Building a career that you love is one of the most difficult tasks in life, especially when you are not sure what you want to do with your life. There are many people who choose a specific career, but they change their minds over time and realize that doing something else is the right choice. For example, the celebrities that you will find in this article studied and even practiced law before becoming Hollywood stars.

Of course, you can become a famous person, even though you activate in a different domain, but in general, most people have realized that starting a career in acting, theater or music industry is their ultimate passion. But what we may not realize about these celebrities is that they are actually more intelligent than they seem.

That being said, here are some celebrities you’d never guess have law degrees. Read on for more info!

Gerard Butler 

Gerard Butler is a Scottish actor and film producer who started his acting career in the 1990s after studying law. Of course, he started with small roles in various films, such as Mrs Brown (1997), the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), and Tale of the Mummy (1998). However, Butler gained international fame after portraying King Leonidas in Zack Snyder’s fantasy war film 300.

After college, our famous actor worked as a trainee lawyer at an Edinburgh law firm. He eventually qualified as a lawyer, but due to some problems with alcohol, he was fired.

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Jerry Springer

Jerry Springer is an English-born American journalist, actor, producer, and former lawyer. As you probably already know, Springer hosted the tabloid talk show The Jerry Springer Show from 1991 to 2018.

In 1968, Springer earned a Juris Doctor (J. D.) degree from Northwestern University. However, when Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated, he joined the Cincinnati law firm of Frost & Jacobs, now Frost Brown Todd.

In addition, he was also a partner in the law firm of Grinker, Sudman & Springer from 1973 to 1985, alongside Ronnie Grinker and Harry Sudman.

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Rebel Wilson

We can say about Rebel Wilson that she is actually a multitasking celebrity, with a background in numerous fields, including, law, acting, comedy, writing, music industry and film production.

Going back to her acting career, Wilson starred in numerous films, such as What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Struck by Lightning, Bachelorette, How to Be Single and Grimsby.

Her role in the musical comedy Pitch Perfect film series (2012–2017) earned her an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and a Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress.

But that’s not all! Wilson’s first passion was mathematics, but in 2009 she graduated from the University of New South Wales with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees.

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Andrea Bocelli

Andrea Bocelli is an Italian opera tenor and multi instrumentalist. Unfortunately, he became completely blind at the age of 12, but was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma at 5 months old.

Bocelli gained more international fame in 1994 when he won the preliminary round of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival.

However, what many people don’t know about him is that while he was studying at the University of Pisa, his parents wanted him to pursue a law career. So, he performed local piano bars to earn some money before graduating and becoming a court-appointed lawyer. A few years later, he realized that his biggest passion was music, so he left law.

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Gemma Chan

Gemma Chan is an English actress who attended the Newstead Wood School for Girls and studied law at Worcester College, Oxford. However, she chose to pursue a career in acting, so she enrolled at the Drama Centre London.

She had several supporting roles on television, such as Doctor Who, Sherlock, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Fresh Meat, as well as roles in independent films, such as Exam (2009), Submarine (2010) and Belles Familles (2015).

Going back to her law degree from Oxford University, the actress said that “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.”

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John Cleese

John Cleese is an English actor, comedian and producer who also has a law degree. To be more specific, the actor attended law school at Downing College of Cambridge University, where he actually met his future comedy writing partner Graham Chapman. Cleese graduated with his degree in 1963.

He and his colleagues, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, starred in Monty Python films, namely Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983).

According to critics, Cleese is really good at satire, black comedy, sketch comedy and surreal humor.

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Megyn Kelly

Megyn Kelly is an American journalist, lawyer, political commentator, and talk show host. She worked for Fox News from 2004 to 2017, as well as for NBC News from 2017 to 2018. As you probably already know, she is currently producing her own podcast called The Megyn Kelly Show and is also active on her Instagram page and YouTube channel.

Kelly is considered one of the most influential people in the world. She scored her degree from the Albany School of Law in 1995 after completing her undergrad at Syracuse University.

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Geraldo Rivera

Geraldo Rivera is an American journalist, author, and political commentator who also hosted the tabloid talk show Geraldo, from 1987 to 1998. He started to gain more international fame after creating the live TV special The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults.

After several jobs, from clothing salesman to shorty order cook, he chose to enroll at Brooklyn Law School in 1966. Before receiving his J. D. degree in 1969, he held various internships in the law field.

After working for various organizations as the lower Manhattan-based Community Action for Legal Services and the National Lawyers Guild, he became an attorney for the Puerto Rican activist group, the Young Lords.

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Rashida Jones

Rashida Jones is an American actress, director, writer, and producer. She started to gain more international fame after starring in Boston Public (2000–2002), The Office (2006–2013), and Parks and Recreation (2009–2015).

As a director, she helped create the first episode of Hot Girls Wanted. Her documentary Quincy, about her father, Quincy Jones, earned her the Grammy Award for Best Music Film in 2019.

Jones attended Harvard University and was initially interested in becoming a lawyer, but she changed her mind after becoming disillusioned by the O. J. Simpson murder trial.

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Ozzie Nelson

Ozzie Nelson was an American band leader, actor, director, and producer. He rose to prominence after starring in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, a radio and television series, along with his wife Harriet and two sons, David and Ricky Nelson.

What many people don’t know about our famous actor is that he graduated from Rutgers University with a bachelor’s degree and also earned a law degree from Rutgers School of Law, Newark, New Jersey, in 1930. As a student, he played saxophone in a band, as well as football to earn some money.

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Julio Iglesias

Julio Iglesias is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. He is regarded as the most commercially successful continental European singer in the world, as well as one of the top record sellers in music history. In 2013, he was inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame.

However, did you know that he alternated playing football with studying law at the CEU San Pablo University in Madrid? He also studied for three months at Bell Educational Trust’s Language School in Cambridge, England, but returned to obtain his law degree at the Complutense University of Madrid.

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