‘It Was Always About Women’

Danny DeVito’s reflections on how he overcompensated for being short and overcame his childhood insecurities to create a comedic legacy are going viral in days surrounding his birthday.

The actor turned 81 on Monday, Nov. 17.

Now, a 2017 interview with CBS Sunday Morning is making its way around the web, with some finding inspiration on DeVito’s remarks about “overcompensating” for being short.

DeVito, who is listed as 4’10” tall on IMDb, said on the show of his height, “I don’t think I ever really thought of it in terms of that.”

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“Like, early days [in terms of] being short, being five feet tall, you know, you go to a dance and … in the very beginning, you’re only fast dancing. You go out, and you dazzle them with your footwork,” he said. “After a while, you start getting used to it and in social circles, you start thinking, ‘Well, you may be able to compensate with your personality.’ ”

DeVito continued: “It was always about women … When you’re a teenager, all it is is about going to the dance. The dance is the big thing. And then you’d have the girl in school who’s really tall, who’s self conscious because she was tall — that was always fun, too, because you’d go out with the girl who was really ‘the big girl,’ because why not? Absolutely, the idea is that we’d have a good time.”

DeVito’s breakthrough role came in the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, in which he played the always-grinning asylum inmate Martini. The role proved a launchpad for DeVito’s career. He has since headlined hit films like Romancing the Stone, Ruthless People, Twins, Batman Returns, Get Shorty and L.A. Confidential and made his mark on series TV with his nearly two-decade-and-counting run on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

In an exclusive chat with PEOPLE at the 18th Annual GO Gala in Los Angeles on Friday, Oct. 17, the actor spoke about his life as a grandfather, saying that he and his grandson, Carmine — whom his eldest daughter, Lucy Chet DeVito, welcomed in July 2024 — are “good buddies.”

“I just got a bunch of toys for him. I got a couple of new books. And I got a couple of tennis balls,” the actor added.

The actor is also a grandfather through his middle daughter, Grace “Gracie” Fan DeVito, who welcomed a daughter, Sinclair, in 2023.

Danny shares Lucy and Grace, 40, along with son Jake, 38, with ex Rhea Perlman.