Celebrities may have the spotlight on them and soak up stardom 24/7, but when the lights go off and the paparazzi return home, they become something unexpected...human! I read an article from Dorkly that made me realize that some celebs are just like us geeks and that is very surprising.
Rosario Dawson
Mostly recently known from Marvel's Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and the upcoming Luke Cage (due out this November), the 36 year-old actress is not exactly a stranger to geek culture. Making appearances in films such as Men In Black II, Clerks II, the Sin City films, Percy Jackson, and Eagle Eye, the well-known actress is already a household name.
Dawson is also an enormous trekkie. She can speak and comprehend fractions of Klingon. She has also fronted her very own comic book series, 'O.C.T.: Occult Crimes Taskforce,' a supernatural espionage series with cast composed ofa majority of women. She has always shared a respect for nerd culture, saying:
"Geek to me is a really exclusive, really particular type of club, and it's been really nice to be included. To be called a geek so much lately has been kind of fascinating. I've always wanted to be a geek.", Dorkly reports.
Kanye West
Some of you might have known this, some of you might have seen this coming, and some of you might not have. I did not. I was blown back a bit. Even when I saw this photo:
Yeezy is known for his music and his immense ego, but could you ever have guessed that he has an enormous love for anime? His otaku love even leaked out a little in a long since deleted tweet.
But just because he deleted the tweet doesn't mean that he's necessarily ashamed of his geekiness, revealing in a 'Vogue' magazine interview:
I'm really into fantasy, as you know. I'm obsessed with Walt Disney and Tim Burton and Hayao Miyazaki. Kim is like a fantasy, period. She's like a dream girl. And I think a dream girl should live in a dream world.
Obsessed with Tim Burton? You and me both, Yeezy. You and me both.
Nicholas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an actor with a variety of talents and interests. You'd never guess that he was a quiet, geeky dude in his teens, and absolutely obsessed with comic books. In fact, he changed his name from Nicolas Coppola, not wanting to leech off of the popularity of his uncle, director of The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola, and took the surname Cage from the Marvel superhero 'Luke Cage.' He has also co-written a comic with one of his sons. He named another son Kal-El, Superman's Krypton name.
Cage's comic book collection is considered one of the most impressive. He actually sold his collection back in 2002 for $1.6 million, which included some landmark pieces such as the first comic that featured Robin (fetched for $120k!). However, the collection he sold was incomplete because a bunch of his comics were stolen in the previous year, 2000.
Back in 2011, a mint condition 'Action Comics #1', a comic that features the first appearance of Superman, was found in a storage locker in San Francisco. It was later revealed to be the actor's copy that had been stolen. The comic was valued at $1 million, and in 2011 was rumored to be sold for a world record $2.16 million!
Megan Fox
Don't hold the 'Transformers' and 'TMNT' franchise on her, that blood is on Michael Bay's hands. Career aside, Fox is a bona fide nerd! The actress has said:
I'm a 'Lord of the Rings' fan. And I'll go on the forums and they'll complain that Frodo is eating the Lembas bread outside of Mordor instead of in the Mines of Moria. And they get really mad. You cannot focus completely on pleasing them because you'll never win. They’ll never be happy no matter what you do. Peter Jackson and company won like 30 something Oscars for those movies.
You'd think with her ability to name the entirety of the fellowship in Lord of the Rings, Megan Fox would have already earned an entry into the geeky, hot girl hall of fame. But it doesn't end there. The actress still finds time to be a gamer as in the past, she’s talked about her affinity for Halo and Mortal Kombat at length.
Vin Diesel
While he's known for driving physics defying cars, punching things (like really hard), and snapping necks with a flex of his bicep, Mark Vincent is more likely to use his hands to play a little game of 'Dungeons & Dragons', a fantasy game he's been well-aquanted with for over 20 years, and not the least bit ashamed to embrace his love. In fact, the 48 year-old action star even taught Dame Judi Dench to play on the set of 'Riddick' according to 'Wired.' Somewhere on his body is a tattoo of his player character's name, Melkor. Now, that's hardcore!
And the geek flag keeps on rising as he founded his own gaming development house, Tigon Studios, only because, and get this, he was tired of people making crappy games based on movies!
Natalie Portman
When Golden Globe winner Natalie Portman was 13 years-young, she starred in her first film, Léon: The Professional . Portman was a straight A+ student in high school. While playing the Queen Amidala in The Phantom Menace, she skipped the premiere to study for her final exams which got her into Harvard. You go girl!
She's even authored scientific papers, including one called "A Simple Method To Demonstrate the Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen from Sugar." You probably didn't understand a lick of that did you? This outstanding actress has already outnerdded us all because the only thing nerdier than going to see the new Star Wars movie opening night is skipping the new Star Wars movie to study for a test.
Yvette Nicole-Brown
She plays the ever-so-sassy Shirley Bennett herself from NBC's canceled-too-soon comedy series, Community. The actress has been popping up almost everywhere from Drake & Josh to The Odd Couple. Little did you know that she's quite fond of Rick Grimes and his zombie slaying ensemble from AMC's The Walking Dead. The 44 year old actress has even appeared on six episodes of 'Talking Dead' as a panelist to voice her opinion. Brown has stated that she ships Caryl (Daryl and Carol).
And that wraps up the list. This may be it for now, but you never know what celeb is going to reveal their dork side next. Which celebrity's geekdom surprised you the most? Don't be afraid to let me know in the comments below.