Actors are tasked with the mission to entertain us. Their job is to embody the life and soul of another character. So, it’s expected that their performances should consistently surprise us. However, while we expect actors to wow us with their acting skills, we don’t always expect them to break out into another language, and when they do, it can be jarring but in the best possible way.
America is thankfully a melting pot, with over 45 million immigrants bringing their experiences to the national identity. Therefore, it’s no surprise that so many great Hollywood actors are truly international, but that’s what helps make them so special and fun to watch on screen. Culture does affect upbringing and each actor will bring their own unique cultural flair to their role. In addition, speaking another language for a role allows the actor to be more authentic in their character. While many actors are known for their heritage, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Penelope Cruz, or Jackie Chan, some actors’ backgrounds slip under the radar. It’s not as if they are hiding their background, it’s simply that they are so good at what they do that they blend into their surroundings perfectly, which is precisely what a great actor should do. These are some surprisingly multilingual actors, with accompanying videos of each of their special, unique voices.
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock is one of those A-list Hollywood movie stars everyone knows. To date, she has appeared in over 50 movies spanning from the late '80s to now. Among her many credits, her well-known films include Ocean’s Eight, Gravity, and The Blind Side for which she won an Academy Award for Best Leading Actress. While Sandra Bullock was born in the US, she spent many of her childhood years in Germany and grew up with the language. Today, she is still fluent and never misses a chance to connect with her German side.
Eva Green
Actress and model Eva Gaëlle Green was born in France. Growing up, she considered herself to be painfully shy, blushing nearly every time anyone outside her family would try to speak with her. After she watched The Story of Adele H., she was inspired to become an actress and first began on stage before later transitioning into film. While Green still considers herself to be shy, one would never know it from watching her performances in films such as Dumbo (2019), Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and Casino Royale. While Green still speaks with a slight French accent, she is excellent at masking it when required to and can perform with a believable American accent.
Michael Fassbender
Michael Fassbender is a German-Irish actor known for his work in Assassin's Creed, the X-Men franchise, and a string of excellent Steve McQueen films (Hunger, Shame, and 12 Years a Slave). Fassbender was born in Heidelberg, Germany but moved to Killarney, Ireland when he was only two years old, as his parents wanted him to grow up in the countryside. However, he still frequented Germany during the holidays. After trying stage acting, Fassbender knew he wanted to be a professional actor. In 2001, he appeared in his first screen role alongside Tom Hanks in Steven Spielberg’s award-winning television miniseries Band of Brothers.
Charlize Theron
Powerhouse actress and producer Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, South Africa, and grew up speaking its native language of Afrikaans. Before acting, she was a model and a ballet dancer until a knee injury forced her to stop. After going into a depression, her mother pushed her to try something else, after which Theron flew to Los Angeles. There, she met talent agent John Crosby who helped her get her first non-speaking role in the horror film Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest. Today, Theron has many acting accomplishments, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work in the crime drama Monster.
Tom Hiddleston
When it comes to languages, Thomas William Hiddleston, otherwise known as Tom Hiddleston, is a master. English is his first language, as he was born and raised in Westminster, London. In addition, he also knows French, Italian, and Spanish, as well as some Greek, Russian, Latin, German, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese. That’s an impressive 10 languages for someone who wasn’t born into a multilingual-speaking family. Notable characters from the actor include Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films and Jonathan Pine in BBC’s The Night Manager. Given his multilingual skills, Hiddleston could easily branch out and play characters in a variety of languages if need be.
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman is an accomplished actress whose career has undergone tremendous growth-- her performance in the Star Wars prequels was adequate while her performance as First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in Jackie was stunning. In addition, she played a tormented ballerina in Black Swan which earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. However, before her impressive career growth, Natalie Portman was born Natalie Herschlag in Jerusalem, to Jewish parents who had roots in Poland, Austria, and Russia. She later adopted the stage name Portman and began acting on stage before making the transition into film. She even continued acting as she studied at and graduated from Harvard. Hebrew is her native language, and in addition to speaking fluent English, she also speaks some French, Spanish, German and Japanese.
Daniel Brühl
Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo, commonly known as Daniel Brühl, began his acting career in Germany and starred in several critically acclaimed films such as Goodbye Lenin and The Edukators. He made the cross to Hollywood and has appeared in American films alongside stars such as Emma Watson in Colonia, Chris Hemsworth in Rush, and Chris Evans in Captain America: Civil War. Brühl was born in Barcelona, Spain, but his family moved to Cologne, Germany, where he grew up. His mother taught him Spanish, while his cousins spoke French, and English was the first language that he learned in school while in Germany.
Viggo Mortensen
Many people will recognize Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. from Peter Jackson’s epic fantasy trilogy Lord of the Rings. Mortensen played Aragorn, a wandering ranger searching to find his way. While it’s rumored that other actors were considered for the role (such as Daniel Day-Lewis or Stuart Townsend), it’s difficult to imagine anyone other than Mortensen playing the part. He also perfected his parts in two of David Cronenberg's late-career masterpieces, A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, where he ironically plays someone who speaks one of the languages he doesn't know. In addition to his acting skills, Mortensen is well-versed in foreign languages and speaks English, Spanish, Danish, French, Italian, Arabic, and Norwegian. He was born in New York to a Danish father but spent some of his childhood in Venezuela, Denmark, and Argentina. He also has a Canadian heritage from his mother’s side and a Norwegian link from his father’s. He may be in Hollywood, but he is truly international.