5 Actors You Didn’t Know Were Fluent in Spanish

There are many blog posts and YouTube videos listing a slew of American actors who are “fluent” in Spanish. But when I researched further, I found out that that was very much a lie.

These bloggers and YouTubers all seemed to mention the same actors. And yet, when I clicked on a video of them actually speaking Spanish in an interview, they (maybe) spoke an A1 or beginner level of Spanish.

Later, I come to find out that these actors have been given the “fluent in Spanish” ribbon across the internet simply because they learned a little bit fit for a role in a film or have traveled to Mexico a few times. WTF?

Let’s get one thing straight: most of these celebrities are not fluent. They know some high school Spanish and have maybe spent a lot of time in LA. But let’s be real: being able to say una cerveza por favor does not mean you speak Spanish fluently.

Don’t get me wrong: I’ve got nothing against these actors themselves (I’m looking at you, Will Smith). Everyone who learns Spanish as an adult has to start somewhere. But it’s just not right to give them the “fluent” title when they haven’t earned it.

And maybe some of these actors will someday truly become fluent in Spanish like singer Selena Quintanilla--if they’re willing to stick with it like she did. But that takes a whole other level of dedication.

In this post, I want to do something a little different. I want to celebrate five actors who will truly inspire you with their Spanish.

These are people who have found ways to connect to Spanish-speaking communities at home and abroad, created ties with real-life Spanish speakers, and spent years studying or living in Spanish-speaking countries. 

They’re serious about Spanish and you’ll hear that when you listen to them give interviews in front of an audience.  Take a minute to listen to these celebrities speaking Spanish and you’ll realize that while some of them are not “perfect” Spanish speakers, they’re confident, cool, authentic, personable, real--and sometimes even funny. 

I’m sure that every single one of them will inspire and surprise you.

5 American Celebrities Who Are (Really) Fluent in Spanish.

1.Gwyneth Paltrow

Not only is her Spanish impeccable, but Gwyneth Paltrow says Spain changed her life.

Paltrow has developed a very solid high intermediate/low advanced level of Spanish, a journey that started with a trip to Spain when she was 15, where she fell in love with the culture and the language. 

She continues to visit Spain once a year and returns to Mexico regularly.  Paltrow also keeps in touch with Spanish-speaking friends. She even hired a Spanish-speaking nanny so her children could learn while they were young and only allows her kids to watch TV in Spanish or French.

You're in for a treat if you watch her in this interview about one of her Iron Man films. Check out how down-to-earth and inspiring she sounds while conducting a full interview in Spanish.

One of my favorite moments in the interview is when she talks about how important it is to speak another language. And quotes a polyglot friend of hers with the saying:
“Una lengua, una vida.” 

Paltrow’s path to speaking confidence reminds us what it means to put in the work to learn Spanish. While you don’t have to travel abroad to learn Spanish the way Paltrow did, a trip to a Spanish-speaking country can be the start of a beautiful relationship with the language. 

Following Paltrow’s lead on staying connected to the culture through Spanish films or series and maintaining friendships with Spanish speakers are also great ways to boost your motivation and push yourself toward fluency.

2.Amber Heard

You may know her from her roles in The Rum Diary, Drive Angry, and Aquaman. And you may already know that she recently left Hollywood and moved to Madrid. But can Amber Heard really speak Spanish? 

In fact, she has an impressive high intermediate level of Spanish. 

As you can see in this interview on PulsoPopp News about her role in Aquaman, she can work her way around abstract topics like how it feels to show up and create a film—and then turn around and watch it “as if for the first time.” Or what it’s like to play the role of a strong female protagonist.

While you may notice her searching for her words occasionally, the connection, confidence, poise, and personality come through when she speaks.

So how did she learn?

In this interview, Heard credits her upbringing in Texas and living in Los Angeles with helping her learn Spanish. However, with her perfect Mexican accent and impeccable grammar, you can tell that she very obviously put in the time to learn Spanish more formally somewhere. 

That said, I think she most definitely perfected her speaking ability by connecting to the Spanish-speaking community around her in Texas and Los Angeles – something that you can do, too!

 Learn how to go from an intermediate to advanced Spanish level with this FREE guide.

3.Ben Affleck

Affleck is unabashedly proud to speak Spanish, although his level is still developing. He has excellent listening comprehension and a Mexican accent that will stop you in your tracks.  

Where did these uncanny pronunciation abilities come from? The actor thinks it was the year he lived in Mexico when he was 13 while recording a children’s series for PBS.

Pleasantries like greetings and small talk roll off Affleck’s tongue, and you could call him borderline fluent. 

And sure, like everyone at the low intermediate level, he struggles to find the words to discuss more complicated topics at length. But you have to commend the guy for having the courage to agree to be interviewed on Despierta América!

What I love is the way he supports his daughter’s Spanish as part of their education—and the way he jokes about her Spanish being better than his. In fact, Affleck says that watching his daughter progress in Spanish inspired him to pick the language up again and push himself to keep improving as an adult.

What can you learn from Affleck as an adult pushing for fluency in Spanish? Never underestimate the power of spending a year in Mexico as a kid—or learning Spanish as a family.

The self-paced course series for adults looking to take their Spanish way beyond the basics and reach an intermediate conversational level.

4.Viggo Mortenson

Mortenson was born in the US and grew up in Argentina, Venezuela, and Denmark. (His mother is American, and his father is Danish.) As you might guess, with such a childhood, he’s a polyglot.

His Spanish is incredibly natural, for example, in this interview. There are no hesitations, and it’s as if you are watching Mortenson speak English--his personality and dry jokes seem the same in both languages.  

As an adult learning Spanish, you may be wondering how you can draw inspiration from someone who grew up speaking the language.

First of all, keep in mind that just because you grew up speaking a language doesn’t mean you get to keep it. It’s actually very common to lose your first language, especially when it’s a minority language. 

It’s also possible to learn a language as a child and find that even as an adult, you have child-like vocabulary and grammar structure.

So remember this: children may appear to pick up Spanish quickly--but you need to work on the language as an adult if you want to speak like one.

Another reason Mortenson is so inspiring is his drive to keep learning new languages and very specific dialects for new roles, such as in the film Far from Men. This article with the New York Times explains just how seriously he took nailing accents and dialects for that role. 

If you’re an advanced learner who wants to focus on having a very authentic accent to fit into a particular culture, you can take inspiration from Mortenson and his work for the film. Although he was already fluent in French, he worked to shift his accent from Canadian to more French-sounding. Then, when he learned Arabic, he was careful to work with an Algerian teacher to get just the right local accent and dialect.

Personally, I’m fascinated by fully bilingual (and multilingual!) people—you know, people who can naturally switch between English and Spanish, for example, while maintaining authentic accents and personalities in both. That type of skill takes a lifetime of constant practice and staying connected with that language and culture throughout adulthood.

5. Anya Tailor-Joy

You probably recognize Anya Tailor-Joy from the hit Netflix series The Queen's Gambit. But you may never have guessed from her acting that she didn’t learn English until she was eight years old. That’s because she was born in the US, moved to Argentina as a baby, and then to London as an older child. 

You could say that Tailor-Joy didn’t exactly “learn Spanish” at all, but English. But, once again, I hope her story can inspire you. It reminds us of just how far it’s possible to go in terms of bilingualism—to the point that people are surprised to hear you speaking your native language as she does here on Saturday Night Live. 

You’ll notice her beautiful Argentinian accent and the way her speech and body language become more playful and flamboyant in Spanish. Is it just that she’s now announcing the show? Or is she someone slightly different in each language?  

Either way, watching Taylor-Joy light up when she speaks Spanish reminds me of Gwenyth Paltrow’s words from earlier in this post: 

“Una lingua, una vida.” 

A language can open up new worlds--but it can also open doors to new ways of expressing yourself.

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Takeaways:

I hope that you come away from this post (and these interviews) with the sound of beautiful and authentic Spanish conversations in your ears.  And that you’ve taken a moment to celebrate and be inspired by these celebrities who are ‘truly’ fluent. 

Maybe you’ll even see yourself as an adult learning Spanish in the story of one of these actors, whether you’re striving toward fluency like Ben Affleck, falling in love with a country and a culture like Gwyneth Paltrow, or pushing on to speak many languages, like Viggo Mortenson.

Who knows? Maybe one day, someone will be surprised at how well you speak Spanish--or  when they realize your native language is actually English.