Actor Edward Norton, actress Emma Watson, singer Chris Martin and actress Meryl Streep all went to prestigious schools.
Image sources: blog.nature.og, newssetup.com, idolator.com, jeweell.com
Some people just have everything, don’t they? Good looks, talent, fame and the brains to match all that. And the entertainment industry is filled with these multi-talented, well, talents.
If you checked out my features on Tinseltown’s girls and guys who excel in the looks and books departments, you might have been able to name a few gorgeous faces and their illustrious alma maters that I (almost offensively) left out. Obviously, I couldn’t write about every worthy candidate out there. The article would have been endless. Yes, there are that many brainy beauties in Hollywood.
Anyhoo, I had to do some cognitive spring-cleaning and organise the thoughts in my head. While rearranging everything in my Mind Palace (yes, Sherlock), I was stunned to find out that the entertainment industry’s brainiacs constituted a long list. Suddenly, I felt obligated to acknowledge these artsy intellectuals, because anyone who graduates from their prestigious and highly selective alma maters deserves an eyes-widened-mouth-agape incredulous stare from us.
So, here it is. Presenting the smARTy-pants (see what I did there?):
(In case you can’t figure out how to navigate my Mind Palace, the list is organised in alphabetical order by school, followed by celebrities by last name)
| Name | Known for | University | Major |
|
American universities |
|||
| Julie Bowen | Actress | Modern Family | Brown University | Italian Renaissance Studies |
| John Krasinsky | Actor | The Office | Brown University | Theatre Arts |
| Emma Watson | Actress | Harry Potter | Brown University | English Literature |
| Casey Affleck | Actor | Columbia University | Physics, Astronomy and Western Philosophy |
| Jesse Bradford | Actor | Clockstoppers | Columbia University | Film |
| Matthew Fox | Actor | Lost | Columbia University | Economics |
| Joseph Gordon-Levitt | Actor | Columbia University | History, Literature and French Poetry |
| Jake Gyllenhaal | Actor | Columbia University | Eastern Religions and Philosophy |
| Maggie Gyllenhaal | Actress | Columbia University | Literature and Eastern Religions |
| Katie Holmes | Actress | Columbia University | |
| Amanda Peet | Actress | Columbia University | History |
| Cameron Russell | Model | Wellesley College, transferred to Columbia University | Economics and Political Science |
| Julia Stiles | Actress | Columbia University | English Literature |
| Karl Yune | Actor | Columbia University | Theatre |
| Christopher Reeve | Actor | Superman | Cornell University | Theatre |
| Juilliard School | Drama | ||
| Josh Pence | Actor | Dartmouth College | |
| Brian White | Actor | Dartmouth College | Political Science, Psychology and Theatre Arts |
| Andrew Baldwin | Naval Officer; Doctor; The Bachelor (Season 10) | Duke University | Biology |
| Kara DioGuardi | Singer-songwriter; Judge on American Idol | Duke University | Political Science |
| Ken Jeong | Actor | The Hangover | Duke University | |
| Mike Posner | Singer | Duke University | Sociology |
| Dr. Travis Stork | Doctor; The Bachelor (Season 8); Host of The Doctors | Duke University (undergraduate) | Anthropology |
| University of Virginia (postgraduate) | Medicine | ||
| Conan O’Brien | Talk show host | Harvard University | History and Literature |
| Matt Damon | Actor | Harvard University | English |
| Rashida Jones | Actress | Parks and Recreation | Harvard University | Religion and Philosophy |
| Tommy Lee Jones | Actor | Harvard University | English |
| B. J. Novak | Actor | The Office | Harvard University | English and Spanish Literature |
| Natalie Portman | Actress | Harvard University | Psychology |
| James Eckhouse | Actor |Beverly Hills, 90210 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| Charlie Korsmo | Former child actor | Hook | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (undergraduate) | Physics |
| Yale Law School (postgraduate) | Law (J.D.) | ||
| James Woods | Actor | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Political Science |
| Dean Cain | Actor | Superman | Princeton University | History |
| David Duchovny | Actor | The X-files | Princeton University (undergraduate) | English Literature |
| Yale University (postgraduate) | English Literature | ||
| Ellie Kemper | Actress | The Office | Princeton University (undergraduate) | English |
| University of Oxford (postgraduate) | |||
| Wentworth Miller | Actor | Prison Break | Princeton University | English |
| Brooke Shields | Actress | Princeton University | French Literature |
| Rachel Maddow | Television host | Stanford University (undergraduate) | Public Policy |
| Lincoln College, Oxford (postgraduate, Rhodes Scholar) | Politics (DPhil) | ||
| Sigourney Weaver | Actress | Aliens | Stanford University (undergraduate) | English |
| Yale School of Drama (postgraduate) | Acting (MFA) | ||
| Reese Witherspoon | Actress | Stanford University | English Literature |
| John Cho | Actor | Harold & Kumar, Star Trek | University of California, Berkeley | English |
| Chris Pine | Actor | University of California, Berkeley | English
|
| James Franco | Actor | University of California, Los Angeles (undergraduate) | English |
| Columbia University (postgraduate) | Writing (MFA) | ||
| Yale University (postgraduate) | English (PhD) | ||
| New York University (postgraduate) | Filmmaking | ||
| Misha Collins | Actor | Supernatural | University of Chicago | Social Theory |
| Elizabeth Banks | Actress | University of Pennsylvania | Theatre Arts |
| John Legend | Singer | University of Pennsylvania | English |
| Dan Lin | Film producer | Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (undergraduate) | |
| Harvard Business School | MBA | ||
| Rick Yune | Actor | Die Another Day | Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (postgraduate) | MBA |
| Lisa Kudrow | Actress | Friends | Vassar College | Biology |
| Meryl Streep | Actress | Vassar College (undergraduate) | Drama |
| Yale School of Drama (postgraduate) | Acting (MFA) | ||
| Jordana Brewster | Actress | Fast & Furious | Yale University | English |
| Jennifer Connelly | Actress | Yale University, transferred to Stanford University | English (Yale); Drama (Stanford) |
| Anderson Cooper | News anchor | Yale University | Political Science |
| Claire Danes | Actress | Homeland | Yale University | Psychology |
| Jodie Foster | Actress | Yale University | Literature |
| Paul Giamatti | Actor | Yale University | English |
| Ron Livingston | Actor | Band of Brothers | Yale University | Theatre and English |
| Alessandro Nivola | Actor | Jurassic Park III | Yale University | English |
| Edward Norton | Actor | Yale University | History |
| David Hyde Pierce | Actor | Frasier | Yale University | English and Theatre Arts |
| Allison Williams | Actress | Girls | Yale University | English |
|
Canadian universities |
|||
| William Shatner | Actor | Star Trek, Boston Legal | McGill University | Economics |
|
British universities |
|||
| Sacha Baron Cohen | Actor | Christ’s College, Cambridge | History |
| John Cleese | Actor | Downing College, Cambridge | Law |
| Lily Cole | Model; actress | King’s College, Cambridge | History of Art |
| Christian Coulson | Actor | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Clare College, Cambridge | English |
| Stephen Fry | Actor | Queens’ College, Cambridge | English Literature |
| Tom Hiddleston | Actor | Pembroke College, Cambridge | Classics |
| Freddie Highmore | Actor | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Emmanuel College, Cambridge | Spanish and Arabic |
| Skandar Keynes | Actor | Narnia | Pembroke College, Cambridge | Arabic and Middle Eastern History |
| Hugh Laurie | Actor | Selwyn College, Cambridge | Archaeology and Anthropolgy |
| Ian McKellen | Actor | St Catharine’s College, Cambridge | English Literature |
| Eddie Redmayne | Actor | Les Miserables | Trinity College, Cambridge | History of Art |
| Tilda Swinton | Actress | Murray Edwards College, Cambridge | Social and Political Sciences |
| Emma Thompson | Actress | Newnham College, Cambridge | English |
| Rachel Weisz | Actress | Trinity Hall, Cambridge | English |
| Brian May | Lead guitarist of Queen | Imperial College London | Mathematics and Physics (BSc) |
| Astrophysics (PhD) | |||
| Mick Jagger | Lead singer of The Rolling Stones | London School of Economics | Business |
| Kate Beckinsale | Actress | New College, Oxford | French and Russian Literature |
| Richard Curtis | Screenwriter | Notting Hill, Love Actually | Christ Church, Oxford | English Language and Literature |
| Hugh Dancy | Actor | Confessions of a Shopaholic | St Peter’s College, Oxford | English |
| Alfred Enoch | Actor | Harry Potter | The Queen’s College, Oxford | Portuguese and Spanish |
| Alice Eve | Actress | Star Trek Into Darkness | St Catherine’s College, Oxford | English |
| Emilia Fox | Actress | The Pianist | St Catherine’s College, Oxford | English |
| Hugh Grant | Actor | New College, Oxford | English |
| Tom Hooper | Director | The King’s Speech, Les Miserables | University College, Oxford | English |
| Harry Lloyd | Actor | Game of Thrones | Christ Church, Oxford | English |
| Dudley Moore | Actor | Magdalen College, Oxford | Music and Composition |
| Emily Mortimer | Actress | The Pink Panther | Lincoln College, Oxford | Russian |
| Mr Hudson | Singer | St Anne’s College, Oxford | English Literature |
| Michael Palin | Actor | Brasenose College, Oxford | Modern History |
| Rosamund Pike | Actress | Bond girl | Wadham College, Oxford | English Literature |
| Anna Popplewell | Actress | Narnia | Magdalen College, Oxford | English Language and Literature |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber | Composer | Magdalen College, Oxford | History |
| Chris Martin | Lead singer of Coldplay | University College London | Greek and Latin |
| Freddie Stroma | Actor | Harry Potter, Pitch Perfect | University College London | Neuroscience |
By the way, that Oxford-English streak was pretty scary, wasn’t it? I guess there’s some kind of affinity between Oxonian English majors and acting.
And if James Franco was trying to prove a point about his intelligence, or multi-tasking ability, he has beyond succeeded.
1 Comment
Well written. May peace be with you