13 Celebs Who Are Secret Nerds

Celebrities have fame and fortune, and some of them are also blessed with brains. There are quite a few famous people that have shockingly high IQs. Although many actresses and singers never go to college because they are busy chasing their Hollywood dreams, there are a few stars who have managed to balance their hectic careers and having a traditional education. Some of the celebrities on this list speak several languages fluently, went to an Ivy League college, and have degrees in impressive fields. Others decided to leave school early and use their smarts in alternative ways. Regardless, all of them have lots of skills they can fall back on, not that they need it considering they have super successful careers. You might be surprised to learn that these 13 stars actually have it all. They are good looking, accomplished, rich, and surprisingly smart.

13 Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman may be the perfect woman. She's certainly the only woman who could say she was in Star Wars, is an Oscar winner, is the face of Dior, and also went to Harvard University. Yep, the gorgeous actress is very intelligent. She got her degree in psychology in 2003, right in the middle of her Star Wars fame. She publicly said that school was more important to her than acting - she famously told the New York Post, “I'd rather be smart than a movie star”. Natalie even missed the premiere of Episode I to study for her high school finals. During her time at Harvard, she was a research assistant for renowned law professor Alan Dershowitz. Natalie has also been published in scientific journals two times, once while she was still in high school. She continued her education with graduate courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

12 Mayim Bialik

Mayim Bialik plays a super nerd on the Big Bang Theory, but she's also a certified smarty pants in real life too. Her and her character have a lot in common, including the fact that they are both neuroscientists. Back in the 90s, Mayim was already a successful child actress because of her leading role in Blossom. After the show wrapped up, Mayim was off to college. She chose to go to UCLA so she could stay close to her family, but she was also accepted into Harvard and Yale. The actress graduated with a degree in neuroscience, and she also minored in Hebrew and Jewish studies. After a two year break from school, Mayim was back at UCLA to complete her PhD, also in neuroscience. In addition to her dissertation, she has also published three other books. Two are about parenting and one is a vegan recipe book.

11 Allison Williams

Allison Williams is a name and face we are likely to see more of these days. Now that Girls has finished it's final season, she is making her way to movie screens. You might not know that the talented actress and singer is also a secret nerd. Allison graduated from Yale University just shortly before getting her breakout role in Girls. She majored in English, and was also a part of the school's improv group. Part of the reason why she decided to get a degree before pursuing her acting career was because of a talk she had with her parents, who encouraged her to go to college. By the way, her father is famous news anchor, Brian Williams. Yale was her dream school, and she was honored to have been accepted. Allison has no regrets about putting her career on hold for Yale, and loved her college experience, which she admits included more late night studying than partying.

10 Ashton Kutcher

Ashton Kutcher may have played an idiot on That 70's Show, but the actor is far from stupid in real life. Ashton may not have gone to a fancy college, but he sure has turned into quite the businessman. He also reportedly has an IQ of 160, which is significantly higher than average. Ashton did go to college at the University of Iowa, but he ended up dropping out after landing a modeling contract. He admits he never really took school seriously and spent way too much time partying instead of studying. After becoming a successful actor, Ashton began to follow his passion for investing. He opened a venture capital firm and has personally invested in Airbnb, Skype, and Foursquare. The businessman also invests in restaurants. Ashton was even brought on as a product engineer for Lenovo in 2013. Needless to say, Ashton is a smart guy with many talents.

9 James Franco

James Franco may come off like your average stoner, but he's likely a lot smarter than you would think. He never seriously considered his education options until he was already a well-known actor. He enrolled in UCLA in 2006 with a major in English. Due to his crazy work schedule, the school allowed him to take up to 62 credits a semester, which is way more than the standard 19 credits. James was known for having intense study sessions on set, particularly while he was filming Spider Man 3. In 2 years, he got his undergraduate degree with a 3.5 GPA. The actor continued his education in New York by attending Columbia University's MFA Writing program, New York University's filmmaking classes, and Brooklyn College's fiction writing courses. All of that still wasn't enough for James, he wound up going to Yale to work on his PhD in English.

8 Jordana Brewster

Jordana Brewster is best known for her role as Mia in the Fast and Furious films, but the actress and model should also get credit for being one of the smartest stars in Hollywood. Jordana graduated from Yale University in 2003 with a degree in English. She was already a recognizable celebrity by the time she enrolled, but she decided to pursue a college education regardless of her blossoming career. Jordana's grandfather was actually the president of Yale from 1963 to 1977, so she definitely comes from an educated family. Her father is an investment banker, and her mother was a swimsuit model, and it seems like Jordana got both the looks and brains from her parents. The gorgeous actress is also bilingual - she can speak Portuguese fluently. Fun fact, before heading to Yale, Jordana attended the same school in Manhattan as Lady Gaga and Paris Hilton.

7 Kate Beckinsale

Kate Beckinsale proves that you really can have beauty and brains. She reportedly was able to read at an advanced level from the time she was a child. In grade school, she stood out because her reading level was comparable to an 11 year old when she was just 6. Kate was always a good student, and excelled even before attending college. She had been awarded two WH Smith Young Writers Awards for fiction and poetry by the time she started her university education. Kate decided to go to New College, Oxford to study French and Russian literature. She also studied a year abroad in France. Although she was doing well in school, Kate decided to leave the college in order to focus on her acting and modeling career. The actress is still interested in modern languages, and reportedly speaks French, Russian, and German fluently.

6 Ken Jeong

Ken Jeong is a master of comedy, and he's also a master of internal medicine. That's right, our favorite funny guy is actually a legitimate doctor. Long before his acting career began, Ken was your average medical student, up studying all night for extremely difficult exams. He graduated from Duke University and then got his M.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. He completed his residency in New Orleans where he was also performing stand up comedy at local clubs. Ken is licensed to practice in California, but these days he's focused on acting. Although we're glad to see Ken on our tv screens, we would have also loved to have him as a doctor! Ken was a smart guy before med school - he graduated at 16 and was an active student. He participated in academic contests, was in the orchestra, and was also in the student council.

5 Rashida Jones

It may surprise you to learn that the beautiful Rashida Jones has been a nerd her whole life. In high school, she was part of the honor society and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by her classmates. She attended the same California school where Kim Kardashian and Nicole Richie went. Rashida remembers being interested in computers before it was socially acceptable and admits she was a geek growing up. After high school, Rashida headed to Harvard where she studied religion and philosophy. She had originally considering going to Harvard Law School, but decided against it after being disappointed by the OJ Simpson trial. She wound up actively participating in school plays and also was heavily involved with an a cappella group. Rashida can play the piano and is reportedly a gifted songwriter and singer. Yep, she can sing, act, is stunning, and graduated from Harvard.

4 Ke$ha

Ke$ha may have written some questionable lyrics, but secretly, the singer is sort of a genius. The pop star says she never fit in at school because of her unique outfits and because she was super smart. She did find some comfort in joining the school's marching band. It's been reported that Ke$ha's IQ is roughly 140, which is insanely high. She also crushed her SATs and scored almost perfect results. She was offered a full scholarship to the prestigious Barnard College, but ended up turning it down to pursue her singing career. The singer admits to sneaking into local college classes on the Cold War just because she was curious to learn more about the topic. Ke$ha wants the world to know that she isn't a dumb celebrity. She told Billboard magazine that she's not “just a little pop moron”. Perhaps her party girl songs are all just part of her singer persona.

3 Matt Damon

Matt Damon is one of the most talented celebrities of our generation. He's an Academy Award winning actor, an amazing screenwriter, and he also went to Harvard University. Matt's mother was an early childhood education professor, so he was raised to take school seriously. He did well academically in high school, but mostly focused on his school's theatre productions, which he participated in with his friend Ben Affleck. Once he started college, he began writing the screenplay for Good Will Hunting as part of an English class assignment. He continued to participate in plays while in Harvard while majoring in English. Matt actually never completed the courses required for him to graduate, but he did sneak into the graduation ceremony despite not receiving a degree. In 2016, he delivered a commencement speech to graduates at MIT and offered some encouraging words to the recent grads.

2 John Legend

John Legend is not just a gifted musician, he's also quite book smart. John was home-schooled instead of attending a grade school, but by the time he was 12 he started going to a public school where he excelled. He was the salutatorian of his graduating class, and was accepted into Harvard and Georgetown, but decided to attend the University of Pennsylvania instead. He majored in English and studied African-American literature. John was also a member of the Sphinx Senior Society while he was at UPenn, an organization that is extremely exclusive and difficult to get into. As if that wasn't enough, he was also a member of a second honor society, the Onyx Senior Honor Society. John waited until after graduation to really focus on his music career. Before making it big as a singer and songwriter, he worked as a management consultant for Boston Consulting Group.

1 Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster is an extremely successful actress, but she could have pursued many alternative careers. Adults noticed Jodie was gifted from a very young age. She reportedly could read by the time she was three. She attended a French prep-school, where she learned how to speak the language fluently. She also understands a good deal of German, Spanish, and Italian. After graduating high school at the top of her class, Jodie took a break and decided to pursue her acting career before continuing on to college. Once she was satisfied with her acting resume, Jodie decided to attend Yale University, which is where her father went as well. She majored in English and graduated magna cum laude. Her thesis focused on the work of Toni Morrison. Jodie was asked to give a speech for Yale's graduating class in 1993. Years after graduating, the school gave Jodie an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.