These stars can read their own contracts!
Some celebs have resumes that go beyond IMDB credits — including law degrees.
While most left law behind to pursue their acting careers full time, others still use their degree to this day! Besides the ability to look over their own contracts, celebs like “Crazy Rich Asians” star Gemma Chan says that her law school past helps her with script memorization. Meanwhile television personality Jerry Springer is putting his degree to good use on his new show “Judge Jerry.”
Find out which other celebrities attended law school.
Before Gerard Butler pursued his acting dreams, he studied law at the University of Glasgow. He was even president of the law society! He graduated with honors in 1992 and then landed a traineeship at a top law firm in Edinburgh. Over the course of his two years working at the firm, Gerard reportedly realized it wasn’t for him and eventually got fired for missing work so much. At that point, he decided to give Hollywood a shot.
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2. Gemma Chan
Gemma Chan earned her law degree from Oxford University and credits her extensive studies with helping her become a better actress.
“It is quite helpful with the memorization. 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,” Gemma told Modern Luxury.
3. Rebel Wilson
Rebel Wilson graduated from the University of New South Wales with a degree in both theatre and performance studies as well as a Bachelor of Laws. As for her decision to pursue acting instead of law, Rebel says she came to the conclusion she was meant to be an actress after hallucinating she won an Oscar while battling malaria in Africa years ago. Rebel eventually decided to do both at once and by her second year of law school, she was already on TV.
“I’ve never practiced [law] for money. A law degree is five years total and I was already on Australian television by, like, year two. I play a lot of dumb characters so people were very confused about what I was doing in the contract law exam… But it took me so long to get into law school, you have to study really hard, so I thought I may as well finish it even though I was already kind of famous,” Rebel said on “The Late Late Show.”
Long before Jerry Springer had his own talk show, he obtained a degree in political science from Tulane University. He went on to receive his law degree from Northwestern University and became a partner at Ohio law firm Grinker, Sudman & Springer. He then pursued his political ambitions as the mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. Jerry is currently putting his law degree to good use in his new court show, “Judge Jerry.”
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Julio Iglesias was in the middle of earning his degree in law when a major car accident left him paralyzed. While recovering, he learned the guitar which inspired him to pursue his music career. He didn’t finish law school then but eventually earned his degree in 2001.
Despite his musical ambitions, Andrea Bocelli attended the University of Pisa as a young adult to please his parents. He went on to graduate from law school and become a court-appointed lawyer. Meanwhile, he performed at local venues to make some extra cash. When he finally got his big break in the early 90s, he left law to pursue music full time.
“Probably it is better for many clients that I changed my direction! But I was happy to study [law] and I was a good student, I finished my studies. And everything that you learn is useful in life,” Andrea told The Columbus Dispatch.
7. John Cleese
“Monty Python” star John Cleese attended law school at Downing College, Cambridge University. It was there that he met his comedy writing partner Graham Chapman. John followed through and received his law degree but decided to pursue comedy after graduating.
“I think I would have been quite good at law, but I think I would have found it ultimately very empty,” John told Yahoo.
8. Ben Stein
Before his role in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and hosting “Win Ben Stein’s Money,” Ben Stein had a career in law. He was valedictorian of his class at Yale and went on to work as a trial lawyer for the Federal Trade Commission. He was even a professor at Yale!
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