Ava Michelle, Tall Girl’s Real Life Tall Girl

You would have to be living under a rock to have not caught a whiff of the heartfelt American teen romantic comedy, Tall Girl, that premiered as a Netflix original in 2019 and gained a lot of popularity in a short time. There was much talk about the movie’s theme being the struggles of a teenage girl who is ridiculously tall. The screenplay was refreshing and relatable for a lot of real-life tall girls who have not historically been represented in mainstream teen films.
 

People’s curiosity was peaked as to whether Ava Michelle was so tall in real life or if it was just a neat little camera trick? We are here to confirm that the talented teenage actress is 6’1’’ to be exact, as her Instagram bio proudly boasts.
 

The movie didn’t do great in terms of ratings with a 44% on rotten tomatoes from 9 reviews and an average 5.4/10 rating, with critics saying it didn’t offer much that was new to the high school romantic comedy genre. However, Ava Michelle was, without a doubt, a great casting decision for the movie that won the hearts of many – both tall and short.

Albeit most of us know Ava Michelle as Jody Kreyman in Tall Girl, Ava is also widely known for her dance career. Ava Michelle starred in seasons three and four of Dance Moms, by the Abby Lee Dance Company, with her auditioning for the show at the tender age of 10 when she was already very tall for her age. In the fourth season, she was cut off for the same reason i.e. the showrunners took issue with her tall height. Ava Michelle is remembered fondly as the sweet kid who thanked the spiteful Abby Lee for the opportunity to be on Dance Moms, despite being made to leave the show for reasons completely outside the realm of her control.

Today Ava Michelle is known as a 6’1’’ American actress, model, singer, and dancer. She was born in Michigan and attended her mother’s dance academy called JC Broadway’s dance academy that shut down operation in 2017. After that, Ava made her appearance on Dance Moms which terminated after 2 seasons. Leaving the show turned out to be great for Michelle who started her modeling career in her debut for New York Fashion Week and also got cast as the lead in Netflix’s Tall Girl. Ever since things have been looking up for this talented 17-year-old. Ava also has a big following on YouTube and Instagram; in the latter, she is known for her #13reasonsforme campaign where she urged people to come up with 13 reasons why they loved themselves.

Ava Michelle has an up and thriving YouTube channel with a subscription count of one hundred and thirty-nine thousand. She posts a lot of different content from workouts to fashion hauls to QnA’s. She also participates in different challenges and hosts tutorials that her audience loves. She made a YouTube video about her journey as an actress as the lead in Netflix’s Tall Girl and it amassed millions of views.

As we know Ava Michelle’s acting career took off when she got cast as the lead in the Netflix original, Tall Girl. But Michelle had been acting for a bit before that as well. She has appeared in several short movies released in 2018 and has even made appearances in a few episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful, an American soap opera. Some of the moves she has been cast in other than Tall Girl include This is Me, Mamma Mia, and A Christmas Dinner. We have a strong feeling it’s not the last we’re going to see Ava Michelle on the big screen with her striking appearance and charming personality.

In a lot of ways, it’s fair to say, Ava is more of a dancer than an actress. She started her career off early with the help of her mom’s company and her time at Dance Moms was also a formative experience, despite the unpleasant end. In an interview on the Zach Sang Show, Michelle said she is on very good terms with her costars from Dance Moms and they showed great support for Tall Girl.
 

No way did being kicked off of Dance Moms stop Ava from dancing which seems to run in her blood. And unlike what the critics have said her height in no way stops her from being a graceful and talented dancer.  Ava Michelle also appeared in the hit show So You Think You Can Dance. What genre does Ms. Michelle dance in? She’s ridiculously versatile, with training in contemporary, ballet, jazz, tap dance, and pointe. And with that phenomenal form, the elegance is extreme! We are so sure, this is not the end of Ava’s dance career and there is much more coming our way soon!

Ava is also known to dabble in music, as she uploads quite a few music videos on her channel and we think this less explored of Ava’s talents is something to look out for. The girl is multi-talented, and we can’t wait till a production house picks her up like she deserves to be. After all, anyone who hears her sing knows she has the voice of an angel.

Most people, especially short people, assume that being tall is just a win-win situation. But every too-tall girl knows, it is not just rainbows and butterflies. There’s of course the usual am I taller than literally all the boys in my grade? Can I wear heels to prom? Among many others. But being exceptionally tall can be an obstacle in some career paths as well. Ava’s story is no different. From being denied castings and having to lie about her height to losing her contract with a dance company because of how tall she is.
 

When Abby Lee on Dance Moms eliminated Michelle, she made her humiliatingly stand next to the next tallest girl in the company to highlight just how awkwardly tall Michelle was. This was a culmination of mean and hurtful remarks by the ruthless Abby Lee that included telling Michelle her arms looked “horrible” and she looked like a praying mantis. But Michelle is loud and proud about her height and using it to the fullest in her modeling career that has just started to take off. It just goes to show how far ownership and self-love can take you.

In a podcast with Sabrina Carpenter, Ava Michelle opened up about being bullied for her height as a kid and how Tall Girl was very close to her heart because through the film she could help other kids struggling in the same way that she did. Ava says she felt nervous because she wanted to do the role justice.

Despite being well-loved by some audiences, plenty of people also mocked the premise of Tall Girl as a privileged rich, white, girl living a suburban life whining about how horrible her life is because she’s tall.

Ava Michelle is a multi-talented 17-year-old who is just at the start of a remarkable career as a model, an actor, a singer, and a content creator. Michelle is a great example of how you can use what is perceived as your weakness as your secret superpower and build a career for yourself despite negativity and bullying. She is a great role model for girls and women alike in learning how to love ourselves, even the parts of us we think are ugly, awkward, and weird.

 Self-love is a big part of Ava Michelle’s journey and she keeps on using her following and her various social media platforms to spread body positivity and just generally spends her time being a boss lady who does not apologize for who she is!

Despite being rejected and mocked for her height, the superstar has not let criticism take away her passion for dance and she is still one of the finest dancing talents on television according to many critics. We wish her the best and hope to see her thrive in all her creative outlets.