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When you sit down in theatres to see the brand new Spider-Man movie and look up at the screen to see a famous actor, it’s hard to imagine their life before the big screen. However, everybody has a past – even the most famous movie stars.
Like, did you know before George Clooney became Michael Clayton he was born and raised in the small city of Lexington, Kentucky?
Or, that Matt Damon, Steve Carell and Bo Burnham all grew up in Massachusetts?
You may be surprised to find which most famous movie star calls your state their hometown.
Every State’s Most Famous Movie Star
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Alabama: Channing Tatum
Famous for: 21 Jump Street, Magic Mike, Dear John
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Alaska: Charles Melton
Famous for: Riverdale, The Sun is Also a Star
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Arizona: Emma Stone
Famous for: La La Land, The Amazing Spider-Man, Easy A
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Arkansas: West Bentley
Famous for: American Beauty, Interstellar, The Hunger Games, American Horror Story
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California: Leonardo DiCaprio
Famous for: Titanic, Inception, Wolf of Wall Street, The Revenant
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Colorado: Tim Allen
Famous for: Toy Story, The Santa Clause
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Connecticut: Justin Long
Famous for: Jeepers Creepers, Accepted, Live Free or Die Hard
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Delaware: Aubrey Plaza
Famous for: Parks and Recreation, Funny People, Scott Pilgrim vs the World
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Florida: Wesley Snipes
Famous for: Blade, New Jack City
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Georgia: Laurence Fishburne
Famous for: The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, Mystic River
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Hawaii: Jason Momoa
Famous for: Aquaman, Justice League, Dune
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Idaho: Lana Turner
Famous for: The Three Musketeers, Imitation of Life, The Love Boat
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Illinois: Betty White
Famous for: The Golden Girls, The Proposal, Lake Placid
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Indiana: James Dean
Famous for: East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause, Giant
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Iowa: Ashton Kutcher
Famous for: A Lot Like Love, That ‘70s Show, The Butterfly Effect
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Kansas: Dennis Hopper
Famous for: Easy Rider, Blue Velvet, Speed
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Kentucky: Johnny Depp
Famous for: Pirates of the Caribbean, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
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Louisiana: Jared Leto
Famous for: Requiem for a Dream, Suicide Squad, Dallas Buyers Club
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Maine: Anna Kendrick
Famous for: Pitch Perfect, Trolls, Twilight
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Maryland: Penn Badgley
Famous for: Margin Call, You, The Stepfather
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Massachusetts: Mark Wahlberg
Famous for: The Fighter, Ted, The Departed
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Michigan: Terry Crews
Famous for: Idiocracy, The Expendables, White Chicks, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
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Minnesota: Judy Garland
Famous for: The Wizard of Oz, A Star is Born
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Mississippi: James Earl Jones
Famous for: Star Wars, The Lion King, The Hunt for Red October
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Missouri: Evan Peters
Famous for: X-Men, American Horror Story, Never Back Down
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Montana: Gary Cooper
Famous for: High Noon, Mr Deeds Goes to Town, For Whom the Bell Tolls
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Nebraska: Marlon Brando
Famous for: Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, Superman
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Nevada: Daveigh Chase
Famous for: Donnie Darko, Spirited Away, Lilo & Stitch, The Ring
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New Hampshire: Adam Sandler
Famous for: The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy, 50 First Dates
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New Jersey: Meryl Streep
Famous for: Out of Africa, Sophie’s Choice, The Devil Wears Prada
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New Mexico: Neil Patrick Harris
Famous for: Gone Girl, Starship Troopers, How I Met Your Mother
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New York: Tom Cruise
Famous for: Top Gun, Jerry Maguire, Mission: Impossible
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North Carolina: Zach Galifianakis
Famous for: The Hangover, Birdman, Due Date
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North Dakota: Leslie Bibb
Famous for: Iron Man, Law Abiding Citizen, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
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Ohio: Halle Berry
Famous for: Gothika, Catwoman, X-Men
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Oklahoma: Brad Pitt
Famous for: Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Se7en, Moneyball
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Oregon: River Pheonix
Famous for: Stand By Me, My Own Private Idaho, Running on Empty
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Pennsylvania: Will Smith
Famous for: Men in Black, I Am Legend, Bad Boys
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Rhode Island: Viola Davis
Famous for: The Help, Fences, Suicide Squad
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South Carolina: Chris Rock
Famous for: The Longest Yard, Top Five, Madagascar
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South Dakota: January Jones
Famous for: Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Unknown, X-Men
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Tennessee: Morgan Freeman
Famous for: Se7en, Million Dollar Baby, Invictus
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Texas: Woody Harrelson
Famous for: Natural Born Killers, Zombieland, Now You See Me
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Utah: Patrick Fugit
Famous for: Almost Famous, Saved!, White Oleander
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Vermont: Damon Wayans Jr.
Famous for: Let’s Be Cops, Big Hero 6, The Other Guys
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Virginia: Rob Lowe
Famous for: St. Elmo’s Fire, Wayne’s World, The Outsiders
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Washington: Dove Cameron
Famous for: Dumplin’, Descendants, Shameless
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Washington DC: Taraji P. Henson
Famous for: Hidden Figures, Empire, The Karate Kid
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West Virginia: Josh Stewart
Famous for: Interstellar, The Collector, The Dark Knight Rises
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Wisconsin: Willem Dafoe
Famous for: Spider-Man, The Florida Project, The Lighthouse
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Wyoming: Darren Dalton
Famous for: Red Dawn, The Outsiders, The Land That Time Forgot
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What We Found Out
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I think we all probably could’ve guessed that infamous Bostonian Mark Wahlberg was going to be the most famous actor from Massachusetts.
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The Golden Girl herself Betty White spent her formative years in Oak Park, Illinois.
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There are quite a few movie stars that were raised in New Jersey including Danny DeVito, Kirsten Dunst, John Travolta, Anne Hathaway and John Nicholson.
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Though Jason Mamoa starred in Dune (2021), he was born on a very different type of terrain in Nānākuli, Hawaii.
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One of Hollywood’s most handsome hunks, Channing Tatum, is a southern boy from Cullman, Alabama.
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Johnny Depp, another notoriously attractive and super famous actor, also has southern roots. He was raised in Owensboro Kentucky before becoming a Pirate of the Caribbean.
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Judy Garland, the original Dorothy from 1939 classic the Wizard of Oz, actually called Minnesota home.
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New York raised quite a few famous actors like Macaulay Culkin, Al Pacino and Denzel Washington. However, we’ve found the most famous actor from New York to be Tom Cruise.
How We Determined This
To figure out who the famous film celebrity was from each U.S. state, we started by searching the actors for lists of actors that were from each state. The actors that were considered to be the “most famous” were those that had either been in many movies, acted in a blockbuster film or are a household name.
Certain states, like Alaska, had turned out very few famous actors. For these places, it was pretty obvious who the most well-known actor was.
However, there were many places that weren’t as clear cut. For example, unsurprisingly, California has raised many successful actors. Between Leonardo Dicaprio, Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Hanks, how can someone possibly determine whose the most famous actor? Well, here’s how we did it.
When we came across a state that produced more than one very famous actor, we turned to Google Trends to confirm who had earned the title. Google Trends shows which actor is being searched for the most in 2022.
In the case of California, we searched to see how many people were searching for Leonardo Dicaprio versus Tom Hanks. It turned out, Leo is searched for just a little more than Mr Hanks. So, Leonardo Dicaprio won the place as California’s most famous movie star.
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Author
Sky Ariella is a professional freelance writer, originally from New York. She has been featured on websites and online magazines covering topics in career, travel, and lifestyle. She received her BA in psychology from Hunter College.
