10 Actors Who Are Secret Geniuses — Full Breakdown & Transcript

[00:00] You had this huge career change. They were looking at a daughter who was going to become this biologist, which they'd be very proud of you for that, a great scientific career and everything, and then boom! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the authors who might play the fool on screen

[00:14] or prove that in real life, appearances really can be deceiving. And I got to go and put my five, six hours a day into building myself up as a leading man rather than being a gymnasium operator

[00:27] or a CEO of a company like that. Number 10, Mira Servino.

[00:39] With her most iconic performance as the fashion-obsessed Romy White and an Academy Award to the hilariously flighty Linda Ash in Mighty Aphrodite, Mira Servino made a career out of playing lovable airheads.

[00:54] Her comedic timing made it easy to believe she really was as kooky as her character. In reality, though, Torvino is remarkably accomplished. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in East Asian Studies,

[01:06] with time spent in China, and speaks fluent Mandarin. The Oscar winner has also been an outspoken human rights advocate. To look in the eyes of someone who has been treated like an object, lower than a beaten animal, just for the love of money,

[01:19] and turned into, you know, an other in the eyes of the trafficker. Dedicating years to humanitarian work with Amnesty International and serving as the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, there's clearly more to this actress than the bubbly, roamy persona she's mostly associated with.

[01:33] Yeah. Yeah. Let's play cards! Okay! Number 9. Cheech Marin Let that number up, man. Go to the moon! As one half of the legendary stoner duo Cheech and Chong,

[01:46] Cheech Marin built his career playing perpetually dazed characters who always seemed to step behind. What is he talking about? We have a couple beers and I'll explain. The laid-back persona became so recognizable that many still assume it reflects the man himself.

[02:03] Oh, Meron! Hey, girls! How are you? Good boy, last time I saw you were this big. In actuality, Meron is remarkably articulate and intellectually serious, often displaying an impressive depth of knowledge in interviews.

[02:16] He has also repeatedly proven his quick thinking on Saturday Jeopardy, winning multiple times, including a tournament where he defeated Yale Honors graduate Anderson Cooper. You're the winner today. Your charity will get $50,000, and Aisha and Anderson's charity, $25,000 each.

[02:31] Add in his passion for Chicano art and culture, and his career merit is far more cerebral than his most famous roles were ever suggested. Turns out, it doesn't matter if Dave's there or not. Who? Dave, man. Open up.

[02:43] Dave? Yeah, Dave. Come on, man. Open up. I think the cops are coming. Dave's not here. Number eight, Sorrel Book. Unforgettable as a corrupt yet comically incompetent boss hog on the Dukes of Hazzard a schemer whose overconfidence usually led to his own downfall

[03:12] the role was so convincing that it overshadowed just how accomplished Hook really was. Off-screen, he was exceptionally well-educated, earning both bachelor's and master's degrees before embarking on an acting career. He also spoke five languages, including Japanese,

[03:25] A skill that proved valuable during his service as a U.S. Army counterintelligence officer in the Korean War. Well, you'd hardly call Bob Hogg the sharpest tool in Hazard County. See, after playing him, he was probably the smartest man in the room.

[03:37] Well, listen, Boleyn, if you figure that 12 U.S. Barber's come, you better catch this new boy before they get to the Bower's land. Number 7, Jim Varney. He made audiences laugh for decades, Ernest P. Worrell.

[03:50] The well-meaning, but hopelessly dim handyman. That's summed up by his catchphrase. Know what I mean? Don't worry, we'll make it. I have lived my life in the past, and you know what I mean? While Ernest wouldn't exactly win awards for his intellect, Varney himself was astonishingly sharp.

[04:06] On top of being a classically trained Shakespearean actor, he was renowned for his photographic memory, memorizing entire scripts, and reportedly filming 25 different Ernest ads in a single day. He was also described as possessing a near-genius IQ, a claim that fits his incredible recall and versatility as a performer.

[04:22] Maybe the biggest indication of his genius was convincing millions that his personality could ever be like Ernest in real life. Now, actor Jim Varney might play the dumbest man in Hollywood, but he's no fool.

[04:34] Varney was also the voice behind Disney characters like Cookie Farnsworth in Atlantis the Lost Empire and Slinky Dog in the Toy Story franchise. I don't know what I'm going to say! I don't know what I'm going to say!

[04:50] Number 6. Arnold Schwarzenegger I'll be back. Most know him for stereotypical musclehead roles in films like Commando and Conan, along with brawny, but simple-minded characters in Twins, Junior, and Jingle All the Way.

[05:11] His thick Austrian accent and larger-than-life physique only reinforce that image. In truth, Schwarzenegger is an exceptionally true businessman and strategist. I always felt like my place is America.

[05:23] And when I was 10 years old, I only dreamed of coming to America and being the greatest and just being different than everybody else. After earning a degree in business and economics, he built multiple successful businesses before

[05:36] becoming a Hollywood star and was already a millionaire through ventures like Brick Lane and Mail Order Fitness Products. We would like to offer you this. To manage all of our gymnasiums, you will be the perfect person and also you will be the face of the gymnasium chamber.

[05:51] Even in bodybuilding, he was known for using psychological tactics against competitors and kick-starting training philosophies that remain influential today. A certified billionaire according to Forbes you be mistaken for assuming Arnie just a guy who tells us to get to the jaffa And I got to go and put my five six hours a day into building myself up as a leading man rather than being a gymnasium operator or a CEO of a company like that

[06:17] Number five, Charlie Day. It's hard to believe a weirdo oddball like Charlie Kelly might ever exist.

[06:31] But that's who Charlie Day is mostly associated with. Offscreen, however, Day is one of the most brilliant minds responsible for the show's success. He studied art history at Merrimack College before becoming a writer, producer, and one of the series' key creative voices.

[06:45] When did Charlie Day graduate college? In 1998. He's also an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, who plays the piano, guitar, trombone, and harmonica,

[06:57] coming up with many of the show's unforgettable songs. What you doing, buddy? I wrote a musical. Huh? You wrote a musical? Why? Why did he do that? Just to write a musical. Does that have to be a reason? I don't think so.

[07:09] It takes a pretty quick-witted mind to create a character as hilariously foolish as Charlie Kelly, and Dave's been proving that for two decades. Oh, and unlike his character, he's already lucked out with The Waitress, having been married to actress Mary Elizabeth Ellis in 2006.

[07:22] Number four, Lisa Kudrow. Whether singing Smelly Cat as Phoebe LaFay, dressing up as Michelle Weinberger, or begging for attention as Valerie Krisch, Lisa Kudrow has famously portrayed highly eccentric characters throughout much of her career.

[07:47] Off screen, Kudrow was on a very different path before Hollywood. She earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Vassar College, with plans to follow in her father's footsteps as a headache specialist. Before finding acting success, Kudrow spent eight years working as a medical researcher alongside him, and even received research credit on a public study examining the relationship between left-headedness and cluster headaches.

[08:08] You had this huge career change. They were looking at a daughter who was going to become this biologist, presumably very proud of you for that, great scientific career and everything, and then boom, suddenly you're on a sitcom.

[08:20] While Terry from Friends offered a vivid picture of the headache that Phoebe's singing brought him, maybe you would have been better off asking her for advice instead. She makes me want to put my finger through my eye into my brain and swirl it around.

[08:35] Number three, Nolan Gold. All the spells in acting or directing or music, none of that works out. I need something to fall back on. For 11 seasons on Modern Family, Nolan Gold played Luke Dumpty,

[08:47] the well-meaning but not too bright son whose antics made him one of the show's funniest characters. Buddy, why do you keep getting stuck like this? I can get out this way. So we won't fault anyone for being surprised to learn that Gold is practically Luke's opposite.

[09:01] A genuine child prodigy, Gold skipped four grades in school and earned his GED at just 13 years old. He began pursuing college coursework while most kids his age were still in middle school He also a member of Mensa with reported IQ of 150 And here we were all thinking Alice was the golden child this whole

[09:27] time. Gold's performance becomes even more impressive in hindsight, considering just how much he had to die with back for the character. Remember how I used to hide in here and pop out like a scary monster. I had so much promise back then.

[09:40] Number 2. Dolph Lundgren.

[09:57] Best known as the hulking Ivan Drago in the Rocky series, among other imposing action heavies, Dolph Lundgren is actually one of Hollywood's most academically accomplished action star. He earned a degree in chemical engineering from the Sweden's little Institute

[10:09] of Technology before completing a master's at the University of Sydney. Well, education was the way I felt like I was somebody special when I was younger. Lundgren also received

[10:21] a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to attend MIT, only leaving after two weeks when an unexpected acting opportunity changed his life. Well, I had a scholarship to MIT in Boston and wanted to finish there and get a PhD and maybe go to Harvard or something,

[10:36] but then I met Grace Jones. Beyond the classroom, he captained Sweden's Joe Cushing karate team, won multiple European championships, and achieved a fourth-degree black belt. His resume reveals an accomplished scholar, elite martial artist, and far more than just

[10:51] a guy throwing punches at the screen. We're going to play now! We're going to play now! We're going to play now! We're going to play now! Come on! Before we continue, be sure to check out WatchMojo's 24-hour livestream.

[11:04] All of your favorite videos in one place, 24-7. Always on, always live. Why are you not in the frame? Number one, Rowan Atkinson. Hi, Mr. Vanity Express.

[11:17] Good to have you. Atkinson may be forever associated with the bumbling Mr. Bean, but his academic resume tells a very different story. After receiving top grades in his science A-levels, He studied electronic engineering at New Council University

[11:29] before completing a master's degree at Oxford. He even began work toward a PhD, publishing a thesis on self-tuning control systems before ultimately leaving academia for acting. What is your name?

[11:41] Wubble. What is 2 plus 2? Oh, Wubble, Wubble. Atkinson has long maintained a fascination with mechanics, particularly high-performance cars, often discussing them with the same enthusiasm he brings to comedy.

[11:54] Considering the technical expertise required to reset level of academia, it's safe to say the man behind Mr. Bean is every bit as intelligent as his most famous character, Oblivious.

[12:09] Which of these celebs facts surprised you the most? Let us know in the comments.