Since the Marvel Cinematic Universe began with the release of Iron Man in 2008, the Avengers universe has served as the launchpad for some of Hollywood’s brightest talents. Since then, this multi-billion dollar series has established itself as a mainstay of the current pop culture.
These performers and actresses come from a wide range of backgrounds, from high school dropouts to graduates of respected universities.
What level of education did the Avengers actors achieve? Let’s recap the educational histories of our favorite celebrities. Iron Man co-creator and late Marvel co-founder Stan Lee claimed that Robert Downey Jr. was “born to be” Tony Stark. He appeared in Robert Downey Srfilm .’s Pound when he was 5 years old. During this time, his parents relocated frequently due to their jobs, and he picked up the trade on the go. Downey dropped out of Santa Monica High School and concentrated on his acting career while gaining an education in several locations. He studied classical dance at the Perry House in London and received acting training.
Chris Evans, who played Steve Rogers/Captain America, gained fame without having a college degree. Evans always knew he wanted to be an actor. He spent his childhood acting in school plays in his homeland of Massachusetts, where he was named “Most Theatrical,” probably as a result of his Shakespearean school performances, according to The New York Times. The young actor went straight to New York City after finishing high school in the late 1990s to seek a career in acting.
The Hulk, a fictional character played by Mark Ruffalo, is a well-known figure around the world. However, he began his career as a wrestler while attending school in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he battled untreated dyslexia, ADHD, and depression.
In San Diego, California, the aspiring actor quietly pursued his career with the support of his parents, skipping college applications in the process. However, he later admitted to New York Magazine, “I lied to all my friends and told them I was going to UCSD… ’cause I felt it was unrealistic to be an actor.”
After receiving his secondary education and beginning his acting career in the soap opera industry, Chris Hemsworth attended the Screenwise Film & TV School for Actors in Sydney, where he also supposedly learned how to speak with an American accent.
Hemsworth was one of the only cast members without a distinguished educational background when the first Thor movie was being filmed, but he never saw this as a disadvantage.
Chris Hemsworth remarked in a statement to Film Festival Traveler that whether it’s a soap opera or a piece of old-fashioned theatre,… Just put in the effort, be willing to consider new concepts, take calculated chances, and embrace impromptu situations.
By the time she was 19 years old, Scarlett Johansson, who plays Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, the MCU’s very own Russian spy, had already appeared in a number of films.
The actor started working when she was a young girl. She pursued acting training at the famed Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute for Kids and the Professional Children’s School in between commercial auditions, dance courses, and work in theatre and film. Acting has always been Johansson’s passion, she said to the Independent in 2005.
Before being cast as Hawkeye, a.k.a. archer Clint Barton, Jeremy Renner already had approximately thirty credits — and two Oscar nominations — to his name. But this genuine movie star’s first foray into acting was a complete fluke. He first became interested in acting in the early 1990s while attending Modesto Junior College in his birthplace of California to study computer technology and criminology.
In the midst of his parent’s divorce and while living at the famous Eton College in London at the age of 13, the British actor initially became interested in acting. According to Hiddleston, who described the event as “very traumatic,” “Acting presented a method of venting those sentiments in a safe environment.” Prior to studying acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he majored in Classics at the University of Cambridge. Hiddleston has frequently spoken out against unfair access and opportunity within the acting industry, despite the fact that his privileged training has remained a contentious issue throughout his career.
The New York Times said that Olsen attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University where she majored in theatre and attended workshops at the Atlantic Theater Company in addition to landing parts in numerous independent movies. In 2017, after earning her bachelor’s degree four years earlier, she told The Irish Times, “I think it’s vital to finish something you start.” “I really enjoyed that. I didn’t want to leave high school and immediately enter the film industry. I desired to major in theatre and earn a degree.
Chadwick Boseman had his sights set on writing and directing while obtaining his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Directing at Howard University in Washington, D.C., long before playing the King of Wakanda, a.k.a. T’Challa/Black Panther. After participating in a summer program at Oxford, Boseman went on to study at the Digital Film Academy and teach drama at the Schomburg Center in New York City before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue acting.
Tom Holland has been a professional actor since he was 12 years old, and he is perhaps best recognized for his role as teenage Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Billy Elliot began his career in London as the film’s lead character, and when he was a student at Wimbledon College’s secondary school, he regrettably faced bullying because of his dance background.
Holland admitted to The Scotsman in 2012 that he felt “quite an amount of pressure” at school to achieve well, but that “I assume everyone has to go through it.”
Before taking on the role of Dr. Stephen Strange in 2016, Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch was already a tongue-twister of a household name. The actor once won an arts scholarship and had initially planned to study law. Cumberbatch was “the best schoolboy actor [his theatre teacher] had ever worked with,” he told The Guardian in 2010, therefore he chose to pursue a drama degree at Manchester University.
Before completing high school at the age of 15, 6-year-old Larson set a record as the youngest individual to enroll at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California. She never, however, lost her will to learn. prior to 2013, The movie star was referred to as “a keen autodidact” by The Guardian, who also noted that she had enrolled in a number of online courses through Coursera and iTunes U to learn French, and Greek mythology, and poetry.