Sebastian Stan, Natalie Portman and other MCU actors with impressive college degrees

Natalie Portman is practically a household name.

A powerhouse in her own right, she’s been the leading lady of critically acclaimed films such as “Jackie,” “V for Vendetta,” and “Black Swan” as well as taken the box office by storm with her roles in the “Star Wars” prequels and most of the “Thor” movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Despite her stardom, however, Portman has always been relatively low-profile in her efforts.

Notably, she’s known for always putting her education first — famously skipping a premiere for “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” because she was studying for her high school exams. It was a natural choice for her to continue her education at university. 

Portman is not the only MCU actor who pursued a university education, though. Many of the Marvel cast are not only big Hollywood stars, but intelligent scholars in their own right. 

Here’s a look into where some beloved MCU actors went to university and what they studied.

‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ star Natalie Portman is also a graduate from the #1 university in the world. Source: Jon Kopaloff / AFP

Natalie Portman: Harvard University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Higher education was always in Natalie Portman’s line of sight.

After graduating high school, she applied and got into Harvard University, studying for a bachelor’s degree in psychology. 

From the get-go, it was clear that Portman was not just another actress who gained admittance into an Ivy League college due to her reputation. In fact, she applied through her real last name, “Hershlag,” to ensure this as well as to protect her privacy. 

Her former professor, Alan Dershowitz, says he still cites a paper she wrote that debunked a new method of lie-detector tests. She received an A+ for it, the highest grade in the class.

“She was really on the cutting edge,” Dershowitz said of Portman, adding that she later became his research assistant. “I think there were a lot of people in the class who really were taken with this new methodology. She just ripped it apart.” 

Portman continued to pursue her acting at the same time, making sure to balance her studies while doing so.

“Natalie never once asked for an extension or to be excused from her responsibilities,” said Abigail A. Baird, one of Portman’s former mentors at Harvard. This often meant that she would submit papers early if she had any scheduled appearances, for example. 

After graduating from Harvard and accumulating a few more successful performances, Natalie Portman went to Hebrew University in Jerusalem for six months, studying spoken Arabic, spoken Hebrew, the history of Israel, the history of Islam, and the anthropology of violence. 

Tom Hiddleston is an alumni of Cambridge University, where he studied classics. Source: Jesse Grant/AFP

Tom Hiddleston: The University of Cambridge

Aside from being a talented, award-winning actor, Tom Hiddleston is a lover of language. It’s precisely why, after graduating from the prestigious Eton College, he was accepted into the University of Cambridge — specifically Pembroke College — to study classics.

There, he gained a Double First in Classics. 

Like Portman, Hiddleston made sure to pursue his acting at the same time, too. He threw himself into the acting community at Cambridge, participating in stage plays whilst also joining the rugby team.

He was eventually noticed by a casting director during a performance in “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

Following that, Hiddleston went on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, which produced tremendous talents such as 2025 Oscar nominee Ralph Fiennes, the late Alan Rickman, and decorated actor Kenneth Branagh. 

“I enjoyed my academic studies hugely,” he wrote in a reflection on his education for TeachWire. “I sort of realise how that background is so helpful and such an advantage; an education is an extraordinary gift, and it’s funny how much I lean on it now.”

While his time in the MCU has come to a close after “Avengers: Endgame” and “Loki,” you’ll catch him on the stage at Theatre Royal Drury Lane acting in “Much Ado About Nothing.”

The late Chadwick Boseman was an alum of Howard University, where he studied directing. Source: Matt Winkelmeyer/AFP

Chadwick Boseman: Howard University

The late Chadwick Boseman was — and continues to be — beloved the world over for his performance as King T’Challa in 2018’s “Black Panther”.

He broke onto the scene with a lead role in the baseball film “42” and continued to astound audiences in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Get On Up,” and “Da 5 Bloods.” 

Before that, though, Boseman pursued an education at Howard University, where he received a bachelor of fine arts in directing.

Whilst there, he led a student protest against the absorption of the College of Fine Arts into the College of Arts & Sciences, and continued to be an active alumni member long after graduating. 

Upon the actor’s death, Howard University renamed the College of Fine Arts in honour of Boseman’s memory. It’ s now the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts. 

“Chad fought to preserve the College of Fine Arts during his matriculation at Howard and remained dedicated to the fight throughout his career,” said Howard President Wayne A. I. Frederick. “His time at Howard University helped shape both the man and the artist that he became, committed to truth, integrity, and a determination to transform the world through the power of storytelling.”

In 2021, Netflix also established a 5.4 million US dollar scholarship to Howard University in Boseman’s honour. 

Gemma Chan was a law graduate at the University of Oxford before she pursued acting. Source: Rich Fury/AFP

Gemma Chan: The University of Oxford

Unlike most other stars in Hollywood, “Crazy Rich Asians” star Gemma Chan didn’t naturally drift to acting from the beginning. In fact, she started out by studying law at the University of Oxford.

There, she chose to go to Worcester College because it had an even male/female split and upon graduating, and got a job at a prestigious law firm. 

Despite her relatively successful legal career, Chan was always drawn towards acting. To realise her dreams, she took night classes at the London Central School of Speech and Drama — and eventually made the decision to quit her job to pursue acting full-time. 

“In all honesty, it was really painful,” Chan told British Vogue. “My dad was always very much like, ‘Work for something that they can’t take away from you.’ That was the mentality. Hence: get your qualifications. Hence: it was such a scary or completely inconceivable thing to pursue an unknown career in the arts.”

While Chan never did realise her career as a lawyer, she says she has certainly found her education useful as an actor. 

“It is quite helpful with memorisation,” she was quoted saying. “I had to learn about 2,000 cases by heart, so I am fairly good at learning scripts quickly. On the whole, it is quite a different part of the brain: Law is very analytical, and acting is more instinctive and emotionally driven. But, it does come in handy with learning lines ― and reading my own contract.”

While many casual watchers would know her for her titular role, Sersi, in “Eternals,” eagle-eyed Marvel fans would have spotted her playing Minn-Erva in “Captain Marvel” in 2019.

Sebastian Stan is set to play Bucky Barnes once again in “Thunderbolts*.” Source: AFP

Sebastian Stan: Rutgers University

Romanian-born actor Sebastian Stan is another familiar face in the MCU, having played his iconic character Bucky Barnes AKA the Winter Soldier in several instalments, with the latest being “Captain America: Brave New World” and “Thunderbolts*.”

When young, Stan moved to New York, where his mother married Anthony Fruhauf, the headmaster of Rockland Country Day School, which Stan then attended. During his time there, he starred in several school productions such as “West Side Story,” “Harvey,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” and more.

“He got his start right in my seventh grade English class when I had the kids divide up and prepare scenes from Romeo and Juliet,” shares his teacher Ellen Nodelman, who is presently the Director of College Guidance and Testing at Rockland. “He was very reluctant. He had never acted and wasn’t all that sure of his English pronunciation. He did it and was a smash hit as Romeo! Followed two years later, by a role in the school musical, he was hooked.”

Once he decided to take acting seriously, he attended Rutger University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, and spent a year abroad studying acting at acting at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, England.

Stan recently received widespread acclaim for his portrayal of a young Donald Trump in the biographical drama “The Apprentice,” securing several nominations and even winning a Global Globe Award.

Our Captain America. Source: AFP

Anthony Mackie: Juilliard School

Anthony Mackie initially had a very different career path in mind before stepping onto the stage, and eventually into the Marvel spotlight.

“I wanted to be a mechanical engineer,” Mackie declared in an interview for LADbible TV. “I went to engineering school at Mobil oil! I studied thermodynamics, fluid propulsion.”

His choice of engineering as a potential career wasn’t surprising, however, considering that his brother, Calvin Mackie, was an associate professor of mechanical engineering at New Orleans’ Tulane University. His other brother was a lawyer.

“I knew I wasn’t smart enough to be a lawyer, so engineer was the next pick,” Mackie confessed. “I honestly thought engineering was all about building things and blowing things up! How could you not be excited about that?

After starring in numerous school productions, he moved to New York City to attend Juilliard School when he turned 17. But despite a booming career on the big screen, he has never forgotten his theatre roots, and credits his education for his versatility as an actor.

Disclaimer: This article was updated on March 20, 2025.