31. Renee Zellweger
With a Swiss father and Norwegian mother, the American-bon actress speaks English, German and Norwegian.
32. Roger Federer
Another celebrity with Swiss-German heritage, the tennis player, in addition to winning 20 Grand Slams, speaks Swiss German, German, English, and French.
33. Rose McGowan
Quite surprisingly, the Charmed actress’s first language is Italian, as she was born in Italy. She also speaks English, French and Spanish.
34. Sacha Baron Cohen
Born to Jewish parents, the comedian famous for his Borat persona, speaks fluent English and Hebrew.
35. Sandra Bullock
One of the highest paid actresses in the world, American-born Bullock is the product of an American father and German mother. She spent 12 years of her childhood living in Germany and Austria, and as such speaks both German and English.
36. Sandra Oh
The Canadian-born actress, famous for her roles in Grey’s Anatomy and Killing Eve, speaks English, French and Korean, the language of her parents.
37. Serena Williams
The American tennis champion who’s won 23 Grand Slams speaks English, French and Italian, and is raising her daughter bilingual English-French.
38. Shakira
The Colombian singer, famous for her hit single Hips Don’t Lie, speaks Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, and Italian. There are rumors that she also speaks Arabic, which would be the language of her father’s family (who are from Lebanon), though no one has been able to confirm this.
39. Stana Katic
Former star of the crime-comedy series Castle, the Canadian-American actress speaks English, Serbo-Croatian, French, Italian and Slovenian. Her parents are from Croatia.
40. Tina Turner
The American rock legend has been living in Switzerland for over 2 decades, and gave up her US citizenship for a Swiss one. In order to qualify for it, she had to know German, and thus speaks it along with her native English.
41. Tom Hiddlestone
Most notably known for his role as Loki in the Marvel superhero movies, the English actor is a language enthusiast who speaks English, Greek, French and Spanish.
42. Trevor Noah
The South African-born comedian speaks a staggering 7 languages – English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu, Tswana, Tsonga, and German. His mother’s native language, which he grew up speaking, is Xhosa, and his father is of Swiss ancestry.
43. Viggo Mortensen
The Lord of the Rings actor was born to an American mother and Danish father, and as such speaks fluent English and Danish, along with French and Spanish. Due to the similarities between the Scandinavian languages, he is also able to understand Norwegian and Swedish. The actor claims to be conversational in Italian.
44. Will Smith
The comedic actor and former rapper best known for his roles in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Independence Day, speaks English and Spanish. His wife does, too.
45. Zayn Malik
The English singer and former member of One Direction speaks English and Urdu, the latter from his British-Pakistani father. He also reads Arabic.
Did any of these names surprise you? Inspire you? I know I was inspired when I researched them. Are you ready to start learning a new language now? Check out the posts The 5 Easiest (And Cheapest) Languages To Learn Online and How To Learn A New Language For Free (Or Really Cheaply) to get started.
