32 of the Smartest Celebrities in Hollywood
Some of them may surprise you.
It should come as no surprise that you have to be pretty smart to make it in Hollywood. Show business isn't just about performing well—it takes time, luck, perseverance, and innate savviness to become successful. Even though a number of our most talented stars (including some on this list) dropped out of high school or college when they started becoming famous, they have proven that they had the know-how to succeed in acting, singing, and even other professions. Meanwhile, other stars on this list have degrees outside of acting (think: biology and engineering) and went to some pretty impressive universities (Harvard, anyone?). Keep reading to discover 32 of the smartest celebrities in Hollywood.
Sylvester Stallone
One of only a few actors to star in a number one blockbuster across six decades, Sylvester Stallone got a BFA from the University of Miami and was determined to become an actor. Did you know he wrote the first Rocky film as well as writing and directing a number of the sequels?
Danica McKellar
After playing Winnie on the hit TV series The Wonder Years, Danica McKellar went on to graduate with a degree in math from the University of California, Los Angeles. She went on to write a bunch of cool math books with amazing names like Kiss My Math, Hot X: Algebra Exposed, and Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape.
Nolan Gould
Yes, the lovable Luke Dunphy on Modern Family is a member of Mensa! He graduated high school and started take college courses at the wildly young age of 13, according to Us Weekly, and has said in interviews that he (naturally) prefers the liberal arts side of things.
Mayim Bialik
Mayim Bialik was a child actor who then had a tremendous academic career, graduating from UCLA with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience and Hebrew and Jewish studies and a PhD in neuroscience. She then returned to acting to play (who else?) a neuroscientist on The Big Bang Theory.
Emma Watson
Emma Watson almost left the Harry Potter franchise in favor of her education! And eventually she graduated as an English major from Brown University in 2014 and also studied at Oxford University. She's helped launch Time's Up UK and became a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador.
Ben Affleck
Like his (also intelligent) friend Matt Damon, Ben Affleck knew he wanted to pursue acting from an early age. Affleck's mom was Harvard-educated and a teacher, and he was encouraged to pursue the arts—first acting at age 7, teaching himself Spanish at 13, and moving to L.A. at 18.
Lisa Kudrow
Before she was on one of the most popular shows of all time (Friends), Lisa Kudrow got a biology degree from Vassar College. Then, she briefly started working with her dad (a headache specialist) on a study in his specialty before she decided to pursue show biz.
Cindy Crawford
Graduating as valedictorian from her high school, Cindy Crawford used some initial funds from her modeling career to pay for part of her chemical engineering education at Northwestern University (she also had a scholarship). She left to become a full-time model.
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson (whom you may know as Mr. Bean and Blackadder) aced his A levels (qualification exams in the UK) and has an electrical and electronic engineering degree from Newcastle University. He also has an MSc degree in electrical engineering from The Queen's College, Oxford.
Kesha
According to Kesha, she was a dedicated student growing up, telling NPR that "I was in the international baccalaureate program, I loved physics and math, and I was in the marching band." Like many on this list, she was headed to college (Barnard College) when she opted for a singing career.
Ken Jeong
Ken Jeong is literally a licensed physician in California (although he doesn't practice anymore because he's a full-time actor and comedian). He worked in a clinic while pursuing his career on the side, telling Business Insider, "I was definitely a late bloomer, and I didn't know where I was going to go with this."
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga literally started playing piano at age 4 (she says it's how she learned how to create music by ear), started performing and doing open mics as a teenager, and left the Collaborative Arts Project 21 (a musical theatre training conservatory) to pursue her budding career in her early 20s.
Steve Martin
While it's not totally clear whether Steve Martin is actually a member of Mensa—he wrote a New Yorker article literally titled “How I Joined Mensa,” but then has said on Twitter he's not a member—the five-time Grammy and honorary Oscar winner certainly has the smarts (he has a reported IQ of 142).
Kate Beckinsale
No biggie, but Kate Beckinsale is also apparently fluent in French, Russian, and German. If you follow her social media, you already know this, but she's also apparently a talented writer in addition to her acting capabilities and won the WH Smith Young Writers Award twice.
Dolph Lundgren
The Swedish actor (who you may remember from some of the Rocky movies) has made a career for himself playing various muscular men, but he was also an extraordinary student who came to the U.S. and studied on scholarship. He has a degree in chemical engineering and received a Fulbright Scholarship to MIT, but dropped out to pursue his career.
Sharon Stone
It has been reported that Sharon Stone's IQ is 154. She was able to advance in elementary school—becoming a second grader at age 5—and she was apparently accepted to college at 15. She dropped out to pursue a career as a model, and subsequently, an actor.
Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg is a master of reinvention (sometimes literally, given that he's gone through a number of name changes). He started performing in his church choir at a young age and realized he had a gift when his rapping at age 12 would literally draw crowds of classmates.
Goldie Hawn
The Oscar and Golden Globe winning actor Goldie Hawn was performing by age 3 (ballet and tap) and made her acting debut before she'd even turned 20. By then she was teaching at and running a ballet school, having dropped out of American University to pursue her career.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
I mean...going from bodybuilder to actor to politician and businessman is quite the arc! Schwarzenegger was dyslexic and had average grades in school, but his aptitude and determination to pursue bodybuilding was such that he used to break into his local gym to work out.
Shakira
We all likely know Shakira as the Spanish- and English-singing musician who helped popularize Latin music. But this crossover artist was starting to write songs when she was literally 4 years old and poetry when she was 7. Her first album was recorded when she was 13, full of songs she'd started writing when she was 8. Sheesh!
Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys was—no surprise—recognized as a talented artist at a young age. Starting at the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan at 14, she graduated at 16, started her college career at Columbia University on scholarship, and then had to drop out because her career was taking off.
Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster was acting in commercials by the time she was a literal toddler, but (fun fact that you may not know) she could also read on her own by this time. Later on, she was a student at Lycée Français de Los Angeles while also working as an actor.
Conan O'Brien
High school valedictorian Conan O'Brien graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in history and literature. The school's "pre-eminent jokester" was also president of the Harvard Lampoon (which, if you're unfamiliar, published a humorous magazine).
Michael Jordan
It's probably evident to anyone who's ever watched Michael Jordan play that he's a brilliant athlete. But (for those of us who didn't follow his career from college) he also went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a basketball scholarship, majoring in cultural geography with an interest in becoming a meteorologist if the whole basketball thing didn't work out.
Natalie Portman
With a bachelor's degree from Harvard University, and the first Harvard alum to win a Best Actress Oscar, Natalie Portman has solid academic creds. Apparently, she's also been published, twice, in scientific journals, and also took some graduate courses before she went back to acting.
John Legend
Did you know that John Legend worked in consulting before becoming one of the most soulful crooners around? He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania (where he did a cappella) and then worked for the prestigious Boston Consulting Group.
Geena Davis
Geena Davis is just plain cool—and a Mensa member. She decided to take up archery and almost made the Olympics, for starters, and she also founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media to help close the gender gap in entertainment. No biggie!
Madonna
One of the most powerful women of the 20th century, according to TIME, the "Queen of Pop" has constantly refused to be pigeonholed by reinventing herself regularly. She was also a great student who reportedly got a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan before dropping out to pursue music (she has been a drummer, guitarist, and vocalist!).
Quentin Tarantino
It's probably not a surprise to have Quentin Tarantino on this list, since his movies include an encyclopedic level of references to other movies. His rise to prominence from video store clerk (and obsessive movie fan) to filmmaker is well-documented, particularly writing a draft of his first movie, Reservoir Dogs, in only 3.5 weeks.
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman, whose shyness and stutter made her early years difficult, nevertheless showed an impressive aptitude for ballet and acting at a young age (and at one point had a reported IQ of 132). Kidman's apparently a one-in-a-million performer because of her reported determination, curiosity, fearlessness, and lack of ego about taking on complicated characters.
Matt Damon
While at Harvard University, Matt Damon developed a draft of Good Will Hunting as playwriting homework. Damon subsequently dropped out to pursue the film (which led to an impressive acting career). But the university is pretty happy that he attended, even awarding him the Harvard Arts Medal in 2013.
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep, who is undoubtedly one of Hollywood's finest, has the literal degrees to prove it. She graduated from Vassar College in 1971 with a BA in drama and then went on to the Yale School of Drama, graduating with an MFA in 1975. The dean at the time reportedly said, "It was immediately apparent...that she was destined for greatness."
