Anime is reaching wider audiences than ever before, which means there are several celebrities who are secretly anime fans. This often comes as a delightful surprise – a public figure who fans already admire having a similar interest outside their work. Sadly, some stereotypes persist about anime’s target audience, but public-facing figures like actors are a great way to shatter those impressions. Anime is more popular and culturally significant than ever before, and members of the acting community emphasize that.
Some celebrities are quite vocal about their love of the medium, sharing photos from anime on their social media platforms and cosplaying their favorite characters. Others only mention their love of anime in passing, in “blink and you’ll miss it” moments during interviews. With any luck, even more actors who are fans of anime will come out of the woodwork sooner rather than later.
12 John Cena
Professional wrestler and Peacemaker star John Cena looks like a protagonist straight out of a shonen manga, so the fact that he’s a huge anime fan is very on-brand. His love for the medium began in the 1990s, when he discovered Dragon Ball Z for the first time.
For those who enjoy a good meme, there are dozens of GIFs of Cena going Super Saiyan during a wrestling match to go around. Recently, Cena noted Bleach, My Hero Academia, and One Piece as some of his all-time favorites. He has cited anime as a great way to relieve pressure and anxiety in an overwhelming career.
11 Christian Bale
After watching Spirited Away, the Batman star shared that he would play any role in 2004’s Howl’s Moving Castle based on that viewing experience alone. Not much later, Bale was cast in the role of Howl himself, using his “Batman voice” for his iconic English dub performance.
For many, it’s still hard to believe that Bale could turn out a performance in a film like American Psycho and then go on to play a classic bishounen hero in anime like Howl, but that’s the power of good acting. Besides being a staunch Miyazaki fan, Bale loves the action political anime film Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade.
10 Taika Waititi
With the overwhelming success of Our Flag Means Death, it’s no surprise that actor and director Taika Waititi was recently spotted wearing a One Piece sweatshirt, showcasing another pirate-themed series. He announced in 2017 that he had plans to develop a live-action adaptation of 1988’s Akira, but sadly left the project in 2021.
In some ways, Waititi’s love of the genre isn’t surprising – his whimsically colorful romps in the last two Thor films feel like something straight out of a Ghibli film, or even Dorohedoro. Besides which, there are some charming similarities between his series What We Do in the Shadows and the underrated anime The Vampire Dies in No Time.
9 Jamie Lee Curtis
Everything Everywhere All At Once actor Jamie Lee Curtis is a massive One Piece fan, and even pitched playing Kureha in a live-action adaptation with a fan poster. She also shared this information at the Oscars, of all places, placing anime on the radar of over 18 million viewers.
Curtis has expressed admiration for English voice actor Brina Palencia, who voiced Ciel in Black Butler and Tony Tony Chopper in her aforementioned favorite pirate-themed franchise. Fans interested in Curtis’ animation work are encouraged to try Miyazaki’s From Up on Poppy Hill, where she voices Ryoko.
8 Robin Williams
Even though he sadly passed away in 2014, Robin Williams was as ebullient in his love of anime as he was during his standup routines. The Mrs. Doubtfire and Good Will Hunting actor was a huge fan of sci-fi anime, including Neon Genesis Evangelion and Ghost in the Shell.
Williams also had an extensive collection of anime figures, to the point where his daughter, Zelda, referred to him as a “figurine hoarder”. Williams is still sorely missed, but it is nice to think of him as having anime as a form of joy and escapism during his time here.
7 Samuel L. Jackson
Fans of Afro Samurai likely already know that powerhouse Samuel L. Jackson voiced two characters in the English dub, so it’s hardly a surprise he’s a fan of the medium. With his usual tongue-and-cheek humor, Jackson shared in a Wired interview that not only does he like anime, but its more “adult” counterpart, too.
Another notable anime-adjacent role for Jackson was that of Zog in 2009’s Astro Boy, based on the first popular Japanese animated TV series. If Jackson’s prolific output is any indication, it’s likely he’ll appear in more anime series in the coming years.
6 Zac Efron
High School Musical and Dirty Grandpa‘s Zac Efron is a huge fan of Death Note, and even worked to get a live-action adaptation off the ground in 2009. A live-action remake did air in 2017, but Efron wasn’t involved with the project.
Even so, the internet is rife with memes paralleling a young Efron’s early-2000s appearance – especially his haircut – to that of Light Yagami himself, and the resemblance is uncanny. Efron has also expressed his love for the shonen series Bleach, and the iconic street racing franchise Initial D.
5 Ariana Grande
Pop musician and Sam & Cat actor Ariana Grande threw fans for a loop in 2018 when she revealed her latest tattoo of Chihiro from Spirited Away, one of the most famous anime films ever created. She cited Chihiro’s growth throughout the film as the inspiration for the piece.
Indeed, Chihiro’s journey from being a frightened child into an independent, hardworking young woman practically mirrors Grande’s own life, as she has proven herself to be much more of a powerhouse than her princess persona would suggest. Grande also got a tattoo of Eevee from Pokémon in 2019, and once spent 15 hours playing Pokémon Go during her time off.
4 Megan Fox
The star of Transformers and Jennifer’s Body has legions of starry-eyed fans, so revealing she loved anime was the icing on the cake for many. Fox stated in an interview that she would love to see a live-action remake of the Sailor Moon franchise.
While she didn’t specify whether she would want to be a part of the project, many believe her looks and personality make her the perfect choice to play Sailor Mars. Fox also shared that anime airing on Adult Swim, such as Cowboy Bebop and Inuyasha, were great entry points for her into the medium.
3 Keanu Reeves
John Wick superstar Keanu Reeves has been effusive in his love of anime, and mentioned that he would have loved to play Spike Spiegel in an American adaptation of Cowboy Bebop. However, he said the project would cost “like half a billion dollars” to make, and the idea was scrapped.
2 Michael B. Jordan
Not only did Michael B. Jordan deliver a standout performance in Black Panther, he’s also a diehard anime fan. Fans often cite his 73 Questions interview with Vogue as proof of this. When asked where he would like to travel someday, Jordan pointed out Tokyo, Japan on a map, declaring he was “obsessed” with it and that anime was “the best”.
It was a big win for fan communities in what has been a historically stigmatized medium. Jordan even shared that anime was a huge influence on Creed 3’s boxing fights, and according to critics, it shows in the very best way.
1 Megan Thee Stallion
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Rapper and She-Hulk actress Megan Thee Stallion is an outspoken, avid lover of anime. Many of her Instagram photo dumps contain at least one image of an anime character, between selfies and pictures of her pets. She’s also cosplayed anime characters for photo shoots, including Todoroki and Mirko from My Hero Academia. Megan has dropped anime references in some of her songs, including an allusion to Naruto in “Girls in the Hood” and a reference to Dragon Ball Z in “Go Crazy.”
Clearly, anime is not the niche medium it used to be. Even celebrities have hopped on the trend, proving that anime has transcended traditional nerd culture. In some ways, it’s no surprise, as at the heart of much anime is just plain good storytelling. It will be interesting to see throughout the next few years what anime celebrities gravitate towards as the medium becomes even more popular. Though there appears to be a trend towards action anime now, perhaps actors will give hype to more romantic, slice-of-life series someday. Either way, there really are no better spokespeople out there than actors who secretly love anime.
