Brains to Burn: Seven Surprisingly Smart Superstars

There we were thinking they had it all already; big houses, fancy cars and lots of money. And that’s without mentioning that their day job takes them off to exotic locations to work and socialise with the cream of the Hollywood crop.

But now Her.ie has found a number of celebrities who, as well as all that, also have brains to burn! Instead of venting our jealousy we thought it would much more fun, and productive, to celebrate these surprisingly smart superstars.

1. Natalie Portman – This award-winning actress isn’t just blessed with being one of the prettiest stars in Hollywood but is also rather talented in the language department. And we’re not just talking one. She is said to be fluent in Hebrew but has also studied French, Japanese, Arabic and German. Guess the studios know who to turn to for help with their subtitles!

2. Quentin Tarantino – From Pulp Fiction to Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino’s expertise as a film director is plain for all to see. But it’s not all about butt-kicking assassins, Nazi-killing Americans and burger-eating mob members for the Tennessee-born filmmaker. He’s also reported as having an IQ of 160. Not just a movie mastermind then.

3. Geena Davis – While she might not be smart enough in Beetlejuice not to utter his name three times, Geena Davis certainly has brains in reality. Not only is she a member of Mensa but she is fluent in Swedish as well. As if that’s not enough, she is also prone to playing a few musical instruments including the piano and the drums. We know Geena, we find it hard being super talented too!

4. James Franco – It seems that James Franco’s academic career is starting to give his film career a real competition. He now has more letters after his name than the first letter of the alphabet. In between shooting all those films he’s managed to become a master of the fine arts and is now thought to be setting his sights on a second PhD at the University of Houston. We always knew there was something more to him than that pretty face.

5. Shakira – You might know her best for her catchy tunes and bum-shaking dance routines but there is more to the Columbian singer than meets the eye. With an IQ of 140 it’s no surprise that she is multi-lingual and was even offered a position in the Obama administration. First stop The White House, next stop… we’re not quite sure where’s left to go from there.

6. Steve Martin – Funny man Steve Martin has more to offer the world than just his jokes. He is also a musician and majored in philosophy. He allegedly had his heart set on becoming a professor before picking a career in acting. To be honest we’re glad he did. We just can’t imagine anyone else playing George Banks in Father of the Bride.

7. Lisa Kudrow – Despite playing a ditsy hippy in hit show Friends, Lisa Kudrow proved she had more going on in that beautiful blonde head of hers by working in the medical research field for eight years before turning to acting. And we thought Smelly Cat was her greatest achievement!

We can’t speak on your behalf but we were genuinely taken aback by some of these hidden talents. Guess you can’t judge a book by its cover no matter how much you think you know about it.