The Other Side Of Beautiful Faces: The Brilliant Minds That Our Film Stars Have

By Shibika Suresh:

Movie stars make us cry, laugh, and contemplate and we can watch them for hours altogether. We want to wear what they do and want the lives that they live. We steal their jokes and their pick-up lines. The paparazzi stalk them incessantly, and if they get up to say something, the whole world pauses to listen. But beyond exceedingly good-looks, well-toned bodies and charisma, many of them are very well-educated about which a lot of people probably have no idea. Let us take a look at 10 such well-known names:

Rowan Atkinson: He is known as the recluse who engineered his way to stardom. Atkinson, best known for his work on the sitcoms Mr. Bean and Blackadder, is a graduate of Oxford University and has completed his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering.

Meryl Streep: The American actress is regarded as one of the most talented actresses of the modern era. Just like Streep’s acting career, her college education is astral. It includes studying Drama at Dartmouth College, Vassar College and Yale University. She holds a Masters Degree in Drama from the latter.

James Franco: He is known to experiment in a ton of various professions and projects. He is, indeed, a man of many talents and attended quite a few prestigious schools, as well. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California Los Angeles (where he graduated with a GPA above 3.5), received an Master of Fine Arts from Columbia, studied film at New York University, and is currently enrolled at Yale University but has yet to receive a degree.

Anne Hathaway: Anne Jacqueline Hathaway came to prominence after playing Mia Thermopolis in Disney’s adaptation of Princess Diaries. Her performance in The Dark Knight Rises (2012) earned her rave reviews while Les Miserables (2012) earned her an Oscar. She spent a lot of semesters studying as an English major and Women’s Studies minor at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York before transferring to New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

Natalie Portman: She has been regarded as the true personification of beauty with brains. She has a reputation in the industry for being brainy, and with good reason. The actress attended Harvard University and emerged with a degree in Psychology in 2003. She also speaks Hebrew, French, Arabic, German and Japanese.

Hugh Grant: One of Britain’s best known faces, Hugh Grant has been equally entertaining on-screen as well as in real life. Grant earned a scholarship to New College, a part of England’s Oxford University. He graduated with honours with a degree in English literature.

Famke Janssen: At age 48, Famke Janssen is still a gorgeous Hollywood beauty, has been a Bond girl and the love interest of one of the X-Men. Janssen studied economics for a year at the University of Amsterdam, after which she enrolled at the University of Columbia to study Creative Writing and Literature.

Amisha Patel: She may not have had a splendid acting career, but this Bollywood actress did her graduation in Economics at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts and even earned a gold medal in her subject.

Preity Zinta: Preity Zinta shot to fame as the refreshing, cool, wet model in the Liril commercial. She also modeled for Perk and her dimpled smile won the hearts of millions. She has appeared in blockbuster films like Kal Ho Naa Ho (2007) and Koi Mil Gaya (2003). She did her graduation in English with Honors after which she pursued further with Graduation in Psychology and even earned a Post Graduate Degree in Criminal Psychology.

Soha Ali Khan: The Pataudi Princess attented Balliol College at Oxford University. After her graduation she has also earned a Masters degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. The actress has been seen in movies like Rang De Basanti and Dil Maange More.