Geena Davis, Oscar-winning actress known for her powerful roles and confident presence, recently shared a more painful part of her past.

The 69-year-old star revealed that growing up wasn’t easy and that she had a really tough time in school because she was often bullied for being tall.

While speaking on The View, Geena shared: “I was tall from minute one … I was very self-conscious and shy, and the last thing I wanted to do was stand out, and yet, every minute, I stood out.

“I was tall from minute one … I was very self-conscious and shy, and the last thing I wanted to do was stand out, and yet, every minute, I stood out.

“So, it was really tough growing up. The boys’ nickname for me in high school was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, which, you know, is so charming.”

The Thelma & Louise star, who wrote the kids’ book The Girl Who Was Too Big for the Page, shared that she eventually learned to love her height.

She further explained: “This has always been a part of my life, but once I stopped growing, I became very comfortable with it and happy, and got cast in ‘Tootsie’, because it was funny to look at me and Dustin Hoffman together.

“[Then] I realized that it’s okay to take up this much space. And so that’s kind of the message of the book.”

However, Geena once shared that it wasn’t until she became an adult that she truly learned to be herself without saying sorry for it.