7 Celebrities with a high IQ

Having a high IQ is not synonymous with success, but it is a good indicator that the person has all the right tools to make it big. Thus, it is with no surprise that we also find celebrities with a high IQ thriving in their own careers, especially in the entertainment business. Many are even confirmed or rumored members of Mensa's high IQ society, a non-profit organization that aims to foster human intelligence and promote research in every scientific field. And to become a member is no easy feature. Only those who score in the top 2% are invited to be a part of this society. Here are 7 celebrities with a high IQ with very well-known faces, but whose brains may surprise you.

Nolan Gould

Nolan Gould is better known to the public as the goofy and somewhat lacking Luke Dumphy from the Emmy-winning series Modern Family. However, the character could not be more different from the actor himself. 
 
Gould has an IQ of 150 points and has been part of Mensa’s high IQ society since its teens, having graduated from high school at the age of 13. The actor has confirmed his membership and IQ score in several interviews and even commented on the challenges of belonging to a restricted list of celebrities with a high IQ and of being perceived as a genius by his peers.

Kara Hayward

Kara Hayward is an American actress born in 1988, in Andover, Massachusetts. She started her filming career as  Suzy Bishop, in the feature film Moonrise Kingdom, and has since starred in several acclaimed movies.
 
Hayward’s official IQ score is unknown, but the actress is a certified member of Mensa’s high IQ since she was only 9 years old, a fact confirmed by the organization itself when congratulating the actress for her achievements in 2012.

Geena Davis

Award-winner actress, executive producer, model, and human rights advocate, Geena Davis’ career is nothing short of impressive. 
 
The Thelma & Louise star, who has also received an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, has reportedly an IQ of 140. The official value has never been confirmed by Davis, but she is a certified member of Mensa’s high IQ which means her test results surely fall within the top 2 %.
 
She is undoubtedly one of the most well-known celebrities with a high IQ and keeps proving her intellectual skills as a producer and as the leader of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, an institute that addresses inequality in Hollywood and seeks to increase the presence of female characters in media.

Chino XL (Derek Keith Barbosa)

Chino XL is an American rapper and actor who is also a confirmed member of Mensa’s high IQ society. His official score is unknown but the rapper confirmed his membership in several interviews throughout the years, stating that it is an honor and that it pleases him when he sees people being rewarded for their intelligence rather than for bad behavior.

Natalie Portman

The Black Swan star has reportedly an IQ of 140. The actress never confirmed her score nor her membership in Mensa’s high IQ society, but her life and academic achievements seem to confirm the rumor.
 
While pursuing her acting career at the same time, Portman graduated from Harvard with a degree in psychology, studied graduate courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and co-authored two research papers that were published in scientific journals. The Oscar-winning actress also speaks Hebrew, English, and French fluently, and is supposed to have a conversational level in German, Japanese, Arabic, and Spanish.

Mayim Bialik

Bialik may be famous for playing the super-smart neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory, but few people may know that the actress is just as smart as her character in real life.
 
Bialik has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and specialized in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in adolescents with Prader-Willi syndrome. She got offers to study at Harvard and Yale but chose to graduate from UCLA due to its convenient location. Additionally, the actress is fully fluent in English and Hebrew and knows how to play the piano, guitar, and trumpet.
 
Mayim Bialik’s IQ was never confirmed, but it is widely believed that it falls somewhere between 150-163. Although these values are only speculation, there is a strong possibility that they might be true.

Dolph Lundgren

This martial artist turned actor is a well-known face to all action-film enthusiasts. What people may not suspect is that the Ivan Drago from Rocky IV has the brains to match his physical prowess and belongs to any list of celebrities with a high IQ.
 
The Swedish actor is reported to have an IQ of 160, a value that is supported by his academic accomplishments. Lungren has a degree in chemical engineering from the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology and a master’s degree also in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney. After finishing his studies, he notably got a rare Fulbright Scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) but dismissed the opportunity to pursue his acting career and to become Grace Jones’ bodyguard.

Other celebrities with a high IQ

Ashton Kutcher (160) – The actor is reported to have an IQ of 160, although the number has never been confirmed. He attended the University of Iowa, hoping to major in biochemical engineering, but dropped out to pursue a career in Hollywood.
 
Leif Gantvoort (?) – The Amazing Spider-Man’s actor is a confirmed member of Mensa’s high IQ society, but his score has never been revealed.
 
Ashley Rickards (?) – The protagonist of MTV’s series Awkward joined Mensa’s high IQ society when she was 19 years old. The actress and the organization have both confirmed her membership, but her score is yet unknown to the public.
 
Alan Rachins (?) – The Emmy-nominated actor, famous for his roles in the series Law & Order and Dharma & Greg, is a certified member of Mensa, known for actively engaging in discussions and debates launched by the organization. His IQ score has not been revealed.

Celebrities’ IQ blunders

The internet is the perfect ground for rumors to flourish and take a course of their own. And with so many fans out there wanting to boast that they support celebrities with a high IQ, things can quickly get out of hand.
 
The most notorious IQ blunders are those of Shakira, Sharon Stone, and Quentin Tarantino.
 
The Colombian singer made the headlines in 2013 when reports started circulating stating that Mensa had realized a list with its celebrity members. In this, Shakira featured as a top member with an IQ of 140, prompting many news outlets to report on her intelligence levels.
 
Mensa quickly denied having published such a list and assured the public that it was nothing but false claims. The source of the news was never discovered, but the false headlines survive until today, tricking many fans.
 
In Tarantino’s case, the director is widely reported to have an IQ of 160. However, in an interview in The Howard Stern Show in 1997, Tarantino admitted his mother told him that figure and that he did not recall ever taking an IQ test.
 
As for Sharon Stone, the actress herself confirmed in several interviews throughout the years that she had an IQ score of 148 and was a member of Mensa. In 2002, Stone was forced to admit that this score was a lie and that she was never a member of the organization. Publicity stunt or not, the fact is that the actress remains known until today for her supposedly high intelligence.