Beauty and the Brain

Beautiful girls are a dime a dozen when it comes to Hollywood, but brains … not so much. You don’t have to look too long at the tabloids in the supermarket checkout lines  to see that most famous actresses and singers didn’t exactly graduate from Harvard.

But there are movie stars out there who actually did graduate from Harvard. And Yale. And Oxford. Some of the hottest actresses out there have resumes that are more impressive than their looks. Here are ten of the hottest smart girls in Hollywood:

10: Emma Thompson

Background: Two time academy award winner (Best Actress for Howard’s End, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Sense and Sensibility), she’s recently been seen in Stranger Than Fiction and in the Harry Potter movie series as Professor Trelawney.
Evidence of brains: Thompson graduated from Cambridge with a major in English literature. Won an academy award for screenwriting.
Why she’s hot: Cute blonde british girl, what’s not to like? Also, has an incredible smile.
Photographic evidence:

9: Rashida Jones

Background: Best known as Karen Filippelli on The Office. Also made appearances on Boston Public and Freaks and Geeks. Daughter of media mogul Quincy Jones.
Evidence of brains: Jones is multi-talented, having taken piano lessons from the age of five. Graduated from Harvard in 1997 after studying religion and philosophy.
Why she’s hot: Jim’s rebound girl after getting denied by Pam, which has to count for something.
Photographic evidence:

8: Alicia Keys

Background: Keys has won nine Grammy’s, eleven Billboard Music Awards, and three American Music Awards. She’s sold roughly 20 million records in her career so far.
Evidence of brains: Despite growing up in Hell’s Kitchen, Keys graduated from the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan at the age of sixteen as Valedictorian. She had a scholarship to Columbia University, but decided to pursue her musical career. Fairly smart decision there.
Why she’s hot: All about the braids and that hair. Plus there’s just something hot about a girl banging away at a piano.
Photographic evidence:

7: Jennifer Beals

Background: Beals has been around damn near forever, first coming to the scene in 1983’s Flashdance. Currently stars on Showtime’s The L Word, where she plays Bette Porter, an Ivy League Educated lesbian.
Evidence of brains: Graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in English lit.
Why she’s hot: I’m repeating myself, but come on: Currently stars on Showtime’s The L Word, where she plays Bette Porter, an Ivy League Educated lesbian.
Photographic evidence:

6: Kate Beckinsale

Background: Has starred in numerous big box office blockbusters such as Pearl Harbor, Click, and Underworld.
Evidence of brains: Won multiple W. H. Smith Young Writers competitions in her teens, studied foreign language and literature at Oxford.
Why she’s hot: Always showing up on lists of hottest women (best showing #16 in Maxim’s Hot 100 in 2003, also named England’s #1 Beauty by HELLO! magazine in 2002.
Photographic evidence:

5: Sharon Stone

Background: One of the most famous actresses in the world, appearing in one of the most famous scenes in movie history.
Evidence of brains: Actually flunked out of high school as a rebellious teenager, but there’s a good chance that was due to boredom. Stone’s IQ has been tested at 154.
Why she’s hot: She helped make it cool to leave the underwear at home.
Photographic evidence:

4. Jodie Foster

Background: Broke out in 1976 with her role in Taxi Driver. Has won two Best Actress Oscar’s for her roles in The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs.
Evidence of brains: Possibly the most brilliant actress alive, Foster graduated Valedictorian from a French speaking prep school in LA before heading off to Yale where she graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in literature. Is actually intelligent enough to keep her personal life out of the press.
Why she’s hot: Pretty much the embodiment of the word “cute”. And there’s nothing wrong with a strong woman: she took on Hannibal Lector and did pretty well for herself.
Photographic evidence:

3. Jennifer Connelly

Background: Won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her work in A Beautiful Mind. Has a history of picking roles in intelligent films.
Evidence of brains: Went to Yale and studied English, but eventually transferred to Stanford where she finished her Bachelor’s. Speaks three languages fluently (French and Italian).
Why she’s hot: Start at the incredible eyes and head south. Plus, you know, you have to respect a girl willing to go ass to ass. Ahem.
Photographic evidence:

2. Natalie Portman

Background: Career was launched with her role in The Phantom Menace, but she was actually working years before that with roles in movies such as Heat and Mars Attacks!.
Evidence of Brains: Graduated from Harvard University in 2003 with a bachelor’s in psychology, and has pursued grad studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Speaks five languages.
Why she’s hot: She’s been every geek’s fantasy for eight years now, and it’s pretty easy to see why.
Photographic evidence:

1. Elizabeth Shue

Background: Was an 80’s hottie in films such as The Karate Kid, Adventures in Babysiting, and Back to the Future, but she showed that she’d grown up in the film Leaving Las Vegas, portraying a prostitute mixed up with a suicidal alcoholic.
Evidence of Brains: Attended Wellesley College and Harvard University, but withdrew to pursue her acting career. Went back and finished fifteen years later, graduating from Harvard with a degree in government.
Why she’s hot: Any child of the 80’s could tell you that Shue is the ultimate girl next door.
Photographic evidence:

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