You listen to their music, watch their movies, and scroll through their social media feeds, but when it really comes down to it, how much do you actually know about your favorite celebs?
Their racial heritage, for instance, is an important one that’s not talked about as often as it should.
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This list is the perfect place to start! Here are 10+ celebrities who are actually multiracial.
1. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
If you ever wondered what The Rock identifies as, you’re not alone. When a Twitter debate about this popped up, the Jumanji actor intervened with an answer.
“Glad I came across this and I’ll give you guys some context & truth,” he tweeted.
“I identify as exactly what I am – both. Equally proud. Black/Samoan.”
His late father, Rocky Johnson, was the first black Georgia heavyweight champion , while his grandfather, a professional wrestler, has Samoan roots.
2. Chrissy Teigen
The model and cookbook author is of Norwegian and Thai descent .
If you’ve noticed Chrissy cooking up a ton of delicious Thai dishes on her social media, she probably learned them from her mother, Pepper Thai, who is a Thai home cook.
3. Jason Momoa
The Aquaman actor was born in Hawaii and considers his ethnicity to be Polynesian, which he largely gets from his dad’s side.
His biracial heritage even helped him connect more strongly to the DC superhero, Aquaman.
“That was Zack Snyder [director of *Justice League*]. It was his dream, and when I walked into the office, he said, ‘I want you to play Aquaman,'” he told *BET*.
“That made no sense to me until he said, ‘You’re half white, you’re half Polynesian. Obviously, the Polynesians have their own water gods. Why wouldn’t you take this [points to arm with tattoos] and put it all over,” he said .
4. Keanu Reeves
Get this: Keanu is of Chinese, English, Irish, Native Hawaiian, and Portuguese heritage.
When he first became an actor, his manager even wanted to change his name. He told Jimmy Fallon that they wanted him to be Chuck Spadina or Templeton Paige Taylor.
5. Meghan Markle
In 2015, the royal wrote an essay for Elle on her ethnicity and the struggles that sometimes come with it.
“My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. I’m half black and half white.’
6. Vanessa Hudgens
The High School Musical actress comes from many different backgrounds, including Filipino, Chinese, Spanish, American Indian, Irish, and French.
This is something that caused her some struggles as a teenager, she told Reuters .
“I wasn’t Latin enough, or Asian enough or Caucasian enough,” she said.
“I’m never going to be anything enough because I’m different things. The one thing I’m really blessed with is my various ethnic backgrounds. I’m a complete chameleon and can change from one look to another.”
7. Henry Golding
The Crazy Rich Aisan star is of English and Malaysian heritage.
In 2018, he shared some of the struggles of being biracial with Bustle : “I felt like if you were an Asian mix, were you allowed to belong in any society or were you just meant to be on the outskirts?”
8. Olivia Munn
Munn is of German, Irish, English, and Chinese heritage, but having such different backgrounds has made acting difficult.
“I’d go out for so many auditions, for everything. And then I’d be told, ‘You’re too Asian’ or ‘You’re too white,'” she told Prestige Hong Kong .
“I remember someone telling me, ‘Don’t feel bad.'”
“‘One day they won’t be trying to match you to fit with anyone else. You’ll just be hired for you.’ So you can’t help but get frustrated. That’s part of it all.”
9. H.E.R.
The singer is of black and Filipino heritage. In 2018, she shared with WWD that she represented both cultures differently growing up.
“My dad would throw down with the soul food when we had our black side over.”
“Black culture, to me, is so important and I identify with young black women. I represent young black women, and I’m proud of that.”
At the same time, she grew up in a household where her grandparents also lived.
They were always cooking Filipino dishes and she would have to always take her shoes off at the door.
10. Nicole Scherzinger
The singer was born in Hawaii, but she’s of Filipino, Native Hawaiian, and Russian heritage.
Being mixed race has been difficult, especially in theater, since she said that a lot of people didn’t understand what her nationality or race was.
11. Shay Mitchell
Mitchell is of Filipino, Irish, and Scottish heritage.
She revealed to Cosmopolitan that this caused some issues for her in school.
“I was so uncomfortable being Filipino. I’d get ‘Oh, is your mom a nanny?’ It’s like, No, [expletive], but even if she was, do you know how hard that is? Could you do it? No.”
This caused her to change her appearance.
She’d dye her hair blonde and wear blue contacts.
“Out of sight, out of mind. You wouldn’t think about me if you didn’t see me, so I didn’t go into the cafeteria.”
12. Halsey
The “Bad at Love” singer is of Italian, Hungarian, Irish, and African-American descent.
She’s even spoken out about some of the struggles she faces being biracial, much to the dismay of some people.
“I’ve been traveling for years now and it’s been so frustrating that the hotel toiletry industry entirely alienates people of color,” she wrote, then later deleted, on Twitter.
“I can’t use this perfumed watered down white people shampoo. Neither can 50 percent of your customers. Annoying.”
This caused people to get upset, as they said that she is white, not a “person of color.”
13. Zayn Malik
Zayn Malik is one of the most beautiful men in Hollywood, thanks to his gorgeous features brought to him by his English and Pakistani heritage.
And his mom always knew that he would be breaking a few hearts!
14. Ryan Giggs
Giggs, who is partially Sierra Leonean, knows how it feels to be the subject of abuse from racist people.
“My dad was quite a famous rugby player where we were growing up,” the major soccer manager said.
“Everyone knew that, and I used to get quite a bit of stick at school because of the color of his skin.”
“It’s obviously not nice, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. My way of coping was to keep it to myself. I was a quiet, shy boy and what I should have done is tell the teachers.”
15. Naomi Campbell
One of the most popular models in the world (probably the most popular model in the world), Campbell comes from a line of Afro-Chinese and Jamaican ancestries.
That heritage came with a line of issues for her growing up.
“When I started out, I wasn’t being booked for certain shows because of the color of my skin.”
“I didn’t let it rattle me. From attending auditions and performing at an early age, I understood what it meant to be black. You had to put in the extra effort. You had to be twice as good.”
16. Ne-Yo
Ne-Yo may not be in the spotlight as much as he once was, but we all love the music that he makes regardless!
Ne-Yo is African-American and Chinese , which surprised a lot of people when they found out.
17. Christina Aguilera
Aguilera is the daughter of an Ecuadoran Army sergeant and an Irish-American , and has grown up to be one of the most powerful women in Hollywood.
She is iconic, loved by all, and will probably continue to be loved forever.
18. Wentworth Miller
Miller has a very mixed heritage!
His father is “African-American-Jamaican-German-English,” and his mother is “Russian-Dutch-French-Syrian-Lebanese.”
On his father’s side, he also has a Jewish great grandmother! That is a super fun mix!
19. Adriana Lima
One of the most beautiful women in the world, Adriana Lima is very proud of who she is and where she comes from.
“I’m an Afro-Brazilian girl… And my family is all mixed with Japanese, Black, and West Indian…” Adriana Lima said in an interview.
20. Jessica Szohr
The Gossip Girl star often gets asked about her nationality, and her reply is:
“I’m Hungarian and a quarter Black, so I’m a mutt.”
She hasn’t been in the spotlight much since GG , but she still seems to be living her best life.
21. Alexa Chung
Chung comes from a “three-quarters” Chinese father!
She is one of the most fashionable people in the modeling and entertainment world, and even has a show called Next in Fashion with Queer Eye star Tan France.
