Celebrities are not always viewed as being the most intelligent people on the planet. Though it's unfair, having a job in performance makes many think of people who are extremely creative but not particularly that bright. This is a misconception, and many celebrities actually have very high IQs.
Celebrity parents who score high on the intelligence quotient test have the added advantage of passing down not only their artistic talent but also their brains. Many of these celebrities actually play goofy or dimwitted people onscreen, but in real life their IQs are off the charts. They live normal lives raising their kids while also sometimes studying neuroscience or trying to help offer humanitarian aid to those in need.
An average IQ is 100, with most individuals falling within the 70 to 130 range. Anyone over 130 is considered smarter that the average person, with those scoring extremely high considered geniuses. They may be part of Mensa, an intelligence society with members from around the world.
Just because a person is blessed with a high IQ doesn't mean they will use it wisely, but these celebrities have received advanced degrees, worked for the rights of others, and invested their brains and creative talents to entertain. Like the rest of us, they have also raised their children and dealt with parenting challenges that are difficult even for geniuses.
15 Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Kudrow is know for playing the carefree Phoebe on Friends, as well as dingy Michele in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion. It's no wonder that most people are surprised to find that this mom of one has an IQ of 154.
Kudrow obtained her Bachelor of Science from Vassar College and conducted research for almost a decade. She married Michel Stern and had a son, Julian, who is now almost 20 years old. She's also fluent in French and has appeared in movies and television shows throughout the years since Friends ended. Her reputation as Phoebe follows her, despite the serious work she's done.
Kudrow credits her years on Friends, not her IQ, with the freedom she has now. She can pick and choose what jobs she wants and spend the rest of her time with her family or pursuing other interests. Having priorities in life aligned sound pretty smart to us.
14 Mayim Bialik
So maybe it's not a huge surprise that the woman who plays a neurobiologist on The Big Bang Theory is also a genius in real life. With an IQ anywhere between 150-163, Mayim Bialik doesn't have to act like she's smart. She has a real-life Ph.D in neuroscience, so the science she talks about on the show probably actually make sense to her.
Divorced with two sons, Bialik is an outspoken advocate for breastfeeding and other components of attachment parenting. She's written a book about it and also blogs about different issues, some related to parenting and her religious faith and others related to science or social issues.
Bialik has been in movies and television shows since she was a child, but that didn't keep her from pursuing her education. She made her way back into acting while still finding ways to spend time with her family and homeschool her kids.
13 Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman's beauty is obvious and has been since she burst onto the screen as a child. What many don't know is that she also has a 140 IQ and speaks at least five languages.
Portman did not shrug off education for acting. She is known for missing the premier of Star Wars, a movie she starred in, to cram for her finals in high school. She also took graduate classes, and she is known for speaking out about admiring intelligence over fame.
She met husband, Benjamin Millepied, while filming while filming Black Swan, and they now have two children together. Portman uses her brains to support animal rights, microfinance in third world countries, and political issues she believes in. She's been published in scientific journals, and she has spoken at many universities about the altruistic interests she is passionate about. It's obvious she's using her advantage in the intelligence department wisely.
12 David Duchovny
What's stranger than alien invasions? X-Files David Duchovny being out-of-this-world smart. Duchovny has written poetry that was so good that the Academy of Poetry gave him an honorable mention. He attended Princeton, Yale, and started his Ph.D. Though he's famous for his role on X-Files and Californication, his impressive 147 IQ is what really makes him stand out.
Duchovny married actress Tea Leoni, and the two had two children before splitting in 2014. Duchovny was treated for sex addiction a decade ago, possibly a contributing factor in his divorce from Leoni, and has won Golden Globes for his roles in both X-Files and Californication. Now the parents of teenagers, Duchovny is able to focus his hyper intelligence on being a good single dad while still balancing his career.
Duchovny is a prime example of someone that most people don't imagine being the smart guy next door. His laid back demeanor and career choice make him seem like an unlikely candidate, but the numbers don't lie.
11 Shakira
What pops to mind when people think of Shakira is her signature hip-swiveling moves and raspy voice belting out tunes in both English and Spanish. What doesn't is the fact that she speaks seven languages, is a mother of two, and has an IQ of 140.
Shakira and her partner, Gerard Pique, have two sons together, and besides being a mother Shakira is also an activist and businesswoman. She uses her skills as a songwriter as well as a record producer and has her own beauty line. She works with UNICEF and founded a foundation that benefits children in her native Columbia. Her records have sold more than any Columbian artist, ever.
It's obvious that this mama of two is using her powerful mind for good. Whether creating art, closing business deals, or finding ways to help others, Shakira is a force. It's important not to let the body fool us; there are brains behind that beauty.
10 Steve Martin
Comedians are funny, but they are also often smart. They have to be to think on their feet, especially when performing stand-up comedy, which Steve Martin did for years. With an IQ of 142, Martin is strong and funny, a powerful combination for anyone.
Another surprising fact about Martin: he didn't become a father until the age of 67. When most men are settling into the grandfather phase, Martin welcomed his daughter Mary with wife Anne Stringfield.
Besides acting, Martin writes books and plays, as well as playing a banjo and singing bluegrass music. He's released many albums and been a popular choice for host for major awards shows for many years. He isn't slowing down anytime soon, and with a young child he doesn't have time to. Martin pours himself into any endeavor he is interested in, and his high intelligence level may make it easier for him to acquire so many skills.
9 Matt Damon
Matt Damon played a genius in Good Will Hunting, a movie that he wrote the script for. He could have modeled it after himself because his IQ is 160, and though he dropped out of Harvard, he still seems to be doing okay for himself.
Matt has three daughter with wife Luciana, and he also has a step-daughter from Luciana's previous marriage. A dedicated father, Damon still has movies coming out all the time it seems, and he does humanitarian work, including founding the H2o Africa Foundation.
Damon has outspoken politic views and is known for both supporting candidates and being open about critiquing them when they fail to come through on campaign promises. Many know Damon as the heartthrob from the Jason Bourne films, but there's much more under the surface. His philanthropic efforts combined with his brain and creative endeavors make him a multifaceted leading man and a very interesting father, we're sure.
8 Ashton Kutcher
How can a man who starred in a show titled Jackass, a program that was centered around practical jokes, have an IQ of 160? I mean, this is the same guy who played a pretty face with no brain behind it in That 70s Show.
It's true, Ashton Kutcher has the same IQ as Stephen Hawking. He is married to Mila Kunis and has two children, and though he dropped out of the University of Iowa, he majored in biochemical engineering while there. He left to become a model which then led to his career in acting.
Besides being involved in fighting for human rights, Kutcher also deals with less important issues that still affect parents' lives. He has been outspoken about the need for changing tables in men's bathrooms, proving that women shouldn't be the only ones expected to change dirty diapers. He's a smart guy who changes diapers, and who could want more?
7 Kate Beckinsale
With a reported IQ of 152, Kate Beckinsale is much more than just a lovely face. This English actress, best known for her parts in Serendipity and the Underworld series, has one daughter with ex-partner, Michael Sheen.
Involved with Habitat For Humanity and The British Heart Foundation, Beckinsale uses her position to help others. She's recently divorced from Len Wiseman, and though she is a smart woman with a high IQ, she still chooses to smoke. High IQs can't fix everything.
Beckinsale has won awards for both her fiction and poetry, and she studied at Oxford before leaving school to focus on acting. While in school, she studied abroad in Paris, and she struggled with anorexia as a teen though she sought help to overcome it.
Beckinsale is now the parent of a teen, and her daughter is lucky to have mom's intelligence in her genes.
6 Alicia Keys
With an IQ of 154, it's no surprise that Alicia Keys was valedictorian of her high school class. She also accomplished that feat at the tender age of 16. Like many people on this list, Keys attended a prestigious university, Columbia, but she chose to leave to follow her passion for music.
Keys came out with her first album, proving her skills as both a songwriter and pianist, and she has since released more music, married, and had two children. None of this has kept her from being politically involved, speaking at the Women's March and supporting certain candidates, or from using her time to put important issues in the spotlight. She's a Global Ambassador for Keep a Child Alive, which helps those in Africa with HIV, and she also helps fund scholarships.
Her commitment to art and others is obvious, and it's a great example to the two sons she's raising.
5 Sharon Stone
When people think of Sharon Stone, they often remember that scene from Basic Instinct where Stone's character chose to get very forward with the camera. However, that's just a distraction from the real news: Stone's IQ is 154.
Stone has been married twice, and she adopted a child with her second husband. She then went on to adopt two more on her own after the divorce. Stone's reputation is one of the beautiful actress, but her intelligence is often underestimated. She started her career as a model and quickly morphed into an actress who was known most for her sex symbol status, but her smarts are undeniable.
Though Stone's second husband kept primary custody of their son after the divorce, Stone had visitation rights and went on to adopt to other children on her own. She has battled health problems but still worked to help others. Stone received the Peace Summit Award in 2013 for her activism.
4 Hillary Clinton
It is probably not a huge surprise that the former Secretary of State and presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, is smart. How smart? She has a genius IQ of 140. With that information, it's a bit easier to understand how she handled all of the stresses of politics and campaigning for so long.
Clinton attended law school at Yale and has released a book describing the events surrounding her loss in the 2016 Presidential election. She is also the former first lady and mother to daughter, Chelsea Clinton. She and Bill Clinton have been constant faces in politics for decades, and she desires to use her positions of power and intelligence to help other.
Clinton is a divisive figure in the political arena, but her intelligence is undeniable. Many were pleased that their daughters had a smart woman, who is also a mom, to look up to as the presidential campaign moved forward.
3 Cindy Crawford
With a smart, supermodel mom, Cindy Crawford's kids truly do have it all. The genes their mother offers are amazing, and Crawford is so much more than just a pretty face.
Most only know about Crawford's modeling career, but she graduated at the top of her class in high school and pursued studies in chemical engineering in college before leaving college. She took a chance on a full-time modeling career, and it paid off. However, her IQ of 154 puts her in a league with geniuses and makes her one herself. Should she ever choose not to model, finishing up that chemical engineering degree probably wouldn't be too hard for her.
Both of Crawford's children model, and maybe they were lucky enough to get her brains as well as her looks. She uses her time to support charity work focusing on childhood cancer since she lost her brother to leukemia when she was a child.
2 Nicole Kidman
One fact that people forget about Nicole Kidman is that she was born in Hawaii, not Australia. The talented actress also has an IQ of 132, a bit above average.
Kidman focused her intelligence on studying the arts, attending the Victorian College of Arts and then continuing to study theater in Sydney. Kidman is a mother of four, though she doesn't talk much about her adopted children from her first marriage to Tom Cruise. Those children are older, and Kidman has younger kids with husband Keith Urban.
Nicole has used her talent and brains to have a very successful career on screen and on the stage, always immersing herself in her characters and producing films as well as starring in them. She isn't quite at the genius level when it comes to IQ, but she is above average and has done very well with her gifts.
1 Madonna
Can the material girl, known for wearing cone-shaped bras and kissing girls on stage, really have a high IQ? Yes, at 140, her IQ is quite high, something that doesn't come as a surprise to people who knew her in school as smart.
Madonna has six children, two from prior relationships and four adopted, and she has used her intelligence to have a thriving career that has lasted decades. She is known for being on the cutting edge, the one to start trends that will then be followed by musicians who come up after her. She has acted in movies, and her concerts are more than just singing. She puts on a full show with incredible dance moves and costume changes.
Madonna is proof that embracing sexuality doesn't mean being dumb. She has used the image she's created for herself to stay relevant through the years, and she's had the business savvy to pull it off.
Sources: Purpleclover.com, Psychcentral.com, Hollywood.com, Ranker.com