Geeks and Nerds of Hollywood

Natalie Portman is an Oscar winner and a Harvard scientist. She put her acting aside for 4 years, vowing only to work on the Star Wars movies so she could concentrate on studying and went to Harvard for psychology. While at Harvard, Natalie Hershlag (her given name) was a research assistant in Professor Stephen Kosslyn’s neuropsychology lab. While there she got to investigate frontal lobe development and visual knowledge in infants. More specifically, she was studying one year olds and their development of the knowledge that objects, though not in sight, still exist. Hershlag co-authored 2 that were published in major science journals. Here is a pdf of the paper published in NeuroImage, and here is the link to the study published in the Journal of Chemical Education. Of course, we know she successfully made her return to Hollywood after her education. In total She has been nominated for 55 awards for her acting and won 32, including her Ocsar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Black Swan.Vin Diesel plays Dungeons and Dragons. Diesel has been rolling the dice since the 70s. Melcor, his witch hunting half Drow character even slipped into one of his movies. For the movie xXx, he had, Melcor, temporarily tattooed on his stomach. His love for D&D has become so well known that he was asked to wrote the forward for the book “30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons and Dragons.” You can check out the purchase the book on Amazon though this link either new or used. Here is the recording of Diesel on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” talking about his geekdom http://youtu.be/71AzW9_p4Jg. During the interview he tells a story about playing D&D with a cop who would always put his gun on the table and get plastered. Even if you’re Vin Diesel, you wouldn’t want to argue with a drunk cop with a gun pointed at you! I like the fact that Jimmy Kimmel made a point to say that he didn’t find it weird that he played. He even admitted to trying the game himself, but it wasn’t his thing. He also blamed that on not having the proper snacks though. I bet he’d try again if Vin Diesel ran a game and provided a snack spread, but who wouldn’t!Rosario Dawson is a Trekkie and comic fanatic. Dawson not only loves comics she helped to create (with co-creators David Atchison and Tony Shasteen and write, “Occult Crimes Taskforce “. “OCT” The main character, Investigator Sophia Ortiz, was created in Dawson’s image. As you may have guessed rumors have flown about a movie. In 2006, Dimension Films purchased the rights to do so and IMDb has a page for it here that states it’s in development. In March 2012, TheHollywoodReporter.com reported that Dawson is teaming up with Gale Anne Hurd, producer of “The Walking Dead” TV show as well as movies such as Aliens and The Abyss put an “OCT” series on A&E. Now, a lot of geeks may have been aware that she is a huge comic geek but may not be aware of the Klingon speaking Trekkie part. If you don’t believe me, watch this clip of Rosario Dawson on Conan O Brien showing off her Klingon skills.View the list »
Mila Kunis plays WoW. In an interview with complex magazine, Mila Kunis revealed to the public that she plays World of Warcraft. However, on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” while plugging her role as Mona Sax in the 2008 film Max Payne , she announced that she had been on hiatus from the game for a good year. She tells Jimmy about her 2 guilds, one of friends and one of strangers. That’s right she has played with the common folk! She told a story about having to abandon a character because someone recognized her voice. She stopped verbally communicating when raiding with unacquainted characters. She speaks so lovingly of WoW that many members of the geek community believe she hadn’t quit for good, such as Zach Yonzon of Joystiq.com (in this article). Whether she’s still raiding or not, she has proven herself a true geeky gamer girl.

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As geekery has become more cool, more and more geeks and nerds have come forward to claim their awesomness, like the cast of The Guild singing “I’m The One Who’s Cool”. Sadly, now it makes us sound like hipsters proclaiming, “I liked that before it was cool!”, but that’s not my point for this article. The real point is this, celebrities are now comfortable enough to admit they are geek and/or nerd and proud of it. Here are five stars that are intellectual nerds and gaming geeks.

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  • Mila Kunis plays WoW. In an interview with complex magazine, Mila Kunis revealed to the public that she plays World of Warcraft. However, on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” while plugging her role as Mona Sax in the 2008 film Max Payne , she announced that she had been on hiatus from the game for a good year. She tells Jimmy about her 2 guilds, one of friends and one of strangers. That’s right she has played with the common folk! She told a story about having to abandon a character because someone recognized her voice. She stopped verbally communicating when raiding with unacquainted characters. She speaks so lovingly of WoW that many members of the geek community believe she hadn’t quit for good, such as Zach Yonzon of Joystiq.com (in this article). Whether she’s still raiding or not, she has proven herself a true geeky gamer girl.
  • Rosario Dawson is a Trekkie and comic fanatic. Dawson not only loves comics she helped to create (with co-creators David Atchison and Tony Shasteen and write, “Occult Crimes Taskforce “. “OCT” The main character, Investigator Sophia Ortiz, was created in Dawson’s image. As you may have guessed rumors have flown about a movie. In 2006, Dimension Films purchased the rights to do so and IMDb has a page for it here that states it’s in development. In March 2012, TheHollywoodReporter.com reported that Dawson is teaming up with Gale Anne Hurd, producer of “The Walking Dead” TV show as well as movies such as Aliens and The Abyss put an “OCT” series on A&E. Now, a lot of geeks may have been aware that she is a huge comic geek but may not be aware of the Klingon speaking Trekkie part. If you don’t believe me, watch this clip of Rosario Dawson on Conan O Brien showing off her Klingon skills.
  • Vin Diesel plays Dungeons and Dragons. Diesel has been rolling the dice since the 70s. Melcor, his witch hunting half Drow character even slipped into one of his movies. For the movie xXx, he had, Melcor, temporarily tattooed on his stomach. His love for D&D has become so well known that he was asked to wrote the forward for the book “30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons and Dragons.” You can check out the purchase the book on Amazon though this link either new or used. Here is the recording of Diesel on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” talking about his geekdom http://youtu.be/71AzW9_p4Jg. During the interview he tells a story about playing D&D with a cop who would always put his gun on the table and get plastered. Even if you’re Vin Diesel, you wouldn’t want to argue with a drunk cop with a gun pointed at you! I like the fact that Jimmy Kimmel made a point to say that he didn’t find it weird that he played. He even admitted to trying the game himself, but it wasn’t his thing. He also blamed that on not having the proper snacks though. I bet he’d try again if Vin Diesel ran a game and provided a snack spread, but who wouldn’t!
  • Natalie Portman is an Oscar winner and a Harvard scientist. She put her acting aside for 4 years, vowing only to work on the Star Wars movies so she could concentrate on studying and went to Harvard for psychology. While at Harvard, Natalie Hershlag (her given name) was a research assistant in Professor Stephen Kosslyn’s neuropsychology lab. While there she got to investigate frontal lobe development and visual knowledge in infants. More specifically, she was studying one year olds and their development of the knowledge that objects, though not in sight, still exist. Hershlag co-authored 2 that were published in major science journals. Here is a pdf of the paper published in NeuroImage, and here is the link to the study published in the Journal of Chemical Education. Of course, we know she successfully made her return to Hollywood after her education. In total She has been nominated for 55 awards for her acting and won 32, including her Ocsar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Black Swan.
  • Dolph Lundgren has muscles and a mind. He-Man of the 1987 Masters of the Universe, has an IQ of 160 which is genius level. Mensa, the high IQ society in which members must be the top 2% of the population, would be proud to call Dolph a member. Lundgren got a master’s in chemical engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and then was given the Fulbright Scholarship to MIT. The Fullbright Scholarship is awarded based on academic merit and leadership abilities. Awardees must also have the capability of contributing to solving world issues. Lundgren wound up getting into the movies rather than finishing at MIT, but in doing so made an entertaining contribution to the world. He also speaks French, German, Swedish, Italian and, as we’ve seen in his movies, English.
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, Dayton Geek Culture Examiner

Sarah Marquis is a geeky gamer girl with a splash of science nerd that likes to keep up with the latest in geek culture. So if your interested in gaming news from the table, console, or otherwise or TV and movie news from super heroes to space aliens, you'll want to subscribe to her page.

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