You might be surprised to learn that some of your favorite celebrities were born in a totally different part of the world!
Whether its Cole and Dylan Sprouse who were born in Italy, Millie Bobby Brown from Spain or Nina Dobrev hailing from Bulgaria (she also speaks Bulgarian!) — there’s a lot to talk about!
Another celebrity you might recognize who was born outside of the United States is Ross Butler, the 13 Reasons Why and Riverdale star who recently booked a role in DC’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Born in Singapore but raised in America, Ross is the son of a Chinese-Malaysian mother and an English-Dutch father. “I moved to America when I was 4, and I went to American public school. I grew up around American kids and I’m an American. I was raised in this culture,” he explained to Paper Magazine back in March 2018.
“I grew up in America, surrounded by Americans,” he told Men’s Fashion Post in February 2021. “I think my acting style reflects that … a lot of the roles I play are just American teenagers, and that’s what I grew up seeing and being. And that’s part of what led to my decision to not play stereotypical Asian roles, because that wasn’t reflective of who I am. I’m just an American.”
The Riverdale actor is also very vocal on his experience growing up in America and trying to become an actor in an industry with such a lack of Asian representation. “Growing up, I wish I had seen the stories I saw, just with Asian characters. I wish there was an Asian version of Tom Hanks or an Asian American version of Ryan Gosling,” he told Paper Magazine.
“In the Asian community, there are two battles we’re fighting,” he further explained to Esquire. “There’s the battle for Asian actors to play Asian roles well and not stereotypically, and then also the battle for Asian actors to play non-Asian roles. Crazy Rich Asians was an amazing milestone for our community, but I think we need to fight for more inclusion as far as, for lack of a better phrase, mixing ethnicities—having an Asian male lead and a female white lead or a female black lead.” Right on, Ross!
Scroll through our gallery for all of the celebrities who were born in different countries that you might not have known about!
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