Hollywood Stars Of Harvard

What do 8 Presidents, 50 Nobel Prize Winners, 75 Nobel Laureates, 36 Pulitzer Prize Winners, the world's leading business people and the following Hollywood stars share in common? That's right, to the north-east of The States, beyond a bar where everyone knows your name and in the cultural mecca of Boston, MA, resides Harvard University. On this campus, along the corridors and inside the dorm's innocent eyes and lithe wits have shaped the history and plot the destiny of our planet. Whether that be America's first black President or the man on the pulse of social media, Mark Zuckerberg, Harvard has shaped our lives in sometimes subtle, sometimes drammatic ways.

This article reflects on the culture makers and Hollywood's elite:

Natalie Portman

The Oscar winning star of Black Swan attended and graduated Harvard University. Natalie Portman put her acting career on hold, as she put her education first. She once famously told the New York Post 'I'd rather be smart, than an actor'. The child star of Leon qualified with a AB degree in Psychology and went onto use her own brand of emotional intelligence to pick roles and rouse performances that would make her among the leading actresses the world over.

Elisabeth Shue

It's a little known fact that Elisabeth Shue attended Harvard University. The legendary actress who starred in acclaimed movies through the 80's, 90's and 00's Back To The Future, Leaving Las Vegas & Hollow Man, left Harvard to pursue her acting career. However, unlike other starlets Shue later returned in 2000 to earn her degree in Government. Shue told Movieline magazine ""My brain was starting to dry up. In Hollywood, you're fortunate if you get a role where your brain is engaged, but those experiences are rare. I felt like I needed to do something with my life. I wanted to feel more connected to the world."

Matt Damon

Perhaps most famously of all, Matt Damon attended Harvard University and used his experience to craft and co-write the screenplay for Good Will Hunting with friend Ben Affleck. Matt Damon left Harvard in 92, believing movie Geronimo: An American Legend would be a his breakthrough movie. But later admitted, "By the time I figured out I had made the wrong decision, it was too late. I was living out here with a bunch of actors, and we were all scrambling to make ends meet,"

Tommy Lee Jones

Tommy Lee Jones attended Harvard University during the 1960's. Living in a dorm opposite Al Gore, Jones made his mark at Harvard playing in Harvard's undefeated Football team of 1968 and besting rivals Yale in "the most famous game in Ivy League history". He graduated in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts in English.

Interestingly Jones joined forces with another former Harvard student, Ashley Judd, for movie Double Jeopardy.

We hope this article has scintillated your synapses and moved you forth. A Harvard education is for a special breed of student and person, perhaps that's you too.

To learn more about How To Get Into Harvard follow this link.