Hello, hello, stomach taghello to all bilingual celebrities!
Meghan Markle recently showed off her fluency in Spanish while speaking at a panel in Colombia that uplifted and highlighted Afro-Colombian women. She hung up the phone and expressed her “deep gratitude to the Colombian hospitality” in the country’s national language, writes Sussex.com.
But the Duchess of Sussex isn’t the only star to make headlines for demonstrating her prowess in a language other than English. Ben Affleck, Margot Robbie, Timothée Chalamet, Will Smith and more have demonstrated their multilingualism in interviews and interactions with fans. Watch clips of 20 celebs saying a few words – and having full conversations – in another language.
Meghan Markle
Language: Spanish
Markle gained proficiency in Spanish while interning at the US Embassy in Argentina and studying abroad in Madrid, Spain. She previously showed off her language skills while volunteering at a charity event in 2020, reportedly speaking to a woman in “perfect” Spanish.
Ben Affleck
Language: Spanish
Affleck told Kelly Clarkson The Kelly Clarkson Show that he speaks Spanish “passively” rather than fluently, and added that his daughter, Violet, is getting better at the language than he does. Affleck told Clarkson that he learned Spanish while filming a TV series in Mexico at the age of 13. (Affleck’s younger brother, Casey, has also learned some Spanish and isn’t afraid to use it occasionally.)
Jodie Foster
Language: French, Italian
As a child, Jodie Foster attended a French-speaking preparatory school in Los Angeles, which introduced her to the language from an early age. During an interview at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, the Oscar winner explained that she learned Italian while studying at Yale University.
Matt Damon
Language: Spanish
As a teenager, Matt Damon learned Spanish while backpacking through Mexico and Guatemala. His wife, Luciana Barroso, is a Spanish-speaking Argentinian, and they have passed on their fluency to their two children.
Margot Robbie
Language: Australian Sign Language
The Barbie the star used Auslan (Australian Sign Language) to communicate with a deaf fan at the film’s London premiere Amsterdam in 2022
Chris Pratt
Language: German
Chris Pratt studied the language for three years at school, although he admits he’s a little rusty. The Jurassic World the actor doesn’t speak very fluent German, but he knows a few dirty jokes.
Sandra Bullock
Language: German
Sandra Bullock grew up between Germany and Washington, DC Thanks to her late mother, German opera singer Helga Meyer, Bullock is completely fluent in the language.
Matthew McConaughey
Language: Spanish
Matthew McConaughey learned Spanish while growing up in Uvalde, Texas, and ay dios míospeaks the language well.
Camila Mendes
Language: Portuguese
Camila Mendes makes sure she stays on top of her Portuguese skills by talking to her parents and communicating with her extended family in Brazil through group chats. The Riverdale alumna also lived with her relatives in Brazil at the age of 11.
Tom Hiddleston
Language: Greek
Tom Hiddleston speaks multiple languages — including French, Spanish and Italian — and learned Greek while studying classics at Cambridge.
Anya Taylor-Joy
Language: Spanish
Born in Argentina, Anya Taylor-Joy’s first language is actually Spanish. The The Queen’s Gambit the actress learned English after her family moved to England when she was 6 years old.
Bradley Cooper
Language: French
Cooper studied French while in college at Georgetown University and even participated in an exchange program in Aix-en-Provence, France for six months, resulting in this très sexy talent.
Charlize Theron
Language: Afrikaans
Charlize Theron, who grew up in South Africa, revealed that she only became fluent in English after moving to the United States at the age of 19. She still talks it with her mother Gerda – sometimes to chat in private in public!
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Language: French
Joseph Gordon-Levitt studied French poetry at Columbia University, which means we’re even more jealous of his wife, Tasha McCauley, because she gets to listen to the actor whisper sweet French nonsense in her ear.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Language: Spanish
Gwyneth Paltrow flaunted her Spanish fluency Iron Man 3 press junket, explaining that she studied the language in high school and honed her skill by going abroad to Spain at age 15.
Colin Firth
Language: Italian
Che bello! As if Mr. Darcy himself couldn’t get more dreamy, Colin Firth learned to speak Italian to impress his then-wife Livia’s parents.
Paul Wesley
Language: Polish
Paul Wesley spent several months each year with his family in Poland growing up, and The Vampire Diaries the old man is equally charming in both his languages.
Will Smith
Language: Spanish
A man of many talents has no problem babbling a little Spanish!
Timothée Chalamet
Language: French
If Chalamet’s name (and the accent above the ‘e’ in Timothée) didn’t give it away, the young actor is fluent in French. The Little Women The actor’s father was born in France, and his sister Pauline currently lives there.
Darren Criss
Language: Italian
Darren Criss studied abroad in Italy at L’Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo. The The Assassination of Gianni Versace: An American Crime Story the star can also speak a little French, Japanese, Spanish and Filipino.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education