Short kings, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: For one thing, they’re both hot and, 99 per cent of the time, confident enough to step bravely out into a world that so often demands men be at least six feet two and completely ripped. (To be fair, I know plenty of ripped short kings, but I digress.) I recently remembered my love for men who are short of stature when I saw that actor Tom Holland had reportedly liked an Instagram post claiming that short men have more sex. Does this have any bearing on his relationship with his girlfriend, fellow actor and singer Zendaya, who is two inches taller than her beau? I would never be so indelicate as to wonder.
There’s much to admire about Holland and Zendaya besides their iconoclastic height difference, of course: Long-held rumors that the two are dating were seemingly confirmed when pictures of them kissing in a car circulated in July. (Minor aside: Is there any cooler neighbourhood to accidentally soft launch your relationship in than Silver Lake, Los Angeles?)
The two actors, who costarred in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, have a pretty epic origin story for their relationship, one that calls to mind nothing so much as the forbidden love between Princess Margaret and Group Captain Peter Townsend (sorry, I’ve been rewatching The Crown): Spider-Man producer Amy Pascal warned them not to date, telling The New York Times, “I took Tom and Zendaya aside, separately, when we first cast them and gave them a lecture: ‘Don’t go there – just don’t. Try not to.” Ma’am, I know you’ve made many rom-coms, but have you ever seen one? Don’t you know there’s nothing hotter than telling two people they can’t get involved?
Although their relationship still feels new, Holland and Zendaya have never shied away from expressing the deep care and respect they have for each other. “She’s one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met. And I love her to bits. So to be here tonight is amazing. I’m delighted to share it with her,” Holland said of Zendaya at the Spider-Man premiere, and is it dusty in here, or am I welling up a little bit? Whatever. It’s not important.
A video of Holland comforting an anxious Zendaya by gripping her knee as she bobbed her leg up and down during an interview has also gone soft viral, for good reason; at the end of the day, don’t we all just want someone to stop us from visibly stressing out on camera? All the love in the world to this short king and tall queen, who hopefully have many film premieres and joint interviews and car PDA sessions in their future.
