When you look at the shiny white smiles walking the red carpet into their blockbuster movie premieres you may not realise that there is also a college degree in that dinner jacket.
 |
Natalie PortmanPsychology BSc, Harvard Natalie didn’t make the premiere of Star Wars Episode I because she was studying for her high school finals. She then went on to study Psychology at Harvard whilst filming the subsequent Star Wars titles. She’s quoted as saying “I’d rather be smart than a movie star.” |
 |
Denzel WashingtonDrama and Journalism BA, Fordham University Washington’s academic career initially lacked any real focus. He was originally interested in attending Texas Tech University because the college football team shared the same name and a similar uniform to his high school’s own side. A change of heart led him to Fordham. Washington dropped out of Fordham for a semester to work as a counselor at an overnight summer camp in Lakeville CT. During his time as a counselor he took part in a staff talent show where somebody casually suggested he think about a career as an actor. With renewed enthusiasm, Washington returned to Fordham and enroled on acting courses and gained the lead roles in several plays where critics loved him. After graduating Washington spent a year at the American Conservatory Theaer in San Fransisco before leaving to start his acting career in New York. |
 |
Kevin CostnerBusiness BA, California State University (Fullerton) Costner discovered his love of acting during his college years, but didn’t pursue it as a profession until after graduation. A chance meeting with Richard Burton on a flight during Costner’s honeymoon gave him some perspective. A job he was due to start in marketing lasted just a month before he took to acting professionally. |
 |
Donald SutherlandDouble major in Engineering and Drama, University of Toronto After graduating from the University of Toronto with a double major in Engineering and Drama, Sutherland set his sights on a career as an engineer, considering acting as more of a hobby. Although after spending some time in a Toronto comedy troupe called “UC Follies”, he found his true calling and moved to London to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. |
 |
Cate BlanchettEconomics and Fine Arts, University of Melbourne Blanchett’s interest in acting goes back to her secondary/high school years in Melbourne. After graduating from the University of Melbourne, Blanchett travelled to Egypt where she was asked to be a film extra. On her return to Australia she enroled at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney to pursue a career as an actor. |
 |
Renée ZellwegerEnglish BA, University of Texas at Austin After high school (where she was on the cheerleader team and voted ‘best looking’ of her 1987 graduating class), Zellweger went on to study English at the University of Texas. She had no intention on a career in acting until she took a drama course to make up the credits she needed for her English degree. The course made her realise how much she enjoyed acting and after graduating she sought a career in acting in and around the Houston area, starring in at least one beef commercial before Hollywood came calling. |
 |
Forest WhitakerActing BA, University of Southern California Whitaker initially went to Cat Poly Pomona on a football scholarship, but after a back injury he sustained during a training session, Whitaker transferred to University of Southern California to study acting and opera as a tenor. Subsequently he was accepted into the university’s Drama Conservatory which helped in turn him win a scholarship to the Berkeley, California branch of the Drama Studio London. |
 |
Tommy Lee JonesEnglish BA, Harvard Jones is a Harvard graduate. He was roommates with Al Gore and John Lithgow. Jones played offensive tackle on Harvard’s undefeated 1968 varsity football team. He graduated cum laude in 1969. |
 |
Jerry SeinfeldCommunications and Theatre BA, Queens College, City University of New York Seinfeld attended SUNY Oswego but transferred to Queens College after his sophomore year. He developed an interest in stand-up comedy during his time at college, and after graduation tried out at an open mic night, leading him to an appearance on a Rodney Dangerfield HBO special. |
 |
Adam SandlerFine Arts BA, New York University Like Jerry Seinfeld, Sandler started performing at stand-up nights during his college years. Known for making references to his youth in his work, his song ‘Lunchlady Land’ is about Emalee, the lunchlady at Hayden Dining Hall at New York University. |
 |
Matthew McConaugheyFilm Direction, University of Texas at Austin A member of the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity at the University of Texas, McConaughey balanced his acting career and education whilst at university. He was still studying when he filmed Dazed and Confused. He graduated in 1993. |
 |
Maggie GyllenhaalLiterature and Eastern Religions BA, University of Columbia The daughter of a director and screenwriter, there was a fair chance Gyllenhaal would pursue a career in the movies. Before her career as an actress, Gyllenhaal studied Literature and Eastern Religions at the University of Columbia. Interestingly her brother Jake also enroled on the same program, but didn’t graduate. After graduating in 1999 she went on to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. |
 |
David DuchovnyEnglish Literature BA, Princeton Duchovny’s possibly one of the more academically distinguished member of Hollywood society. Alumni to two of America’s top colleges, he has also received praise from the Academy of American Poets for his poetry. Duchovny almost completed a Phd. The title of his doctoral thesis was “Magic and Technology in Contemporary Poetry and Prose.” |
 |
Jodie FosterLiterature BA, Yale Foster had a rough time at Yale, where she was agressively stalked by John Hinckley Jr. He went on to attempt to assassinate then president Ronald Reagan, claiming that his motivation was that he wanted to impress Foster. The unwanted media attention meant she was constantly chased by the press through campus, leading her to take a year-long leave of absence. |
 |
Ashley JuddFrench BA, University of Kentucky Judd majored in French, and minored in anthropology, art history, theatre and women’s studies. As part of her major she spent a semester in France. She graduated in 2007, although mistakingly believed she was a few credits short of graduating. During an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show, DeGeneres presented Judd with her diploma. She’s now continuing her education at Harvard. |
 |
Will FerrellSports Information BSc, University of Southern California Ferrell studied sports broadcasting at USC graduating in 1990. Although he realised his own talent for comedy from an early age, Ferrell only joined a comedy group after graduating from USC as a member of The Groundlings. |
 |
Eva Longoria ParkerKinesiology BSc, Texas A&M University-Kingsville Eva originally set out to be a model, but was rejected because of her height (she’s a pint-sized 5′2″). Accepting she may not be destined for fame, she completed a degree in kinisiology (the study of human movement) at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. After college Eva won a talent contest that took her to LA. In LA she was spotted by a theatrical agent her career as an actor took off. |
 |
Tim AllenTelevision Production BA, Western Michigan University Allen’s notorious cocaine problem blighted his college years. He graduated from WMU in 1975 to set out as a comedian, although further problems with drugs led to his arrest in 1978 and a two year custodial sentence. |
 |
Meryl StreepDrama BA, Vassar College Streep attended Vassar College, a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York. She was briefly tutored by Jean Arthur (movie actor from the 1940s known for her ’screwball comedy’ roles). She was an exchange student at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire for a short time, and eventually enrolled at Yale School of Drama where she earned an MFA. |
 |
Lisa KudrowBiology BS, Vassar College Like Meryl Streep, Kudrow also attended Vassar College. She gained a degree in biology there with the intention to assist her father’s research into headaches (her father is Dr Lee N. Kudrow, a physician and headache researcher). She was on her father’s research team for eight years, earning her a research credit for his study on the comparative likelihood of left-handed individuals developing cluster headaches (Kudrow is left-handed herself). Her brother’s childhood friend Jon Lovitz convinced her to join The Groundlings comedy group (joining Will Ferrell). |
product.
7 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.
Hey there,
Nice site, I just stumbled upon it and I am already a fan.
Really nice posts. I will be checking back here regularly.
very cool i never knew that many famous people went to harvard
The scope of working in entertainment is not at all limited within acting and direction. If one really dreams to build up an entertainment career there are various other job options in the industry that he or she can opt for. Jobs like script writing. Music mixing, photography, set designing are given huge importance in the film industry and production houses and film studios look for young, talented people for such jobs.
Continuing the Discussion