They Were Born Where?
You might think you know where your favorite celebrity was born—but do you, really? You might be surprised to learn where these famous folks first saw the light of day.
Emma Watson: Paris, France
When J.K. Rowling agreed to turn her Harry Potter books into movies, she was very clear that all the actors had to be British. So yes, Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the films, is British. However, she was born in Paris and didn’t move to the UK until she was five, following her parents divorce.
David Shankbone, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Keanu Reeves: Beirut, Lebanon
There are probably many who didn’t know that Keanu Reeves is Canadian. But even if you were aware of that, did you know that he was born in Beirut before coming to Toronto?
Governo do Estado de São Paulo, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Sebastian Stan: Constanța, Romania
Marvel fans will know Sebastian Stan for his role in the MCU as Bucky Barnes—Steve Rogers’ best childhood friend. Stan’s journey to Hollywood began in Constanța, Romania, then went through Vienna, Austria when he was eight. Finally, at 12 years old, he landed in New York.
Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Lupita Nyong'o: Mexico City, Mexico
Lupita Nyong'o is the daughter of a Kenyan politician and from the age of three until she went to college in the United States, she lived in Kenya. However, those first three years of Lupita’s life were spent in Mexico, where she was born.
Isla Fisher: Muscat, Oman
If you’ve heard Isla Fisher in interviews there’s no denying her Australian accent. She didn’t start her life down under, though. In fact, Fisher was born to Scottish parents in Muscat, Oman. She was six when the family eventually settled in Perth, Australia.
Richard Goldschmidt, CC-BY-SA-2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Joaquin Phoenix: Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
If you thought that Joaquin Phoenix was American, you’re right. But that’s only because the Nationality Act of 1952 made it so that people born in Puerto Rico on or after January 13, 1941 were US citizens at birth. Phoenix was born in 1974.
Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Nicole Kidman: Honolulu, Hawaii
Nicole Kidman is one of the most famous Australians of all time. She even received the Order of Australia. But it turns out Kidman has dual American-Australian citizenship, having been born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1967.
Featureflash Photo Agency, Shutterstock
Bruce Willis: Idar-Oberstein, Germany
The son of an American soldier, Bruce Willis’ father was stationed in West Germany in 1955 when his son was born. The Willis patriarch was discharged in 1957 and it was then that the family settled in New Jersey.
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Lena Headey: Hamilton, Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory—it’s also where Lena Headey’s policeman father was stationed when his daughter was born in 1973.
Amy Adams: Vicenza, Italy
Amy Adams lived the army brat life from the time she was born in Vicenza, Italy, until she was eight-years-old and her large family finally set down in Castle Rock, Colorado.
Gordon Correll, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Mila Kunis: Chernivtsi, Ukraine
Not only was Mila Kunis born in the Ukraine, she didn’t even speak English when she and her family first arrived in Los Angeles. Kunis was seven years old when they made the big move.
Natalie Portman: Jerusalem, Israel
Natalie Portman has dual citizenship with the country she lives in—The United States—and the country she was born in—Israel.
Millie Bobby Brown: Marbella, Spain
There are stranger things than this, but it could definitely surprise many to learn that English actress Millie Bobby Brown was born in Spain. The family moved back to England when Brown was four (yeah, we were hoping it was when she was 11 too).
Russell Crowe: Wellington, New Zealand
Russell Crowe is another famous Australian who didn’t start his life in said country. Instead, Crowe made his entrance into the world in Wellington, New Zealand and it was at the age of four that Down Under became his home.
Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Anna Paquin: Winnipeg, Canada
While Russell Crowe left New Zealand when he was four, Anna Paquin moved to New Zealand when she was that age. But this was after spending her first few years in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Nina Dobrev: Sofia, Bulgaria
Yes, Nina Dobrev grew up in Canada, and yes, she was on the iconic Canadian teen drama television series, Degrassi: The Next Generation. But Dobrev didn’t get to Canada until she was two years old. Those first two years were spent in Bulgaria.
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Elon Musk: Pretoria, South Africa
Given his all-encompassing influence and ubiquity in the United States, many probably assumed Elon Musk was born and raised in the Good ol’ US of A. But the truth is that Musk spent his childhood in South Africa.
Nicki Minaj: Saint James, Trinidad And Tobago
Raised in Queens, New York, Nicki Minaj began her journey to rap superstardom as a baby in Trinidad and Tobago.
Press Line Photos, Shutterstock
Guy Pearce: Ely, Cambridgeshire, England
In Memento, Guy Pearce’s character had a hard time remembering things. We wonder if the man himself remembers the first three years of his life in England before the family moved to Australia?
Martin Lawrence: Frankfurt, Germany
This bad boy spent the first seven years of his life overseas as the son of a military man. Born in Germany, the family moved to Washington DC when Lawrence’s father left the military in the early ‘70s.
Featureflash Photo Agency, Shutterstock
Glenn Howerton: Tokyo, Japan
Yup, it’s true. This It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star was born in the land of the rising sun.
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Gene Simmons: Tirat Carmel, Haifa, Israel
Gene Simmons kissed his mother in Israel for the first eight years of his life, until they emigrated to the United States and landed in the Big Apple.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Kiefer Sutherland: London, England
Famous Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland, is the son of another famous Canadian actor, Donald Sutherland. However, the eventual Jack Bauer was born in London, England—where his parents were working at the time.
Suzie Eddie Izzard: Colony Of Aden, Aden Protectorate (Now Yemen)
Izzard’s father, an accountant, was working in Aden for British Petroleum when his wife gave birth.
Giuseppe Sollazzo, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Kim Cattrall: Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England
On August 21, 1956, 42 years before the premier of Sex and the City, Kim Cattrall was born in England.
George Pimental, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Tommy Lee: Athens, Greece
He seems like a California guy. But while The Golden State is where he grew up, this founding member of Mötley Crüe was born half-way across the world in Athens, Greece.
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
Hugo Weaving: Ibadan, Nigeria
Hugo Weaving moved a lot as a child. By the time he was 13 years old, Weaving had lived in England, Australia, South Africa—and of course Nigeria, where he was born.
Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Rose McGowan: Florence, Italy
Rose McGowan didn’t just begin her life as part of a religious organization known as the Children of God. She did so in Italy. It wasn’t till after her family left the controversial organization that they packed up and moved to Los Angeles.
Jeff Balke, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Mischa Barton: London, England
Orange County made her famous, but Mischa Barton was born in London, England.
Dominic Monaghan: Berlin, Germany
Nope, Dominic Monaghan was not born in the Shire. He was born to British Parents, in West Berlin—at the time, it was called West Germany.
Ann Curry: Agaña, Guam
As a journalist, Ann Curry has traveled all over the world to report the news. But anyone reporting on her birth would’ve had to have been in the seaside village of Agaña, in 1956.
David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Portia De Rossi: Horsham, Victoria, Australia
Portia de Rossi was born in a different country from where she currently resides and with a different name then she currently has. Ellen DeGeneres’ wife was born Amanda Lee Rogers, in Australia.
Walt Disney Television, Flickr
Dave Matthews: Johannesburg, South Africa
The eponymous member of the Dave Matthews Band moved around as a child, but was born in South Africa.
Jordana Brewster: Panama City, Panama
Before arriving in Manhattan at the age of 10, Jordana Brewster lived in England, Brazil, and her country of birth, Panama.
Lou Diamond Phillips: Zambales, Philippines
Phillips grew up in Texas but was born at the Subic Bay Naval Station in the Philippines.
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Kathie Lee Gifford: Paris, France
Regis Philbin’s morning co-host for 15 years was born in Paris, France. That’s where her father, US Navy Chief Petty Officer Aaron Epstein, was stationed at the time.
Movieguide, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
LeVar Burton: Landstuhl, Germany
Burton was a Lieutenant Commander on Star Trek: The Next Generation—and his father was a photographer for the US Army Signal Corps when Burton was born in West Germany, in 1957.
Super Festivals, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Jeri Ryan: Munich, Germany
The talented and beautiful Jeri Ryan moved around a lot in her early years as the daughter of a Master Sergeant in the United States Army. But her first deployment, being born, took place in Munich.
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Vanessa Lachey: Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines
This former Miss Teen USA and current wife to Nick Lachey was born in the Philippines.
Prince Philip, Duke Of Edinburgh: Mon Repos, Corfu, Greece
Prince Philip married into the British Royal family when he put a ring on Princess (soon-to-be Queen) Elizabeth’s finger in 1947. However, born in Mon Repos, he was born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in 1921.
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