Many people know that actress Geena Davis has an IQ of 200 and is a member of Mensa. What they don’t realize, though, is that there are dozens of super-smart celebrities in Hollywood, people who are so admired for their good looks and their humor, no one would ever think they were fearsomely smart. Here are 10 celebrities who are more intelligent than you think.
1. Alan Rachins
Photo: Alan Light
One of Rachins’ most famous roles was as Larry, father of Dharma in the hit TV show Dharma and Greg. In the show, he plays an aging, spaced-out hippie who can’t stay away from weed. In real life, though, Rachins is a certified genius: with an IQ of 158, he’s a member of Mensa and he is one of the smartest celebs.
2. Natalie Portman
Photo: Courtney
Life in the showbiz isn’t usually the best place for a kid who needs to concentrate on her education. A great many stars who started out in the biz as children only completed high school through an equivalency test in their 30s or 40s. Natalie Portman is different. While she did start out as a child star, school was never far from her mind. When Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace released, it was her first major role. Yet, she skipped the premiere to be able to study for her final exams in high school.
In 2003, she graduated from Harvard with a degree in psychology. Reportedly, she has said that when in college, she didn’t care if her focus on her college studies took away from her movie career. Her education came first. At this time, she is the only Harvard graduate ever to also have an Academy Award.
3. Ashton Kutcher
Photo: Zennie Abraham
Ashton Kutcher has made a career out of playing vacuous pretty faces – his role as Michael Kelso in That 70s Show being one of the first. Kutcher, though, had a scholarship to MIT lined up at one point. Unfortunately, a prank caused him to lose it.
4. Conan O’Brien
Photo: ryankolsen
Funnyman Conan O’Brien is a Harvard graduate – he studied literature and history. His talent for humor showed during his time at Harvard, though. He was the president of the Harvard Lampoon Club, a social organization that published a good humor magazine.
5. Cindy Crawford
Photo: tommy japan
Crawford went to college to be a chemical engineer. Even with a scholarship to Northwestern University, she needed more money to pay for college. That’s how she came to be a model. Along the way, she realized that modeling was likely to pay better than chemical engineering.
More: 10 Celebrities Who Were Born Rich
6. Quentin Tarantino
Photo: Slackerwood
Quentin Tarantino is a genius. At 160, he has the same IQ as Stephen Hawking. Tarantino’s genius, though, didn’t allow him to do well in school. Bored to death with classes, he chose to drop out and write some of those admired screenplays of the past couple of decades.
7. Matt Damon
Photo: Siebbi
Actor and writer Matt Damon went to Harvard to study English. He was active in the college theater scene and eventually dropped out just before he graduated. A script that he wrote for a class assignment had turned out really well: it was Good Will Hunting.
8. Jodie Foster
Photo: Loren Javier
Jodie Foster was reading books by the time she was three. As a child actor, she was busy, but she still carried a full course load in school. Then, she went on to Yale to study French. After she graduated, her work won her 2 Academy Awards: one for The Accused in 1988 and another for The Silence of the Lambs in 1991.
9. James Woods
Photo: Alan Light
James Woods has genius-level IQ, too. His score is 184. With near-perfect scores in his SATs (he achieved 779 on the math SAT and 800 on the verbal SAT) and a political science degree from MIT, Woods is one of the most intellectually gifted celebrities alive.
10. Rashida Jones
Photo: The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
Actress and musician Rashida Jones is a daughter of Quincy Jones. With a Harvard degree in comparative religion, she is also a brilliant person. Even while at Harvard, the daughter of the music legend had plenty of artistic achievements to her credit: music scores for movies and theater, and parts in many plays.
11. Tommy Lee Jones
Photo: filmbug.com
Tommy Lee Jones is an actor with undeniable screen presence. If he weren’t an actor, he could be anything he put his mind to. He went to Harvard and studied English on a scholarship. Incidentally, one of his roommates at Harvard turned out very well, too: he was Al Gore.
More: 10 Incredibly Talented Celebrities Who Ruined Their Careers
For some reason, most actors don’t advertise the fact that they are intellectually gifted. Perhaps they believe that it isn’t a good way to be popular to be seen as extremely superior. Unfortunately, many celebrities are often perceived as unintelligent and it may be because of the characters they play. These ten stars are only some of the smartest celebrities you should know about. There are many others. Did you know about these smart celebrities?