Today I learned that Ava Michelle was kicked off Dance Moms for being too tall and then got her first big acting gig in Netflix’s Tall Girl for the very same reason.
Twitter user @jadoregeorgia pointed out the fact, saying, “I’m shaken,” and to be honest, so am I.
Some fans responded to the tweet saying she was actually kicked off the show because her mum didn’t want to follow Abby Lee Miller’s rules. Another fan added that this was true but Abby would often say Ava’s “arms looked horrendous on stage [because] they were too long”.
In a video from the episode, Abby tells Ava, “You’re too tall for us today, you’re cut. Thank you, you can go.”
She told a tearful Ava, “Honey, you’re a great dancer, you’re going to be successful if you can get away from your mother and get great training. Go!”
So, what Abby considered a disadvantage, lead to Ava landing her first big lead role in Tall Girl.
Speaking with Teen Vogue, Ava said, “My height was really hard for me growing up. Like, I was 5-foot-10 at 13. I was really, really tall.”
“In the business that I was in, and even just being in school, I was made fun of, and it was really difficult. But ironically, I got my first huge [acting gig] partly because of the thing I hated about myself for so long.”
“I would get so many no’s in dance auditions, and a lot of times it would just come down to my height.”
“You can’t do anything about that, so let’s just embrace it. That’s going to be the one thing that gets you to where you are meant to be. My mom was always the one telling me that. Did I believe her every time? No, but I do now.”
She told the story of her manager’s reaction to seeing the script, “It’s in all caps, like, ‘Ava, you need to read this script. I need to get you in it. This is perfect.’”
“I’m like, ‘Okay, my manager is not like that at all.’ She normally downplays everything. So I read just the storyline of it, and my mom and I are looking at each other and we both have chills. My mom said, ‘I think this is it.’”
She joked that she probably won’t find more roles that are tailor-made for her like this one, “I’m like, Am I doomed for the rest of my life?” Ava added, “Because I honestly wouldn’t change a thing. Tall Girl was so perfect.”