“What will you do with a degree in English?” It’s a question that countless English majors have been asked over the years.
For a number of famous actors, the answer was never that they were going to teach literature, write novels, become a lawyer, or go into publishing. Instead, they pursued acting — and it worked out!
Let’s take a look at 15 actors who were English majors — including where they studied, whether they graduated, and what they are known for!
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and filmmaker who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Fugitive (1993). He is also known for his roles in Men in Black and No Country for Old Men. He graduated with a BA in English from Harvard in 1969. Side note: his college roommate was the future Vice President Al Gore.
Jon Hamm is an American actor and producer best known for his role as Don Draper in the television series Mad Men. He also appeared in The Town and Baby Driver. He graduated from the University of Missouri with a BA in English in 1993.
Conan O’Brien is an American television host, comedian, and writer who is best known for hosting late-night shows, including Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Conan. After graduating as the valedictorian of his high school class, Conan double majored in History and Literature at Harvard and graduated in 1985.
Joan Cusack has received multiple Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress in Working Girl and In & Out. She also stole the show in School of Rock! She was an English major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated in 1984.
Renée Zellweger has starred in a ton of noteworthy films, including Bridget Jones’s Diary, Chicago, Cold Mountain, and Judy. She won an Academy Award for her role in Judy. is an American actress and producer who has won several awards, including an Academy Award for her performance in “Judy,” and is also known for her roles in “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and “Chicago.” Her literature degree is from the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated in 1992.
Sigourney Weaver may be best known for her role as Ellen Ripley in the Alien film franchise, but she is also the star of Avatar and plays a major role in Ghostbusters. She attended Sarah Lawrence College for her first year, then transferred to Stanford University. She graduated with a BA in English in 1972 and initially planned to go into journalism and get a PhD in English from Stanford, but she later switched to drama.
Fred Savage is an American actor, director, and producer who is best known for his roles as Kevin Arnold in The Wonder Years and the Grandson in The Princess Bride. More recently, he was terminated from The Wonder Years reboot due to sexual misconduct allegations. He was an English major who graduated from Stanford in 1999.
Alan Alda is famous for playing Hawkeye Pierce on MAS*H. He was also in movies like The Aviator and The Longest Ride. He majored in English at Fordham University and graduated in 1956. Â
David Duchovny is an iconic TV star from The X-Files, on which he played FBI Agent Fox Mulder. He was also in Californication, Evolution, and Return to Me. He graduated with a BA in English from Princeton University in 1982 and then earned an MA in English Literature from Yale.
Jodie Foster is an actress, director, and producer. She was only 12 when she was in Taxi, for which she earned an Academy Award nomination. She won Best Actress for The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs. She directed Little Man Tate and Money Monster. She graduated with honors from Yale University in 1980 as an African American literature major.
Owen Wilson is best known for his roles in Wes Anderson’s movies like The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, as well as comedies like Wedding Crashers and Zoolander. Although he didn’t graduate from college, he did attend the University of Texas at Austin and was an English major.
John Mulaney is a stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He was a writer on Saturday Night Live and has several stand-up specials. In one of his specials, he pokes fun of his college experience. He graduated with an English degree from Georgetown in 2004.
It seems like maybe being an English major can prepare you for a career in the creative arts, even if it’s not necessarily as a writer, editor, or teacher.
