You’ve seen the photo. It’s one of those images that makes you do a double-take every time it scrolls past on your feed. A massive, weathered hand is wrapped around a can of beer, but the proportions are all wrong. The can looks like a AA battery or a thimble. Most people assume it’s a clever Photoshop job from the early days of the internet.
It isn't.
That photo of Andre the Giant holding a beer can is 100% real. It was taken in 1981 by photographer Stephen Green-Armytage for a Sports Illustrated profile titled "To the Giant Among Us." The can in his hand is a standard 12-ounce Molson Canadian.
To Andre, it was basically a Dixie cup.
Why the beer can photo still messes with our heads
When we look at objects, our brains use "size constancy" to make sense of the world. We know how big a beer can is. Because we have that internal reference, our brains try to tell us that the hand holding it must be some kind of special effect. But Andre René Roussimoff wasn't a special effect. He was a man born with acromegaly, a disorder where the pituitary gland produces too much growth hormone.
By the time that photo was snapped in his own restaurant in France, Andre was billed at 7’4” and weighed well over 500 pounds.
The photographer actually tried a few different objects before settling on the Molson. He tried posing Andre with a horse in Central Park, but you couldn't tell if it was a tiny pony or a massive Clydesdale. He tried posing him with his restaurant manager, but the manager might have just been a short guy.
They needed something universal.
The beer can worked because everyone knows the dimensions of a 12-ounce aluminum cylinder. When Andre wrapped his fingers around it, the can almost disappeared. His wrists were over a foot in circumference—roughly the same size as an adult male gorilla’s.
The staggering math of his drinking habits
If you think the photo is wild, the stories behind his drinking are even harder to believe. Andre didn't just hold beers; he evaporated them.
Hulk Hogan, who spent years on the road with Andre, tells a story about a 50-minute layover at the Delta Lounge in the Tampa airport. According to Hogan, Andre polished off 108 beers in less than an hour. Is that physically possible for a normal human? Absolutely not. But Andre’s metabolism and sheer body mass meant he processed alcohol differently.
- The 156-Beer Sitting: Fellow wrestlers Dusty Rhodes and Michael Hayes swore they watched Andre drink 156 beers in one sitting. That’s over 14 gallons of liquid.
- The "Anesthesia" Problem: When Andre needed back surgery, the doctors had no idea how to sedate him. He was so resistant to chemicals that they eventually used his alcohol tolerance as a baseline. They asked him how much it took to get him "tipsy." His answer? Two bottles of vodka.
- The Wine Case: On long bus rides in Japan, Andre was known to finish an entire case of French wine (12 bottles) in about three hours just to pass the time.
Honestly, it wasn't just for fun. Andre was in constant, agonizing pain. His joints were carrying a weight they weren't designed for, and the wrestling ring was a brutal workplace for a man of his size. He self-medicated. He drank to numb the reality of living in what he called a "world built for dolls."
What people get wrong about his size
There’s a common misconception that Andre was just "tall." But height was only half the story. It was the thickness.
His fingers were so thick that he couldn't use a rotary phone; he had to use a pencil to dial the numbers because his fingertips would hit three holes at once. He couldn't play the piano because one finger would depress three keys.
When he traveled, he often had to sleep on the floor because hotel beds would collapse under his weight. He couldn't fit into standard bathroom stalls, which led to some pretty undignified stories about his life on the road.
The photo of Andre the Giant holding a beer can serves as a permanent receipt for his existence. It proves that the legends weren't just "pro wrestling tall tales."
The legacy of the Eighth Wonder
Andre died in 1993 at the age of 46. His heart simply couldn't keep up with the demands of his massive frame. He left behind a legacy that is half-myth, half-medical-marvel, and entirely unforgettable.
If you ever find yourself looking at that photo again, remember that the man holding the can was someone who just wanted to be "normal" for one week a year. He was a guy who loved cribbage, hated being stared at, and could make a 12-ounce beer look like a toy.
How to see the scale for yourself
If you want to truly grasp the size of the man in the photo, you don't have to rely on old Sports Illustrated scans.
- Visit the Hand Collection: You can see a bronze cast of Andre’s hand at the Adrian E. Flatt, M.D. Hand Collection at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. Putting your hand next to his cast is the only way to feel the scale.
- Watch "The Princess Bride": Pay close attention to the scenes where Andre (Fezzik) is holding Cary Elwes or Robin Wright. He isn't just "big"—he makes grown adults look like children.
- Check the Ring Size: Andre wore a size 30 ring. For context, the average man wears a size 9 or 10. You can literally pass a silver dollar through the center of his ring.
The next time you crack open a cold one, take a look at the can in your hand. Then imagine your hand is three times larger. That was Andre's reality.