Anime is a Japanese genre of animation that took over the world during the 1980s. Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, Cowboy Bebop, and Ghost in the Shell are just a few anime that propelled the anime genre to stardom. Millions of fans all over the world cannot wait for new anime releases and one of them are celebrities. Most of the time celebrities are considered untouchable and detached from the whole world because of their lifestyles but even some people in Hollywood could not resist expressing love for anime. In this article, we will list the 25 most famous celebrities who watch anime.
This list will include famous people from everywhere – famous athletes, actors, singers, business moguls, and more, and hopefully, you will stick with us until the end of the article if you are interested. Without further ado, let’s start!
25. David De Gea
A famous goalkeeper that plays for Manchester United and the Spanish National team, this football star has almost won it all in his career. Premier League, FA Cup, Europa League, and two EUROs with Spain, makes David De Gea one of the best goalkeepers in the last decade in football. De Gea is a huge fan of heavy metal, but also draws a lot of inspiration from anime, more specifically, Naruto.
In a recent interview for footballing site goal.com, he expressed huge love for Naruto characters, particularly Jiraiya, Naruto, and Gaara. De Gea is often seen posting himself watching Naruto and hyping up the anime. To be fair, sometimes when playing for Manchester United, he really seemed like he cast Kage Bunshin Jutsu because no one could score next to him.
24. Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg was a rapper prodigy at the end of the 1980s and 1990s and his fame is continued today. Mostly regarded as one of the biggest influences in music in the last few decades, Snoop Dogg today is mostly regarded as a cool celebrity who showed his flexibility in a lot of other media.
He posted multiple times on his social media about his love of anime and we for sure know that he really loves watching Naruto and Dragon Ball. His Twitter posts and Instagram stories sometimes pop our random posts about anime, and when he posts, Snoop always shows love for anime.
23. Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves is one of the most popular actors of our era. His acting prowess in great roles like his breakthrough role in 1989’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and more serious one from 1991, My Private Idaho. After these roles, Reeves established himself as a flexible, talented actor who can play everything and is still making good action movies like John Wick and Matrix Resurrection.
However, Keanu expressed his interest in anime and showed huge appreciation for the famous anime Cowboy Bepop for which he wanted to direct and produce a live-action movie with him as the main character, but gave up. There was also a story in 2021, that his own comic book called BRZRKR is going to be adapted into a movie and anime by Netflix.
22. Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Williams is a music mogul who has been on the music scene for more than two decades. He is mostly known for his work with a rock and rap group called N.E.R.D. and collaborations with other big artists. He produced huge hits that charted on the top hit lists for weeks and became one of the best hit-makers in the industry.
However, he also showed he loves anime. During his collaboration with the shoe company Adidas, his Superstars had anime-themed shoes and that shoe line was called simply “anime”. Pharrell also hired Japanese artist Takashi Murakami to produce an anime-styled video for his song “It Girl”. He also expressed a huge passion for Pokémon in his interviews.
21. Ronda Rousey
First female Olympic winner in judo and later famous for her career in UFC, Ronda Rousey is probably one of the most known MMA fighters in recent memory. She was also part of the first UFC women’s fight in UFC history and was a sixth-time UFC champion before Amanda Nunes defeated her. Later, she made some really known movies like The Expendables 3 and Furious 7, and began her career in professional wrestling, more precisely, WWE.
Rousey also expressed being a huge fan of Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z, and her love for the character Vegeta, for whom she had a huge crush when she was young.
20. Michael B. Jordan
Michael B. Jordan is an American actor whose roles in the Creed franchise and Marvel’s Black Panther movie brought him huge success. He is one of the best villains in MCU to this day as Killmonger. He played Killmonger again in Marvel’s animated TV show What if…? and he was really good in it.
Because of that, it is not surprising seeing Jordan expressing love for anime so vocally. He launched a collection inspired by Naruto, his favorite anime in collaboration with Coach. He also expressed love for the anime Dragon Ball Z. Maybe we see Michael B. Jordan in a cool anime in the future.
19. Robin Williams
Late Robin Williams is one of the most influential comedians of our era. His impeccable acting and will for making other people laugh made Robin Williams very loved. He worked in a lot of different media, like cartoons, animated shows, and movies. So it is not that surprising that Robin Williams loved anime.
His daughter Zelda revealed in her tweet once that her father had a huge collection of figurines including anime characters. However, his love of anime was displayed during AMA he did on Reddit in 2013. After being asked a question about what was his favorite anime, Williams responded that Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, Akira, and Blood: The Last Vampire.
18. Samuel L. Jackson
Even though Samuel L. Jackson is mostly known today as one of the most iconic MCU characters ever in Nick Fury, his acting career is absolutely amazing. His acting roles in serious movies were not something you would think Jackson can do, but he showed time and time again how good of an actor he is.
Besides his interest in movies, his voice acting is impeccable as well – he “borrowed” his voice in various animated projects, including anime. Jackson considers himself a huge fan of comic books and anime, and classics like Black Lagoon are one of his favorite animes ever. He is also a voice actor for various anime characters including Afro Samurai.
17. Zac Efron
Formerly a Disney star Zac Efron came into prominence in a world-renowned franchise High School Musical. He continued to act in more serious projects with a few really good comedies and established himself as a really good actor of our era.
He expressed love for anime multiple times in his interviews, especially for the anime, Death Note. He was even in talks for acting in the live-action project of the same name but it fell through. Maybe if he did act in it, the live-action Death Note would not be that bad.
16. Usain Bolt
The greatest sprinter of all time by most of the fans of the athletic world, Usain Bolt has been a true sprinter star during his career. He broke several records in 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4×100 meters relay and still holds the world records today. He was a shown man but never arrogant and that is why fans loved him so much.
Besides being a huge football fan, more precisely a Manchester United fan, he is also a huge anime lover. He expressed love for Naruto in his Instagram stories which showed that he has pictures on the walls in his home of Naruto characters.
15. Elon Musk
Probably the most notable business mogul and a billionaire today, there is no middle ground for Elon Musk – you either love him or not. He is a founder of companies like Tesla and SpaceX and his projects are strictly followed by everyone. Musk tweets a lot, and one time in 2018 he tweeted a trailer for the anime Your Love and expressed his love for it.
He also said in his later tweets that he will create a mecha like they do in anime. Knowing Elon Musk, we would be surprised if that truly happens.
14. Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino is one of the best directors of our era. His postmodern type of directing where he uses sources from other media and arts to create something his and original is one of a kind. Multiple times in his career, Tarantino conveyed his love for spaghetti westerns, comic books, and art of the films across the world.
He also expressed his love for anime, more specifically, Ghost in the Shell and Blood: The Last Vampire. He even hired anime animators to create animated sequences in Kill Bill. Knowing Tarantino, we would not be surprised if he starts getting into more anime projects.
13. Tobey Maguire
The 2000s kids’ favorite Spider-Man Tobey Maguire has a long, respective career that a lot of people envy him for it. He started his career at the beginning of the 1990s when he starred in serious drama movies where he showed his acting talent. The Spider-Man franchise propelled him to stardom during the 2000s and when he came back last year to reprise his role in Spider-Man: No Way Home, he got into the spotlight once again.
His love of anime is known through his interviews where he expressed his love of Robotech and the original Macross series. He was supposed to direct, produce and even star in the live-action movie Robotech years ago, but Sony took away the rights to the anime. Hopefully, we see Tobey Maguire in a role like this soon enough.
12. Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne is a Canadian rockstar that took over the world at the beginning of the 2000s. Her music and Sk8ter girl persona brought millions of teenagers to their knees, and her music is still gladly listened to today. She does release new music today, but her love for One Piece anime fairs all the way to its beginnings.
She loves One Piece so much that she contributed two of her songs for One Piece Film Z movie from 2012, since she said mentioned she loves other anime as well, hopefully, we see Avril making music for other anime as well.
11. BTS
K-pop took over the world few years ago and millions of fans that came to the fore back then, still support their favorite Korean bands today. Millions of western fans supported their bands from the beginning but one band was responsible for the absolute popularity K-pop has in the West today – BTS. These men have arguably the biggest fanbase on the planet and everything they do becomes instantly trendy.
Loving anime is not unknown to them and they displayed their love of animes like Naruto, One Piece, My Hero Academia, and more expressed in their concerts, music videos, and other projects.
10. James Cameroon
James Cameroon is one of the best sci-fi film directors of all time. He created works like Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), The Terminator 2 (1991), Titanic (1997), and Avatar (2009). His movies made record-breaking box-office money and found great success in terms of critical acclaim. However, besides being an explorer of Titanic in his spare time, Cameroon expressed his love for anime many times.
Hayao Miyazaki is one of the best animators in anime history, and his work in Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind inspired James Cameron’s work on the movie, Avatar. Pandora, the planet where Na’vi, the natives of the moon resides is inspired by the Valley of the Wind world.
9. Terry Crews
Terry Crews is an American actor who was formerly a professional American football player and television host. His work on TV shows Everybody Hates Chris and Brooklyn Nine-Nine are works today’s public knows him most. He acted in various movies for years which led him to one AMA on Reddit ten years ago.
There, Crews expressed his huge admiration for Ghost in the Shell and confessed he watches the anime every few months. Maybe we see him in a future project like that.
8. Kanye West
Kanye West is the most popular rapper and artist of our generation. His music and overall influence on the rap game have been present from his beginnings so it is not odd that he is a huge fan of anime as well.
His music video “Stronger” from 2007, where he collaborated with Daft Punk, whose music videos were also inspired by anime, is inspired by Kanye’s favorite anime Akira. He expressed his love of that anime multiple times on social media.
7. Leonardo Di Caprio
Leonardo Di Caprio is one of the best actors of our generation. His movies like Romeo and Juliet, Shutter Island, Great Gatsby, Django Unchained, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Titanic, Inception, and more, make him a cultural icon. Besides his love of nature and will to protect the planet, Di Caprio said multiple times that he watches anime. His favorite ones include Ninja Scrolls, Akira, and Gundan.
Knowing Leo’s flexibility and willingness to try other media, hopefully, he decides to participate in an anime project in the future.
6. Megan Fox
Megan Fox was the most popular actress in the world at one point, during the Transformers movies era in the 2000s and her playing April O’Neal in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action movies, propelled her to be every nerd’s queen.
Besides acting in the projects that stem from comics and toy series, Megan Fox expressed her love of anime multiple times. Animes like Sailor Moon, Inuyasha, and Cowboy Bebop are her favorite animes, and she is not impartial to graphic novels and manga as well.
5. Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan at one point in time, more specifically during the 1980s and 1990s, was one of the most famous people in the world. His wrestling career actually kickstarted the popularity of WWE itself, and his wrestling match versus Andre the Giant is still one of the most watched wrestling matches in American history. Hulk Hogan is definitely a cultural phenomenon and his love of Pokémon is as well.
Hogan also expressed love for Pokémon Go and was included in the 10th anniversary celebration of Pokémon anime.
4. Christian Bale
Another talented actor and one of the best actors of our generation, Christian Bale is known for his great roles in American Psycho, The Machinist, The Batman Trilogy, The Fighter, and more. He is a known chameleon because of his ability to transform fully for the characters that he will play, and for that, it does not surprise us that he loves anime.
More specifically, Bale expressed his love for Miyazaki movies, which are mostly critically acclaimed and masterpieces.
3. Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande is a talented artist that includes both acting and singing, her breakthrough role happened in Nickelodeon’s TV show called Victorious, and her musical career kickstarted to world fame shortly after that. Her talent will be soon tested in the Broadway show Wicked, and her love for anime maybe convinces her to do some anime projects.
Her social media profiles are one of the most followed accounts on the whole Internet, and Grande likes to share her thoughts a lot. One time she shared her new tattoo to the world on her Snapchat – it was a drawing of Chihiro, the main protagonist of Miyazaki’s anime called Spirited Away. She shared with her followers an in-depth analysis of the tattoo and shortly after added a new anime tattoo to the collection – Pokémon Eevee.
2. Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe, besides being known to the world mostly because of his portrayal of famous teenage wizard Harry Potter, is also a really talented actor. His eccentric choices of movies and TV shows make him really interesting, so it was not a surprise to find out that he loves anime and that his favorite ones include “Monster”, “Initial D” and all Miyazaki’s work. Knowing Radcliffe, he will probably star in an anime one of these days, and we won’t mind at all.
1. Hayley Williams
Paramore singer and talented Hayley Williams is probably to 2010s teenagers what Avril Lavigne was to 2000s teenagers. Her talent and charisma were always known and Paramore was part of the first big nu-metal movement that happened in the 2000s and continued till this day. Her range is truly known to her fans and the same goes for her love of anime.
She said in interviews that she is a huge fan of Digimon and Death Note, and once she cosplayed Blood: The Last Vampire during her performances.