The Avengers launched the careers of some of Hollywood's biggest stars.
But just how did these celebs prepare themselves for life?
Did they spend hours and hours studying, or did they toss away their books and try to
gain some real-world experience instead?
Here’s how far the Avengers all got in school.
According to late Marvel legend Stan Lee, Robert Downey Jr. was "born to be" Tony Stark.
Growing up at the center of the avant-garde scene of the '70s with a writer-actress mother
and filmmaker father, he made his on-screen debut at the age of five in Robert Downey
Sr.'s movie Pound.
Downey Jr. told Vanity Fair in 2014 that his parents moved around a lot for work during
this time, meaning he had to learn the craft along the way.
While receiving a basic education in various cities, Downey also studied classical ballet
at the Perry House in London and trained in acting at New York’s Stagedoor Manor Performing
Arts Training Center.
According to CNN, he dropped out of Santa Monica High School and attempted to to focus
on his acting career.
“I don’t know if I ever really had that thought that this is what I was going to do.
It never occurred to me to do anything else.”
Chris Evans always knew he wanted to be an actor.
According to The New York Times, he spent his youth performing in school plays in his
Massachusetts hometown, where he was voted "Most Theatrical."
After graduating high school in the late '90s, the aspiring actor moved directly to New York
City to pursue his professional career.
In 2017, Evans told The Los Angeles Times:
"To be honest, it could be a cocktail of naiveté mixed with confidence but certainly at the
time I didn't have much doubt.
A lot of that I attribute it to the people around me, my parents, who said go for it.
Go to New York.
You can do it."
Evans may have opted out of attending college, but he did go on to train in method acting
at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
Mark Ruffalo may have gained international recognition for his portrayal of Bruce Banner,
but he got his start as a wrestler with a secret passion for acting at his school in
Virginia Beach where he also struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia, ADHD, and depression.
Tempted by the possibility of receiving a full-ride scholarship, he quit the wrestling
team and tried his hand at acting during his senior year.
With his parents' support, the aspiring actor skipped the college applications and quietly
pursued his career in San Diego, but later admitted to New York Magazine:
"I lied to all my friends and told them I was going to UCSD … 'cause I felt it was
unrealistic to be an actor."
Ruffalo went on hundreds of failed auditions during his 20s while making a living as a
bartender which may have helped him later tap into the Hulk's rage.
In 2015, he told Rolling Stone:
"The frustration I was having with acting made me angry all the time."
While studying acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory in Los Angeles, Ruffalo also
co-founded the Orpheus Theatre Company, where he wrote, directed, and acted in several productions.
According to the Film Festival Traveler, Chris Hemsworth grew up in Melbourne and received
his secondary education at Heathmont College, before launching his career on the soap opera
circuit.
He trained in acting and reportedly mastered his American accent at the Screenwise Film
& TV school for Actors in Sydney.
“You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
“Ah…
Shakespeare in the park?”
Ahead of filming on the first Thor movie, Hemsworth was aware that he was one of the
only cast members who didn't have a prestigious educational background but never viewed this
as a disadvantage.
He told Film Festival Traveller:
"People like that elevate your game, and if you leave yourself open to learn from them
and walk in with humility, I guess then it becomes back-and-forth.
[...] Just work hard and be open to exploring different ideas and taking risks and going
with the spontaneity of it all."
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson already had several movies under her belt by the time she was 19, when
she decided to ditch her plans to study film at SUNY Purchase.
In 2004, she told New York Magazine:
"I don't miss school.
It's for some people and not for others."
Johansson began her career as a child, while attending P.S. 41 elementary school in New
York City.
Amid commercial auditions, dance lessons, and sporadic work in theater and film, she
went on to study acting at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute for Kids and
the Professional Children's School.
In 2005, she told The Independent:
"Acting has been a passion of mine.
My childhood was filled with things that I loved to do, and also very normal things:
I lived in New York, I have a family life and went to a regular school."
Jeremy Renner already had about three dozen credits — and two Oscar nominations — before
landing the role of archer Clint Barton in the MCU.
However, this bona fide movie star's initial venture into acting was a total fluke.
While studying computer science and criminology at Modesto Junior College in the early '90s,
he took a drama course and immediately caught the acting bug.
“What, you didn’t see that coming?”
The actor's former professor, Charline Freedman, called him one of her best students ever,
telling The Modesto Bee:
"I would say within a month, I knew we had somebody very special in this young man."
For his part, Renner has often credited his time at MJC for helping him launch his successful
career.
Referring to Freedman as "my gal," he said:
"[She] pointed me in the direction that I never turned back from."
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