft-spoken, conspiratorial delivery Pace used when joking about his own height.

Beyond ‘Practical Magic 2,’ Pace’s career shows no signs of slowing down. He’s currently starring in ‘Foundation,’ which returned for its third season this past July, and he continues expanding a filmography that spans Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ as Ronan the Accuser, the recent ‘The Running Man’ remake, and an upcoming role in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.’

Off screen, Pace married his husband, Matthew Foley, in 2022, following years of fans speculating about his personal life after he was inadvertently outed during a 2012 interview involving Ian McKellen. He’s since spoken openly about his experiences within the queer community, though he’s generally kept the finer details of his private life closely guarded.

For an actor whose height has followed him through nearly every project he’s ever taken on, Pace’s willingness to laugh about it, rather than shy away from it, feels like exactly the kind of self-aware charm that’s made him such an enduring favorite among fans.

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