Whether we want it or not, celebrities are a key part of our society. As you gain in popularity from your entertainment deeds, your social arm increases. As your social arm increases, your leverage on the masses will increase as well.
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A lot of the focus tends to be on people like the Kardashians. Celebrities that are popular for their own celebrity. The rest of the time it seems that the focus is on a lot of the time people focus on the Kardashians or celebrities who are committing crimes or getting in trouble.
It’s unfortunate that more people aren’t focused on the celebrities with high IQ’s. These intelligent people can do some magnificent work in the entertainment spectrum and elsewhere.
Let’s take a look at the celebrities with the highest IQ and what they have done with it!
Ken Jeong – 130 IQ
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Imagine if you will, a small Korean man gives up his life as a physician to instead pursue a career in comedy. That’s exactly what Ken Jeong chose to do. When Jeong was in high school, he showed off his mind by playing violin for his school orchestra. He also played for his school “High IQ” team. That team is an academic quiz game for high school students. Two schools or two teams would compete against each other for academic supremacy! Jeong went to Duke University and then med school at North Carolina.
When people see the comedy stylings of Ken Jeong they are shocked to learn of his medical career. He’s often full of physical or gross comedy and is very willing to play the “villain” as his time in the Hangover series has shown.
Jeong is now the writer and executive producer of his new show Dr. Ken on ABC. The show mirrors Ken’s life in many ways as he plays a doctor who has a secret dream of following comedy. The show is a fairly paint by numbers situational comedy, but Jeong has a large array of past stories from himself and colleagues to pull from. This allows the show to be both humorous and intellectually accurate!
Nicole Kidman – 132 IQ
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Nicole Kidman is a woman who handles herself with the utmost class. That class is evident in everything she does. Kidman chooses her roles with aplomb and tries to find films that require thought and intelligence. Kidman is a huge supporter of independent films and biographical pictures. Her belief in independent film and independent thought has borne out some great films and some award nominations for Kidman as well. Kidman’s talent combined with the intelligence of the writing has made her a constant threat to take home major awards. Kidman currently has one Oscar for best actress, but she’s aiming for more.
Kidman has used her mind as a goodwill ambassador for Unicef. She’s trying to help change the lives of poor children around the world. Unicef has been in operation for 70 years now and Kidman has been working with them for 22 years. Kidman showed some great intelligence in her choice to divorce Tom Cruise. She cite Cruise’s belief in the “Church” of Scientology’s beliefs and that she wanted her children to be able to grow up and think their own thoughts. Kidman is a dual citizen between the United States and Australia. That means that’s she’s one of the most intelligent celebrities on not just one, but two continents.
Kate Beckinsale – 132 IQ
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Kate Beckinsale may be best known for kicking ass in her Underworld series of movies, but it’s not her physical moves and beautiful visage that got her through her education.
Beckinsale two multiple WH Smith Young Writers Awards while she was in her formative years. Beckinsale didn’t write just one style, but she was awarded for both her fiction work as well as her poetic skills. Her University education consisted of going to one of Oxford’s Satellite locations, New College. While she was in University, she studied literature. But not being satisfied with just studying English literature, she also studied French literature. And considering French was too common, she also managed to learn to read Russian literature as well.
Beckinsale wanted to be an actress from a young age and also took acting classes and training while she worked on her literary education. The combination of acting and literature is a natural combination for someone with her IQ and it’s given her an advantage as she’s continued her acting career. Writers who turn into actors see the scripts they are given and naturally can feel how to enhance or change the script for their character to improve the role. Beckinsale will continue her butt kicking style, but in her mind she might be reciting her role in three different languages at once.
Jodie Foster – 132 IQ
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Jodie Foster proves that child actors can make it as successes later in life without emotional damage. It does help that Foster has her large brain and high IQ to fall back on in that regard. Despite her burgeoning career, Foster wasn’t entirely sure if she was going to be a star. So she chose the sensible route and went to University. Not only did she go to University, but she went to Yale, one of the greatest schools in the nation. Despite her academic responsibilities, Foster still managed to perform in films during her summers. Unfortunately her summer films were never particularly successful. Because of that, she decided she was going to do graduate school. Graduate school in the Ivy League takes some serious brain power.
However before she could begin her graduate studies, Foster filmed “The Accused” and from that point on she became a star. The film was gritty and uncomfortable. The subject (a gang rape where the victim gets blamed) It wasn’t a great film for viewers but critics were all over it. Foster continued to break through with multiple roles. The Accused got her award nominations from the Academy Awards as well as the Golden Globe awards. Foster put her graduate school plans on hand.
James Franco – 133 IQ
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Franco is known for being a method actor who dives into his roles and abandons anything but the character he has become. Franco has always put that intensity and focus into his education in addition to his acting ability. Franco enrolled at UCLA for English, but ended up dropping out when he learned he couldn’t enroll in acting for over two years. Franco decided to re-enroll several years later and complete his English degree while still acting. Franco received special dispensation to take on three times the normal course load. He did this all while playing Harry Osborn in Spiderman 3.
Franco finished his undergraduate degree with a 3.5 GPA. He chose to move to New York because he wanted to pursue a Master’s degree at Columbia University in their writing program. Beyond that he’s now pursuing a PhD in English at Yale. Franco has also been known to teach. He’s taught courses on how to turn poetry into short films. Franco’s passion for education is something he shares with those around him. He may have received a reputation for being a goofy stoner, but there’s an artistic and complicated mind in there working away. While filming Pineapple Express, he would take breaks and read the ancient greek epic “The Iliad”. Not a lot of celebs spend their downtime reading Homer.
Tommy Lee Jones – 135 IQ
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The most famous line of Tommy Lee Jones’ career came in “The Fugitive”. As he was playing the United States Marshall hunting down Dr. Richard Kimble. When he catches Kimble, Kimble says “I didn’t kill my wife” and Tommy Lee Jones in his typical drawl states “I don’t care!”. That movie may have made Jones’ mark on Hollywood with his first Oscar, but the real Jones did care, and cared about everything.
Jones is a Harvard man. There’s a certain association that goes along with people who attend Harvard. Jones didn’t get there because his family was full of money. He got there on merit from school and received a scholarship. While at Harvard, Jones managed to succeed both academically and athletically. Jones played football for Harvard and in 1968 they went undefeated. Jones stayed in the same dorm and became friends with a young Al Gore. In their later years they roomed together. Jones didn’t just stumble through his education. Despite his athletic training, Jones graduated cum laude with his Bachelor of Arts in English. That’s definitely an achievement at a school like Harvard.
While Jones did several blockbuster payday movies, he would consistently come back to intelligent movies requiring great acting skill. When Jones played in Lincoln along with Daniel Day Lewis, he may have reached the peak of his intense movie career. He was nominated for basically every movie award in North America for his role.
Arnold Schwarzenegger – 135 IQ
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If muscles stored brain cells, Arnold could be even higher on this list. Schwarzenegger is often dismissed as a muscle bound dope due to his physique and his accent. The truth is that accent is hiding a frighteningly intelligent man who has now proven it. In his early days Schwarzenegger did not excel in school, though he also wasn’t an abject failure. The pressures of an extreme family situation with a strict father who preferred his brother and had been part of the Nazi party didn’t help things and may have detracted from his natural intelligence shining through.
While he was competing in the Mr. Universe competitions Schwarzenegger also attended business school. Considering the four to six hours of training he had to do daily, fitting in business school in the little time remaining was a great feat.
One of the biggest representations of Schwarzenegger’s intelligence was how he handled his business career and becoming Governor. Schwarzenegger didn’t just rely on films. While still young he started a bricklaying company. The company thrived thanks to demand caused by the San Fernando earthquake back in 1971. Schwarzenegger would invest in multiple chains or companies throughout his tenure. Most famously may be the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain. Schwarzenegger was not averse to cutting his ties with investments if they didn’t do well. He kept himself abreast of all of his dealings. Once he became Governor he had to handle an entire State’s decision making and wealth. As a republican, Schwarzenegger was not afraid to cross party lines and actually hired a Democrat as his chief of staff. He grew into a true moderate and after a rocky start, he really did an excellent job as Governor. It’s just another sign that celebs with high IQ’s can accomplish a lot of things!
Emma Watson – 138 IQ
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The girl who warmed our hearts as Hermione Granger has grown up into one of the most fascinating and well spoken women in the world. Emma Watson will forever be known by her association with the Harry Potter franchise. But while filming those 8 movies she finished high school and then was able to attend Brown University. She graduated in 5 years instead of 4 due to her movie workload. Watson has overcome ADHD since childhood and is proof that some children can benefit from medication to help unlock their potential.
As Emma grew into adulthood, she also grew into her belief in working for women’s rights. Emma has already been recognized as a world leader in crusading for things. She’s described her belief in women’s rights as coming from the age of 8. She was labelled as bossy and demanding as a young girl. She noticed that boys of her age didn’t get that label. They were considered to be perfectionists or full of ambition. Watson has started book clubs for women’s rights, given speeches and published essays for them. Watson has also started a campaign for men to stand up for women’s rights. Watson’s peak came as she was requested to give a speech at the United Nations. Watson did so, and immediately received threats from men through social media that only helped motivate her further. She’s continued to campaign for gender equality despite the threats and has been a women’s ambassador.
Hillary Clinton – 140 IQ
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Whether you believe Hillary Clinton is a good politician or not, you can’t deny that she’s an intelligent woman. Perhaps too much so at times, but her mind has allowed her to accomplish so much.
Clinton’s educational background is impeccable. Clinton majored in political science (no surprise there) and attached Wellesley College. Many may be surprised to learn that Clinton was the head of the young republicans during her time there. She admitted that her outlook on life changed thanks to the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war, and that’s why she became a democrat. Clinton had a lot of interaction through summer programs and conventions with politics and clearly was interested in the topic. Clinton moved on to Yale Law school after her undergraduate degree was complete. This was an impressive move for a woman at the time. Women were still not given the same credit that men were in the early 1970s.
Clinton’s political career does show off her boisterous IQ. She served two terms as a Senator, she became the U.S. Secretary of State and she became the first woman to ever run for President. While that was ultimately fruitless, that may have actually been a part of her high IQ backfiring with the masses.
Natalie Portman – 140 IQ
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Portman is another famous Harvard graduate. Though her joke rap with the Lonely Island suggests she didn’t get through in the conventional path. According to her rap, she smoked weed every day, cheated on every test and snorted all of the Cocaine. Now obviously that wasn’t the case, but showed a willingness towards self depreciating humor. Portman graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. School was potentially damaging to her career, but Portman once famously told the New York Post “I’d rather be smart than a movie star.” Portman actually chose to do some post graduate work in Israel. She went to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for her studies there. Portman has managed to get her research papers published in journals multiple times.
Portman doesn’t limit her education just to formal schooling. She loves languages and has managed to study French, Arabic, German and Japanese. Portman has been a guest lecturer in the past based on various subjects gleaned from her movie. She lectured on terrorism and counter-terrorism after her starring role in V for Vendetta.
Portman’s career has mostly been filled with intelligent and critically acclaimed movies like Black Swan. There’s been the occasional aberration now and then. Her time in the Star Wars prequels were certainly not celebrated. When Portman’s skills can’t save the dialogue in a movie, you know it’s been terribly constructed.
Ke$ha – 140 IQ
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Kesha is one of the most unexpected people on here, but has a truly beautiful mind. Kesha struggled through a difficult childhood. She was raised in an incredibly poor single parent home. Her mother was a songwriter and was her inspiration in becoming a songwriter herself. Kesha moved around some as a child. Beyond that, Kesha had difficulty relating with her fellow students throughout high school. Her hair and clothing made her different and made her an easy target for other students to mock and abuse.
Kesha showed them all up as she took her SATs. Anyone who’s taken that test knows they are incredibly comprehensive and can be incredibly difficult. Kesha took the test. She didn’t just excel, she came incredibly close to a perfect score. Universities and Colleges were very interested in Kesha. Kesha was offered a full ride scholarship for a University education. Despite that, she turned it down for her music career.
Kesha is first and foremost a songwriter before she’s a performer. She’s written for some of the best acts in the world including Britney Spears. Her IQ comes through in her songwriting. She’s put all of her intelligence into her writing and it shines through.
Shakira – 140 IQ
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Shakira has spent her entire career dancing. When Shakira was four, her father took her out to dinner. There, she heard her first taste of middle eastern music and started dancing on the table. It was the early start and first stirrings of the talent she was going to show off.
Shakira owed her impressive talent to her rather. He helped inspire her. She would watch as he worked on the typewriter when she was a child. Even at a tender age, Shakira was full of creative power. She received a typewriter at the age of 7 so she could emulate her Father. Rather than writing childish stories at the age of 7, she wrote poetry. Shakira turned those poems into songs eventually. Her first song was about her Father and the dark glasses he wore. Her father wore those to hide his eyes from people after the passing of son when Shakira was only 2 years old.
Shakira has been able to mix so many blends and genres of music together. It’s an ability she has that almost no one can match. It’s her skills that’s allowed her to blend music from multiple worlds and multiple languages into the pop sensation music she’s provided. She’s a child prodigy when it comes to music. Considering her first record was released at the age of 13. She’s had a long and successful career that started as a child prodigy.
Mindy Kaling – 140 IQ
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Kaling hails from incredibly intelligent parents and this may be part of her bearing such a large IQ. Kaling’s mother was a doctor and her father was an architect. Kaling herself has delighted and entertained millions since her decision to go into acting and comedy. Kaling has the kind of personality that lights up a room. She may play a “ditz” sometimes, but behind the fake vapid exterior is a mind capable of incredible things.
Most people know Kaling from her role on “The Office”, but what most people don’t know is that she was also the best writer that show ever had. Channeling her creative mind, Kaling wrote 25 episodes of the show and her fast wit was evident throughout.
After working on the Office, Kaling managed to both write and produce “The Mindy Project”. The Mindy project has been a cult hit and despite being cancelled on network TV, it was picked up by Hulu for two online seasons. Watching the Mindy project gives the viewer multiple levels of humor in each episode and a show that’s both funny and insightful.
In addition to her acting and writing for television, she’s written multiple books as well. Through these memoir style books she’s been able to help shed light on her life and the challenges that she’s been through due to her Indian heritage.
Madonna – 141 IQ
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This may be a good time to remind people that IQ and “Crazy” are not always mutually exclusive. Madonna is a one of a kind entertainer to be sure. Madonna has managed to stay relevant and popular far longer than your standard entertainer. This isn’t just about her music, but it’s about the way she uses her mind to manipulate people’s perceptions about her. Madonna has undergone so many style transitions over her time in the spotlight. These style changes have allowed her to seem fresh and new. The worst thing an entertainer can do is become stale and old news. Her image changes have allowed Madonna to remain fresh and influential. Because of her near constant influence for the last 35 years, she’s become powerful as well as influential. When Madonna makes statements, there is a large part of the female population that gives heavy credence to her words.
In school, Madonna excelled while she was there. From elementary and high school she was a straight A student who conquered every educational challenge she was presented with. However her biggest passion was dancing. Thankfully the University of Michigan offered her a dance scholarship to attend. Madonna did go to Michigan for a while, but eventually she dropped out and moved to New York to get her dance career underway.
Steve Martin – 142 IQ
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Quite simply, there is an impressive number of comedians on this list, and Steve Martin was a near immediate choice. Martin’s IQ has allowed him to have one of the best comedic careers of anyone. Like many comedians or singers on this list, Martin’s first foray into his professional career was through his writing. Martin’s often dry comedic style led itself well to the time and his style could often be seen in the episodes of the shows he wrote for.
Martin majored in Philosophy while he was in college. He said the thoughts behind it helped inspire his unique comedic style. Martin’s education led him to try to write and perform in a way different from other actors. Martin tried to eschew punchlines because he wanted to see how his audience would react. Martin was also curious and injecting philosophical elements into his performances. He wanted to see how humanity would respond to non-traditional comedic elements. He wanted to know what would happen if he kept building the room up and up and up, but never let them come back down with a standard punch line.
That sort of genius thought in comedy wasn’t too common and led Martin to Saturday Night Live. His performances there have gone down in legend and he will forever be a Hall of Fame cast member for that show. Martin has written books and put out albums to further showcase his talents.
Meryl Streep – 143 IQ
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I don’t think anyone who has seen her act has had any doubts about the intelligence and class of Meryl Streep. Her high IQ is almost stamped on her forehead with every word and action she takes. It takes a supremely talented actress to manage 20 academy award nominations and 3 victories. That kind of consistent incredible acting is unheard of! Streep’s acting talent at this point just might make her the greatest female actress of all time.
Streep graduated cum laude from Vassar College. After completing her undergraduate degree, she chose to go after a Master’s degree in fine arts at Yale. Those two incredibly demanding schools helped form her into the actress we know today. Streep actually wasn’t sure she wanted to be an actor until one play at Vassar entitled “Miss Julie” was performed. Her professors gave Streep all the credit. They felt that Meryl Streep had really taught herself to act and that it was ingrown talent and intelligence. At one point, Streep almost quit acting. She was having trouble balancing her classes and all her part time jobs to pay for them. Thankfully for the makers of trophy cases, Streep kept fighting with acting, and has been keeping those companies in business ever since.
Tony Hawk – 144 IQ
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Tony Hawk is another of the people on this list with a huge IQ and diagnosed hyperactivity. This is likely why he’s been so successful in his life. His mind allowed him to make shrewd businesses decisions as his skateboarding allowed him to focus on something that helped him deal with himself.
Hawk was tested for his IQ as a young student. He had been an overt perfectionist and the test helped his parents and himself come to grips with that. As soon as he learned of the tests, he started taking advanced classes to help challenge his mind and keep him engaged in his studies.
Throughout his career Hawk has made savvy investments. One of the biggest and best was getting his name out there as the marquee skateboarding game. Like John Madden or Tiger Woods (for a long time), having your name on your recurring genres video game lends you instant credibility with generations worth of players. There’s been 18 Tony Hawk skateboarding games and there’s going to be more.
Hawk has turned a lot of his money into a charity intended to build skate parks around America. He saw what skating did for him, and he’s wanted to give back to children and give them the same opportunity.
David Duchovny – 147 IQ
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If there’s one man on earth who can manage to look like a genius and a doofus at the same time, it’s David Duchovny. While on the show Californication, people remarked that they weren’t sure whether they were seeing an original character or simply an amped up version of Duchovny himself. His verbiage and language on the show is so unique that it’s clear Duchovny spent an incredible amount of time working on making it unique and clever in ways that haven’t been seen in television before.
Duchovny is another who has shown his incredible intelligence through not just his work, but through his past education. Duchovny finished his undergraduate work at Princeton and his Master’s degree at Yale. It’s near impossible to get into and succeed at one of those Universities, but Duchovny managed both! He even graduated Phi Beta Kappa for his work at Princeton. In addition to his pure academics, Duchovny has gotten mention from The Academy of American Poets for some of the poetry he created while in school.
Duchovny has chosen roles that appealed to him. While working with the X-Files, it was known that Duchovny created a lot of the characteristics of his character that helped make him so popular.
Duchovny is a regular on “Celebrity Jeopardy” and while the celebrity version isn’t nearly as difficult as the normal version, it’s still an honor and a difficult quiz show requiring a wide range of knowledge.
Sharon Stone – 148 IQ
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Sharon Stone is an interesting person on this list. Stone used to claim that she was a member of MENSA. However, later in her career she admitted that she was not, and had never been a member of MENSA. Stone converted to Buddhism but has spent years trying to promote peace and faith of all religious. She’s often mentioned her admiration for Pope Francis because she seems him as a leader who uses his position to try and do the best things he can for his followers instead of using his position to amass power.
Stone has used her intelligence and her celebrity as a method of helping to spread the messages of peace and tolerance. While most of that has been excellent, she’s also had some controversies and issues from some of the things she’s said. Stone likes to go off book with her presentations, especially when she’s trying to fund raise for projects she believes in. She will start impromptu auctions when surrounded by wealthy people when she’s giving a talk or a speech. This allows her to use peer pressure to get guaranteed donations from these wealthy men for issues that she considers important. It’s led to some major contributions to some good causes, but also has led to some mistakes.
Nolan Gould – 150 IQ
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Not everyone with a high IQ is an adult. Nolan Gould has shown that genius will always come through, including those who are celebrities. Gould really has had one breakthrough performance in life. He’s starred in Modern Family since he was a child. Somewhat amusingly, his character has always been the butt of jokes relating to a lack of intelligence.
The truth for Gould though is that he’s achieving everything he could want to. Gould completed his high school at the age of 13. So while others were just beginning, he was already finished. Gould’s goal is to complete college/university while he is still filming modern family, but that he’s going to complete it online.
Gould is a card carrying MENSA member and has started to channel his IQ into his music. Gould has started picking up musical instruments and learning to play them almost at will. Currently Gould knows how to play the double bass, the mandolin, the banjo and the didgeridoo.
Nolan Gould is someone that people should be keeping an eye on. While there’s tons of examples of child actors who couldn’t keep their career relevant, Gould has the mental capacities for almost limitless success. It will be interesting to see if he can keep his career going, or for that matter if he wants to keep his career going, or if he chooses another path in life.
Ben Stein – 150 IQ
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Ben Stein was going to be a pretty obvious inclusive on this list. Not many people host their own quiz shows. And even less actually compete against the contestants in the final rounds of their shows against the winning contestant.
Stein graduated with honors from Columbia and then was valedictorian of his class at Yale Law School. Stein went on to practice law as both a poverty lawyer and a trial lawyer. Stein has also taught at many Universities as both a guest lecturer and a full time professor.
We could go into all of Stein’s academic accolades but that’s just the start of his pretty incredibly life. Stein was both a lawyer and a speechwriter for Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Stein has very outspoken about the ousting of Nixon and has been one of his most staunch defenders over the years. He has made some great points, and while Nixon won’t go down as one of the great presidents for one incident when he lied, his accomplishments are actually very impressive. Afterall, lying about things is the American political way!
Stein’s writing prowess and his sense of humor led to his appearance in Hollywood. His career has been varied. He’s hosted game and talk shows. He’s been a staple as a guest star on dozens of different shows. He’s done voice work for animated shows like family guy and for video games.
Stein continues to express his views and try to educate the masses as he entertains and is one of the most actively intelligent people on this list.
Alicia Keys – 154 IQ
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Alicia Keys is yet another of the recording artists who feature high record sales and high IQs. Keys has been into dance and music since she was a child.
When she was 7, she started studying the piano. Keys didn’t learn through contemporary musicians. Keys wanted to start at the beginning. She trained, learning classical compositions. No Elton John for her, she studied under the eyes of Beethoven, Chopin, Bach and Mozart. That self training could only take her so far. Key was so talented that at 12 she was able to enroll in the Professional Performing Arts School. Keys graduated at the age of 16, well before many others would have. In addition she didn’t just graduate, but she also managed to be the valedictorian. She achieved that over many people older than she was.
Keys is known for her talent and how she can disseminate music that she’s heard. Sometimes Keys is referred to by the nickname “The Queen of R+B” because of her musical talent. She’s able to almost “visualize” her music. She puts it back together and creates something new and original that people could never think or dream of. Keys has taken her high IQ and combined it with a huge work effort and continues to create marvels with her talents.
Cindy Crawford – 154 IQ
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Fashion models are not often given a lot of credit for their minds, but Crawford throws shade on those stereotypes. Crawford has been incredibly successful in her academics, in her modelling career and as a businesswoman.
Crawford’s modelling career began in high school. She finished as the runner-up in a local modelling search and the modelling agency took her on as a client. Despite that Crawford finished her high school degree, and was the valedictorian of her school.
She didn’t get valedictorian based on popularity either. She did it with her grades and her mind. She was so talented that she was offered a full academic scholarship. Those aren’t thrown around that often, and Northwestern University was really hoping she would succeed in their chemical engineering platform.
Ms. Crawford decided that education wasn’t for her however. After one semester she chose the path of the super model. During the 80’s and 90’s she was one of the most powerful supermodels in the world.
While some supermodels hang on too long and end their careers sadly, Crawford instead quit in 2000 to go into business and use her personal brand as a launching point. Crawford has clothing, cosmetics and her own furniture line. She’s really put effort into ensuring that her legacy won’t just be her strutting down the runway.
Aisha Tyler – 156 IQ
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Aisha Tyler is another supremely talented and intelligent woman on this list. Her celebrity resume is impressive and varied. She’s worked as a talk show host on “The Talk”. She’s been a game show host with “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” She’s voiced animated characters in hit shows like Archer and she’s done great guest work and voice work for video games. Aisha Tyler is all over the map.
Tyler developed her love of acting by chasing her high school crush. She went to high school with Sam Rockwell and was interested in him. By following him into an acting class one day, she ended up with a different love. One for stage and screen. Tyler’s always been very interested in improv, which led to her as the host of the reincarnated Whose Line is it Anyway.
Aisha graduated from Dartmouth. She was actually a member of a co-ed fraternity, which helped her come to grips with interacting with men. She’s used that to become one of the biggest podcast hits in the world. Her podcast “Girl on Guy” has been downloaded millions of times and is a great listen for anyone who wants to hear a female take on a lot of “guy-centric” topics. Aisha’s also authored multiple books and is continuing to expand her career.
Asia Carrera – 156 IQ
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If there’s a stereotype against models for their IQ and intelligence, there’s an even bigger stereotype against adult film stars. Asia Carrera (Or Jessica Steinhauser as she was born) puts to bed those old school beliefs as she is a proud member of Mensa.
Carrera’s talents extend into the musical realm like many of the people on this list. Carrera was an incredible pianist as a child. She was so good that she actually performed at Carnegie hall. Carrera had an excellent SAT score of over 1400 and combined with her grades and grants, she was able to attend Rutgers on a full academic scholarship. Carrera was focusing on Japanese and business courses when she chose to stop her education to embrace the life of an adult film star.
Carrera managed to succeed despite her ethnic background in a world that usually promotes blonde hair and white skin. Eventually Carrera retired after 10 years and over 400 movies. That’s the kind of workload a lot of adult film stars have to shoulder if they wish to be successful.
Carrera has quieted and lives in Utah. She still uses her mind in order to poke fun at the world at large. As an atheist, she learned that she was unable to wear a hat in a driver’s license photo because it did not conform to her beliefs. Carrera chose to wear a colander on her head as religious garb for the church of the flying spaghetti monster. It wasn’t a malicious practice, just a way to bring attention to something happening in Utah.
Geena Davis – 158 IQ
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Geena Davis is another celebrity who is gracing the metaphorical halls of Mensa. Davis is another talented actress who excelled in her schooling and has talents with multiple musical instruments. Davis is especially skilled with the Organ, Piano and flute.
Davis was actually a model after she graduated from University. At that point she made the transition into films and television. Davis is probably best known for Thelma & Louise as well as a League of Their Own. Quite simply, she crushed those movies. Those movies will likely be her legacy, and they did earn her lone academy award. But in addition to her film talents, she’s done a lot of meaningful television work. Her lead role in “Commander in Chief” earned her a Golden Globe away and an Emmy nomination.
In addition to all of her talented work in film and television, Davis has dedicated much of her time to social activism. This is a trend that you can often see with these High IQ celebrities. They see that they have a responsibility to give back to society after they have gained so much from it. Davis has worked a lot with women’s equality and gender balance. She noticed that there was a severe lack of girls starring in children’s programs and that women in sport are often second class. She’s worked in both areas to try to bring a better sense of equality in both sections of life.
Quentin Tarantino – 159 IQ
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Quentin Tarantino is all about movies. Some people live diverse lives where they use their mind in all kinds of different ways. But as the industrial revolution taught us, you just can’t beat specialization. Tarantino is a specialized assembly line of movie knowledge.
Tarantino wrote his first screenplay at 14. Rather than continue in high school he dropped out and got some terrible jobs. He was an usher at a porn theater and worked at a local video rental store. But the thing is, this allowed him to pursue his passion for film. He was able to watch everything and he learned the meaning and intent behind everything. Tarantino’s intellect allowed him to see things in a way that so many others could not.
When you look through Tarantino’s films you see a dark and elegant mind at work. So many movies follow a singular plotline to completion. Tarantino movies are often like spiderwebs that have several storylines which may seem apart, but in actuality greatly affect each other.
Tarantino’s crowning achievement was probably Pulp Fiction. Pulp Fiction gave him his Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, but it was robbed of best picture by Mr. Tom Hanks and Forrest Gump. While Forrest Gump is a great movie filled with incredible moments, Pulp Fiction was a revolutionary movie that helped change modern film making.
Dolph Lundgren – 160 IQ
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Dolph Lundgren is a gigantic man. When Ivan Drago steps up and tells Rocky “I must break you”, chills run down every viewers spine. Almost every movie he’s ever done has been a ridiculous action movie. Doing movies like He-Man, The Expendables, Johnny Mnemonic and Universal Soldier didn’t really make it seem like Lundgren was a genius with his choices.
But the thing is, Lundgren is beyond intelligent. He is a scientist of the utmost skill.
Lundgren was a grade A student throughout high school and then came to the United States. Lundgren didn’t just get himself a University degree from a good school, but he has multiple degrees from many excellent schools. He started with his Bachelor of Science from Washington State in Chemistry. Dolph was far from finished there as he went to the Royal Institute of Technology and got himself a chemical engineering degree. He took this one step further and went to the University of Sydney and got his Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering as well. Lundgren also went to M.I.T. briefly, but chose acting instead and left after a few weeks.
While he was studying, Lundgren took karate as his stress relief. He had started as a kid and was excellent at it. He continued on until he received the rank of 2nd dan black belt. He won numbers tournaments including the European Championship in back to back years. He did all of this while continuing his intense studies.
Ashton Kutcher – 160 IQ
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Ashton Kutcher is known throughout Hollywood for one of two things. He’s either known for his irreverent sense of humor that he’s flashed throughout his acting career, or for his incredibly shrewd investment strategy that’s helped make Kutcher a Hollywood Powerhouse.
Kutcher didn’t display his intelligence through traditional education. He’s described himself as “too wild” during his high school and college days. He quit it all to become a model and then in his very first audition, he received his role on “That 70’s Show”. Kutcher ran through a series of excellently grossing television shows and movies and continued to run up commercial successes.
After Kutcher’s success on the show, he has managed to become an incredible venture capitalist. His investments into startups has resulted in some big successes. The startups that he has invested in include some of the biggest. Kutcher got in early on Skype, Airbnb and Foursquare among others.
Kutcher may be the most adept user of social media alive today. He’s able to use his huge base of fans almost as a bludgeon to enact the change he wants. It’s an interesting methodology that’s certainly been put to good use in a recent election. Use your rabid followers to make the things you want happen.
Lisa Kudrow – 160 IQ
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Lisa Kudrow will never live down being the quirky “Phoebe” from Friends. It was her breakout role and thoroughly memorable. But Kudrow was very close to pursuing a different career if her big role never came. However her big role did come and we all got to enjoy Phoebe as she was the “wacky” friend who provided unpredictability and comedic relief.
Kudrow came from a high achieving educational family. Kudrow’s father was a physician/neurologist. He was studying how headaches affect people and the different types. Kudrow actually learned a lot from him, and she joined in with his studies. Kudrow received research credit for her work with him and she spent 8 years working with her father.
This was of course after she completed her education. Kudrow was excellent during her high school education and then she followed in her Father’s footsteps and managed to attend Vassar. Kudrow completed her degree in Biology and then started working with her father.
Kudrow has managed to not just perform, but to write and produce throughout her time in Hollywood as well. Her writing skills have been excellent and she’s a lot. She was one of the key writers in two main runs of sitcoms. (Web Therapy and The Comeback).
Reggie Jackson – 160 IQ
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Reggie Jackson is one of the most popular names in New York Yankees history. Jackson has been an incredible athlete since his early days though he didn’t always make the best decisions. In high school he was injured and told by doctors to never play football again. Instead he played and fractured 5 vertebrae. He was told he might never walk again. Thankfully he recovered and continued on. After all, he had a Hall of Fame to crash in Cooperstown.
Jackson started his collegiate career as a football player but he moved to baseball after his first year. He was offered a large signing bonus from the Baltimore Orioles to leave school and join them. Jackson wasn’t willing to give up his full scholarship as he wished to continue in school.
Jackson’s hall of fame baseball career with the Athletics, Orioles, Yankees and Angels was magnificent. Jackson combined incredibly physical talent with a cerebral approach to hitting that allowed him to out think pitchers and give him an advantage during every at bat. Jackson truly shone during the clutch moments of the playoffs and gained his best nickname “Mr. October”.
But Jackson did more than just play baseball. He co-authored a book. He worked as a field reporter and commentator while still playing in the majors and he did some acting as well. Jackson’s IQ allowed him to be successful in all endeavors that he undertook.
Conan O’Brien- 160 IQ
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Conan O’Brien has brought laughs to millions. But his genius has taken him down an incredible path. O’Brien was interning for a congressman before he even finished high school. Unsurprisingly he graduated as his school’s valedictorian. He also won a national writing contest. His short story “To Bury the Living” won the National Council of Teachers of English Writing Contest.
After all of that, it was no surprise that he went to Harvard. Conan continued with his writing talent and excelled in literature. He graduated magna cum laude. Conan made dozens of contacts while at Harvard and those people came back to help his professional life down the line.
Conan loved to write. It was what made him truly special. Conan had some minor writing gigs but then was hired by Lorne Michaels to write for Saturday Night Live. Conan entered the big time. After three years of intense writing, Conan was offered a gig with the Simpsons, which he took to like a child to candy. Conan wrote some of the best episodes. He contributed to almost all of them in some fashion during his time there, but also wrote some solo like “Marge vs. the Monorail” which was one of the best episodes of all time.
Conan then auditioned for the Late Show when word was David Letterman was leaving and he ended up getting the gig. Conan become the performer we know and love and has continued hosting nightly talk shows ever since. Conan has arguably the most powerful writing resume for such a short period of time in Hollywood history. His performing isn’t half bad either!
Matt Damon – 161 IQ
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Is there someone aside from Jimmy Kimmel who doesn’t like Matt Damon? Matt Damon has taken over Hollywood and is one of the highest grossing stars of all time. He’s racked up the awards and the plaudits. He’s become one of the few true unstoppable movie stars left.
Damon was a great student who excelled through high school and was accepted into Harvard. Harvard managed to help Damon channel his mind into his writing. Good Will Hunting started as something for Damon’s English class. What’s crazy is that Damon left with only one semester left to finish his degree because he got his first feature role. Damon impressed early and often and then Damon and Affleck finished off Good Will Hunting. Damon got his academy award for best original screenplay and from there, his career was off to the races.
His charitable work has once again shown the social conscience that people with high IQ’s have. Damon has channeled time and money into his charities hoping to help increase the quality of life of people in various regions. His main charity works to provide clean drinking water to locations throughout Africa. He also works with charities that try to improve the lives of children. Damon has used his IQ for good, and the world is a better place for it.
Mayim Bialik – 163 IQ
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Mayim Bialik is another incredible gifted woman with an immense IQ. She’s managed to create a career out of her acting while pursuing education to the highest degree.
Bialik got into acting young. She was a child actress who did a lot of work up until she was 20. When she was 20, she switched to voice work for about 10 years. This was mostly so she could keep working on her education.
When she finished Blossom, Bialik chose to turn to her post secondary education. She was offered positions at both Yale and Harvard but she chose UCLA. Bialik wanted to stay close to her parents and as such chose to stay close to home. Bialik managed to earn her undergraduate degree and her Ph.D in neuroscience. She’s an incredible scientist who’s capable of building a career in the science field if she chooses to give up on acting.
Almost naturally, Bialik was a perfect fit to play a love interest on the Big Bang Theory. The show espouses to show off real science. The success of the show has led to a requirement for almost all of the male cast members to have love interests, and when they needed a neuroscientist, there was an ac