About This Quiz
When we think of movies we generally think of Hollywood and, sometimes, New York. But Hollywood is just a small part of Los Angeles and very few actors started off there. They came from all over to make a name for themselves while others never even intended to get a star at all and kind of stumbled into the gig. However they got there, they started from all across the country. Every state has its stable of celebrities, those movie stars that you can claim as your hometown favorite if you're from the same neck of the woods. And sure, states like New York and California may have waaaaay more celebrities calling them home than a place like Alaska or Montana, but it's quality, not quantity, right?Â
Now maybe you can listen to Woody Harrelson's voice and gauge where he comes from by his accent. Maybe you're a diehard fan of Timothee Chalamet and know where he was born. Heck, maybe you even grew up down the street from Anna Kendrick. If you're a fan of movies and celebrities, then let's see how well you are at identifying which state some of the biggest movie stars came from. Take the quiz and see!
Hailing from West Homestead, Pennsylvania, Jeff Goldblum has been acting for decades now and is about as quirky as quirky gets. His very first role was as a thug who commits a home invasion, which is about 180 degrees from most roles you'd associate with him these days.
Anna Kendrick was born in Portland, Maine. Her first acting role was in a little-seen musical called "Camp" that, aside from Kendrick herself, also featured Stephen Sondheim in a small role. So that was probably fun.
Meryl Streep is originally from Summit, New Jersey. Word is she didn't have much interest in acting until she hit college and appeared in a production of "Miss Julie" that wowed audiences and convinced her to give acting a serious try.
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Asher Angel was born in Phoenix, Arizona. As you might expect from an actor who is only in his teens, Angel started young. His first role was in the movie "Jolene" when he was just 5 years old. Now he's part of the DC Universe with "Shazam!" and he released a single in 2019.
Norman Reedus was born in Hollywood, but the one in Florida, not California. He'd done many jobs including working in a motorcycle shop and making art before someone randomly saw him at a party and asked if he wanted to try acting.
Though people seem to run into him all over the world these days, Bill Murray started his life in Evanston, Illinois. Murray actually has three brothers who are also actors and a sister who's a nun.
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Winona Ryder was born in Winona, Minnesota and her parents really liked the town so they named their daughter after it. Ryder is her stage name, though, and she borrowed it from one of her dad's favorite musicians Mitch Ryder.
The state of New York has produced more actors than you can shake a stick at including Timothee Chalamet, Robert de Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Christopher Walken, Lucille Ball and a few hundred others.
Not a lot of people know that Utah-native Julianne Hough started acting in Harry Potter back in 2001. They don't know it because she barely had a role in it but she was an extra! These days she's more well known for "Dancing with the Stars" and "America's Got Talent."
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Sam Jackson was raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee for much of his childhood, although he was born in Washington, D.C. After the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackson attended the funeral as an usher and for a time was involved in the civil rights movement before his mother sent him to LA fearing for his safety.
Chadwick Boseman was born in Anderson, South Carolina. Boseman hit it pretty big as James Brown in the movie "Get on Up" but there's no doubt his turn as Black Panther in the MCU is his biggest role to date and he's set to come back for a sequel.
Though he was born in California, Driver spent much of his childhood in Mishawaka, Indiana. When he was a kid, Driver said he was a bit of a weirdo and was one of those guys who started an actual Fight Club after seeing the movie in 1999.
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Born in Oakland, Zendaya's full name is Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman. In 2010, she got her big break on the Disney show "Shake It Up" where she got a chance to both act and dance alongside fellow child star Bella Thorne.
Billy Bob Thornton's accent hasn't changed much in Hollywood and comes straight from Hot Springs, Arkansas. He rocketed to fame when the movie he wrote, directed, and starred in called "Sling Blade" won awards back in 1996.
Chris Evans was born in Boston and is best recognized these days as Captain America. He actually has a long history in comic book movies, having played the Captain in 9 movies plus Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four in two movies and also making an appearance in "Scott Pilgrim vs the World" and "Snowpiercer," both of which were graphic novels as well as the Vertigo comic adaptation "The Losers."
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Chloe Grace Moretz was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Her big break came in "The Amityville Horror" remake when she was just 8 years old. By 2010 she was cast as Hit-Girl in the movie "Kick-Ass" which rocketed her to fame.
Johnny Depp was not a kid who grew up in just one place, and apparently his family moved around so much he had at least 20 different homes during his childhood. But it had to start somewhere and when he was born, Depp was in Owensboro, Kentucky.
Octavia Spencer comes from Montgomery, Alabama originally. Her first role was in the movie "A Time to Kill" and she'd actually been hired to work behind the scenes in casting but ended up asking director Joel Schumacher if she could audition for an on-camera role.
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Amy Adams was actually born in Italy. Her father was in the military and was stationed overseas. When they finally did settle in the United States, they went to Colorado and Adams spent most of her childhood there from the age of 8 onward.
Glenn Close was born in Greenwich, Connecticut and has the dubious honor of being the actress with the most Academy Award nominations and no wins at seven. Of course, she also has three Emmys, three Tonys and three Golden Globes.
Back in the day, Judge Reinhold had a memorable role in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" then went on to things like "Gremlins" and "Beverly Hills Cop." He also had a pretty memorable guest spot on "Seinfeld." And all of it started in Wilmington, Delaware.
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Maggie Q, whose real name is Margaret Denise Quigley, was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Q's mother is Vietnamese and she met her father while he was stationed in-country during the Vietnam War.
Aaron Paul was born in Idaho and got his first brush with fame on an episode of "The Price is Right." He appeared in the year 2000 and lost on the Dice Game and then overbid on his showcase by a mere $132.
Movie cowboy John Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, Iowa back in 1907. Weirdly enough, his parents changed his middle named from Robert to Michael some years later when they had another son and decided to name him Robert.
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Before his time on "Saturday Night Live" and then in HBO's "Barry," Bill Hader called Tulsa, Oklahoma, home. Hader has garnered critical acclaim for the show "Barry" including two Emmy awards and many more nominations.
Josh Duhamel was born in North Dakota back in 1972. Before he got into modeling and acting, he was a college football player and actually had plans to go to dental school and make a living fixing people's teeth.
Best known for both "Lost" and "The Vampire Diaries," Ian Somerhalder was born in Louisiana and has apparently settled into the vampire theme pretty well. After 8 years on "The Vampire Diaries," he moved to Netflix's vampire show "V-Wars."
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Born n Baltimore, Maryland, Jada Pinkett went to the Baltimore School for the Arts where she met and befriended Tupac Shakur. She married actor Will Smith back in 1997 and they have two kids together who have also done pretty well with their careers.
Janelle Monae was born in Kansas City, Kansas. Initially known only for her singing, Monae has also made her mark in acting with movies like "Moonlight" and "Welcome to Marwen" among others.
Though Oprah Winfrey has been around quite a bit in her day, she started life in rural Mississippi. She created an empire for herself built on nothing but her own talent and now has a net worth in the billions of dollars.
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Though he was born in New York, from age 6 onward Adam Sandler was raised in New Hampshire. It was actually comedian and fellow SNL star Dennis Miller who first discovered Sandler performing standup and recommended him for "Saturday Night Live."
Woody Harrelson was born in Midland, Texas, and had what you might call an atypical childhood. That was due to the fact his father, Charles Harrison, was a hitman convicted of assassinating federal judge John H Wood, Jr. back in 1979.
Luke Perry was born in Ohio rose to fame on "Beverly Hills 90210" and then enjoyed a huge popularity resurgence later in life on "Riverdale." Tragically, Perry suffered a stroke at the age of 52 and passed away in 2019.
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Zach Galifianakis was born in North Carolina. His comedy career has been pretty impressive, but not a lot of people know he was once a writer for "Saturday Night Live." The reason most people don't know that is because he only had the job for two weeks.
Neil Patrick Harris hails from Alburquerque, New Mexico. He started acting in his teens getting his first role opposite Whoopi Goldberg in "Clara's Heart" and then, of course, his big break as "Doogie Howser M.D."
Madonna moved to New York when she was older but her childhood was spent in Michigan. She dropped out of college when she was 20 and headed to New York City for her big break. It obviously worked out pretty well for her.
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Dick Van Dyke has been a Hollywood icon for over half a century now. His show "The Dick Van Dyke Show" set the bar for sitcoms all the way back in 1961 but he didn't start off in Hollywood. He was born in West Plains, Missouri in 1925.
Michelle Williams was born in Montana and got her big break on "Dawson's Creek." In more recent years she's made a mark not only in films like "Venom" but on Broadway as well and in the TV show "Fosse/Verdon."
Willem Dafoe was born in a place called Appleton, Wisconsin. Both of his parents work in healthcare, his mother was a nurse and his father a surgeon, so they were rarely around, leaving Dafoe and his siblings to watch out for themselves.
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Though she was born in Texas, Garner's family moved to West Virginia when she was only three and she stayed there until heading to college in Ohio. In 2005, Garner married Ben Affleck and the two stayed together for several years. Their divorce was finalized in 2018.