It’s easy to brush off a famous person as someone with limited interests, but some celebs live double lives as straight-up geeks. Whether they have PhDs in neuroscience, are ‘Star Wars’ mega-fans, or have published academic papers, these A-listers are true brainiacs.
Natalie Portman
The Oscar-winning actress is not only a Harvard University graduate, she has also been published twice on scientific journals and has an Erdős–Bacon number of 7.
Mayim Bialik
The actress behind Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler didn’t just play a neuroscientist on the hit show ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ she’s one in real life, too! The actress has a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA.
Robin Williams
The late actor was a self-proclaimed gamer, anime, and comic books lover. He even named his daughter Zelda after the Nintendo Princess, and some of his favorite anime included 'Cowboy Bebop' and 'Ghost in the Shell.'
Justin Bieber
Biebs is not only a huge pop star, he's actually a bit of a nerd too. He's a big fan of the popular toy Rubik's Cube, and he's known for being able to solve the complicated puzzle in under two minutes.
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leo is an avid 'Star Wars' fan, and used to have a massive collection of figurines, which he ended up auctioning off in 2006 to raise money for his nonprofit environmental association. He's a good nerd!
Stephen Colbert
The talk show host is a huge sci-fi addict, and has closely followed J.R.R. Tolkien's work and the 'Star Wars' saga. He even had a cameo in the 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.'
Mila Kunis
The actress is a well-known fan of the video game 'World of Warcraft,' and her character's name was "Captainpicard"—Patrick Stewart's character in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation.'
Daniel Radcliffe
It would be shocking if Harry Potter wasn't a nerd, right? He's such a 'Star Wars' fan, he even visited the set of 'The Force Awakens' and met his heroes, Harrison Ford and J. J. Abrams.
Megan Fox
Fox was a big comic book reader growing up, and she also loves anime. It's no wonder she starred in 'Transformers' and the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' live-action movies!
Nicolas Cage
The actor is legally a geek. He changed his surname from "Coppola" to "Cage," after superhero Luke Cage. He also named his son "Kal-El," which is Superman's birth name.
Colin Firth
The Oscar-winning actor is also a scientist! He has been credited as the co-author of an academic paper on human brains, as reported by the BBC.
Cindy Crawford
Everybody knows Cindy Crawford as a hugely successful model, but did you know she was a major in chemical engineering in college? She got in with a scholarship, but dropped out to focus on modeling.
Lisa Kudrow
The 'Friends' star has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Vassar College, in New York. She helped her father, who's a doctor, with his research on headaches for eight years.
