These Celebrities Were Total Nerds Growing Up
Our favorite celebrities might seem like the coolest people on the planet, but deep down, they're geeks just like you or me. Being a nerd is actually a compliment nowadays and it's been helped by the fact A-list celebrities have completely embraced their nerdiness.
Whether you're a nerd who loves all things science or you're just a huge Trekkie, you're not alone. These celebs geek out over things too and they're not afraid to admit it.
Jason Segel Is Not Shy About His Love Of Muppets
Jason Segel's first big break came when he starred in Freaks and Geeks, so it makes sense he has his own nerdy past. Segel is infatuated with The Muppets after growing up in the '80s when they were popular.
Segel doesn't just say he loves The Muppets, he puts it into action. His character in the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall famously sees Segel as a guy trying to write a puppet musical. That dream became a reality in 2011 when he wrote and starred in the musical-comedy film, The Muppets.
Serena Williams Can't Get Enough Of The Last Airbender
When she's not on the tennis court, Serena Williams is a serious sleeper nerd. She shocked us all in 2018 when she took to Twitter to ask a very specific question about Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The tweet proved that not only does Serena know what she's talking about like a real nerd would, but she's sitting around her house just thinking about it and wanting to know more. Unsurprisingly, the Airbender fandom welcomed her with open arms.
Vin Diesel Loves D&D
We know Vin Diesel as the tough guy who punches things hard and walks away slowly when cars explode in the background, but in reality, he's one of the biggest Dungeons & Dragons geeks in Hollywood. He doubled up on his nerdiness with his longtime player name, Melkor, which was inspired by the Tolkien character.
If you need any more convincing, Diesel even taught Dame Judi Dench how to play D&D when they were on set together. We stan a D&D superfan.
Michael B. Jordan Wants You To Know About His Anime Love
Killmonger from Black Panther might seem cool and suave, but he's got a not-so-secret obsession with anime and the internet has tracked it all. In 2011 he tweeted that @AnimeAvenue was his favorite place to get all his anime. In a Vogue interview, Jordan admitted he wanted to visit Tokyo just because of anime.
Finally, in a 2014 PopSugar interview, he was asked what his guilty pleasure is and wrote down anime before getting embarrassed and writing "women" instead.
Rashida Jones Loved Computers Before They Were Cool
Actress Rashida Jones may be the famous daughter of music legend Quincy Jones, but she was a childhood nerd just like you or me. Jones recalls having "a computer with floppy disks and a dial-up modem before it was cool."
Not only was the actress big into computers, but she was also on the math team and ran student government. Her nerdy childhood paid off in the end because now she's making a career out of writing comic books and scripts for films like Toy Story 4.
Kanye West Is An Anime Geek
Ye might have been born in Chicago, but many people don't know that he spent time as a child living in China. He was 10 years old when he went on exchange and quickly picked up the language and culture—including a love for anime. Kanye also is proud of his straight A's grades from the time.
Kanye still loves the art form and in 2011 he took to Twitter to share that there was "no way Spirited Away is better than Akira...NOOO WAAAY."
Natalie Portman Didn't Become A Nerd Until Later In Life
Natalie Portman grew into her nerdiness over time, but we saw it peeking out at a young age. When most of us were in full nerd-swing in high school, she was doing stuff like acting in Star Wars. Still, Portman famously skipped the premiere of The Phantom Menace so that she could study for finals.
When she was in her twenties, Portman also took a step away from Hollywood to attend Harvard. There, she authored scientific papers with impressively nerdy titles like "A Simple Method To Demonstrate the Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen from Sugar."
Donald Glover Is The Internet's Favorite Black Nerd
Donald Glover can do just about anything. He's a comedian, actor, writer, rapper, and producer. He's also a mega-nerd who is a self-proclaimed Black Nerd. He even has a section of his stand-up comedy bit called "Black Nerd."
Glover certified himself as a nerd when playing his character Troy on NBC's Community. The internet then fan-casted him as the next Spider-Man thanks to his deep knowledge of the character. It paid off and Glover actually voiced Miles Morales in Spiderman: Homecoming.
Seth McFarlane Is The Ultimate Nerd
All you have to do is watch one episode of Family Guy to figure out that its creator, Seth McFarlane, is a huge nerd. He constantly slips nerdy references into the show, like the fact they had entire episodes parodying Star Wars.
McFarlane is also a huge nerd when it comes to all things science. He served as an executive producer for Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey and his latest project has been a Star Trek-inspired sci-fi comedy called The Orville.
Ice T Has Been A Gamer Since High School
If you need any proof that rapper Ice T is a hardcore gamer just look at his Twitter handle @FinalLevel. He's been a gamer since his teenage years and to this day loves to call out other gamers online.
Ice T can even be seen on his reality show Ice Loves Coco playing Gears of War and it even got him cast as an in-game character in Gears of War 3. Being a nerd and a celebrity really pays off.
Stephen Colbert Is A True LOTR Fan
One of the reasons why we love Stephen Colbert so much is that he continues to prove his nerd love for the Lord of the Rings. He developed his fascination with science fiction and fantasy novels when he was 10 years old after his father and two brothers died in a plane crash.
He's kept up his love of LOTR and even got Liv Tyler to reenact the famous "If you want him, come and claim him" scene with Colbert.
LOTR Claims Another Mega-Fan With Megan Fox
She may seem like just another Hollywood sex-symbol but there's more to Megan Fox than her appearance. Fox is such a legit Lord of the Rings fan that she actually goes online and trolls other fans about it.
Fox said that she would "go on the forums and complain that Frodo is eating the Lembas bread outside of Mordor instead of in the Mines of Moria." You don't even have to understand what that means to know it's nerdy.
Kevin Smith Has A TV Show About His Love Of Comics
Nothing screams "I was a nerd in high school" like growing up and having a television show about comic books. Kevin Smith is a lifelong comic book fan who has written multiple comic books himself. He's a common sight at Comic-Con and can tell you everything there is to know about Spider-Man.
All of his comic book knowledge has come in handy since he now stars on a nerdy show Comic Book Men. Oh ya, and his daughter is named Harley Quinn.
Nicolas Cage Is A Comic Book Mega-Nerd
Should we have expected anything less from the one and only Nic Cage? The first instance of him embracing his nerdiness came when he was only 15. He changed his last name from Coppola (yes, don't forget he's practically Hollywood royalty) to Cage after being inspired by Marvel Comic hero Luke Cage.
Since the name changed he's lived a life of nerdiness. He owned Action Comics #1 and even named his kid Kal-El after Superman.
Rihanna Designed Her Sunglasses After Star Trek
The "Umbrella" singer recently revealed that growing up in Barbados, she was a huge fan of the Star Trek universe. While she didn't go so far as to call herself a Trekkie, we can assume that she's at least a fan of The Next Generation thanks to one design from her Dior eyewear collection.
One of the sunglasses released by Rihanna's Dior collaboration was inspired by Geordie La Forge's eyepiece. RiRi said she's just also "been obsessed with his eyewear."
Rosario Dawson Is A Die-Hard Trekkie
She might play some interesting characters in films like Sin City, but Rosario Dawson has nerd DNA. The actress is a huge Star Trek fan and is so obsessed that she actually understands and can speak Klingon. She admits that she's not fully fluent but she definitely knows more words than we do.
Dawson also has created her own comic book series titled O.C.T.: Occult Crimes Taskforce, which is basically Men in Black but for the ladies.
Mila Kunis Is Fluent In Russian, Ukranian, English, And Klingon
Mila Kunis doesn't exactly look like a Trekkie but she's unapologetic when it comes to her love of Star Trek. On The Graham Norton Show, she compared Klingon to the Russian language and admitted she has a signed photo of Leonard Nimoy.
After the admission, GQ had to ask Kunis what her favorite Star Trek series was and she did not disappoint. If you're interested her list goes: The Next Generation, The Original Series, Voyager, Deep Space Nine, and finally Enterprise.
Jennifer Garner Had A Natural Geekiness
Jennifer Garner is one of Hollywood's biggest actresses but she admits that she definitely wasn't "the popular one" in high school. Like many of us, Garner couldn't exactly put a finger on what made her a nerd, she just was.
Garner told The Mirror that she was in the school band and that if you asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would say "something like a librarian." That natural geekiness isn't a bad thing though and it all worked out for Garner in the end.
Adam Levine Admitted To Being "Very Uncool"
Nowdays, the lead singer of Maroon 5 is as cool as it gets. He's covered in tattoos, married to a model, and lands No.1 songs on the Bilboard charts. But back in high school, Levine admits he was "very uncool." The singer sported "disgusting long hair" and was apparently "just a nerdy, awkward kid...obsessed with music."
In Levine's defense, he also said he just desperately wanted to be like Eddie Vedder who was pretty darn cool in the '90s.
Taylor Swift Became A Musician Thanks To Her Nerdiness
Taylor Swift was 15 when she hit our airwaves and she definitely didn't try and come off as a popular girl. Swift has said that the reason why she started songwriting was that she "was alone a lot of the time." She even admitted to never getting invited to any parties.
Her nerdiness didn't stop her from becoming a superstar and using her high school experience to her advantage. It turns out the line "She wears short skirts/I wear t-shirts" was truly based on real life.
