There’s something deep inside that drives certain people to do the seemingly impossible. It’s this special quality that separates heroes from regular humans. Director Damien Chazelle’s First Man tells the story of one such icon: astronaut Neil Armstrong (played by Ryan Gosling). The exhilarating, gripping feature doesn’t shy away from Armstrong’s gut-wrenching struggles and sacrifices as it pays tribute to his legacy as an American hero.
Since life imitates art, Gosling himself has also been called by the universe to perform small acts of heroism. And he’s not the only one. In this slideshow, we celebrate the courage and compassion that celebrities have displayed off-screen. While this entire list could focus solely on the hunky heartthrob, we wanted to expand it to include other famous folks who’ve done the incredible.
Queue up The Fray’s “How to Save a Life” in another window in your browser, and let’s dive into all the celebrity heroics that have occurred in recent years.
Ryan Gosling
Sure, we outsourced the position of American hero in First Man to a good Canadian boy, but actor Ryan Gosling has been heroic on more than a few occasions. In 2011, Gosling was caught on video breaking up a fight in New York City, stepping in when he saw two men in a heated argument over a painting. He wound up defusing the fracas with a $20 bill. According to Jezebel, about a year later, he saved a British woman looking the wrong way on Sixth Avenue from being run over by a taxi. Though it did not result in romance, that’s one heck of a rom-com meet-cute if we’ve ever heard one.
Benedict Cumberbatch
Not only does Benedict Cumberbatch play a superhero on the big screen in Marvel’s Doctor Strange, but he was also unwittingly cast as one in real life when he stopped the mugging of a delivery person in London. The actor was riding home in an Uber with his wife, Sophie Hunter, when he saw a group of four men attacking a Deliveroo cyclist. He jumped out of the car, screaming, “Leave him alone,” before pulling the bandits off the poor guy. The incident took place not far from Baker Street, the fictional home of his Sherlock character, making this encounter even more of a strange coincidence. Like most humble folk, the actor downplayed his efforts, telling The Sun, “There are real-life heroes out there and I’m not one of them.”
Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx has been an action movie superstar for a few years now, but who’d have thought the action part of the job would follow him home? That’s what happened when the actor pulled someone out of a burning car wreck outside his Los Angeles residence. CNN reports he heard a crash and quickly took action. A pickup truck had hit a drainage ditch, flipped over and was on fire. Luckily, a fellow bystander was a paramedic, and together, the pair worked to free 32-year-old Brett Kyle from the wreckage. Foxx told him, “You have angels around you.” After meeting the victim’s father, Brad, Foxx wrote an Instagram post about the incident, “No heroes…Just happy fathers.”
Tom Hardy
Though we’re used to seeing Tom Hardy portray complex, funny-voiced villains with astounding depth and dimension, the actor played the role of hero in 2017, according to Vanity Fair, when he caught a thief near his South London home. He chased down one of two men out having a joyride on a stolen moped, performing a citizen’s arrest. Hardy was walking along the street when he saw the men run a red light and crash the stolen motorbike into a parked Mercedes-Benz. He then launched into a foot pursuit through a backyard garden and across a building site one witness described as being “like an assault course.”
Mad Max? More like Mad Tom.
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman is famously one of the nicest guys in showbiz. It’s heartening to see that his on-screen heroics also extend to his real life, as he saved his teen son and tween daughter from being pulled out to sea by a riptide. In 2016, he was enjoying a family day on Sydney’s Bondi Beach when his 15-year-old son, Oscar, and 10-year-old daughter, Ava, were caught by surprise in the ocean’s strong currents. With the help of others, Jackman was able to pull his kids to safety. Witnesses told the Guardian he helped to bring other swimmers to shore as well.
Harrison Ford
Archaeologist Indiana Jones is known for saving the day in a grandiose, cinematic way, but Harrison Ford has a few heroic tales of his own for the history books. According to ABC, in 2000, the dashing superstar rescued hiker Sarah George. Though his helicopter couldn’t make the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs, it was able to bring the woman — who was largely unfazed by her pilot’s celebrity status — to safety.
Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise has made a good living playing complex heroes on the big screen — and a few of his real-life adventures seem like they’re ripped from the pages of a Mission: Impossible script. According to Vulture, in March of 1996, Cruise paid $7,000 in medical bills for Heloisa Vinhas, an uninsured pedestrian whom Cruise saw hit by a driver who sped away from the scene. And People reports that the same August, he and then-wife Nicole Kidman were on a yacht when they spotted another ship on fire. The couple was able to rescue five people by dispatching their skiff to the burning vessel.
More recently, his Mummy costar Annabelle Wallis credited her costar, Cruise, with saving her life when their antigravity stunt took a dive. She told Yahoo, “The plane was coming out of weightlessness, about to hit gravity, and I heard the countdown ‘5, 4, 3…’ At three I said, ‘I’m stuck!’ and Tom was like, ‘Annabelle, don’t worry I got you,’ and he ran and freed me and we returned to earth and he’d saved my life. So I feel very indebted to him. [A parachute] was literally around my neck choking me, then with two or three seconds left, there he was — the hero.”
Jennifer Lawrence
Does being saved by a talented Hollywood mega-star make any difference in one’s life? That’s the question I have for the young woman Jennifer Lawrence briefly coaxed back to consciousness in 2012. At the time, Lawrence was looking out her Santa Monica apartment window and noticed the teenager passed out on the ground below. She rushed out to help the stranger, staying with her until the paramedics arrived. Lawrence humbly admitted to Backstage Magazine that she wasn’t a hero, jokily stating, “I didn’t save anyone’s life; I just got her in really big trouble with her mother. She probably hates me. All her friends are probably like, ‘We’re going to go see Hunger Games!’ And she’s like, ‘I’m not — that bitch got me grounded!’”
Paul Walker
After Paul Walker was tragically killed in a car accident in 2013, a few stories leaked into the press about what a benevolent, kind man he was. One of those stories involved Walker secretly buying a couple’s wedding ring. In 2004, the actor was in a jewelry store when he overheard soldier Kyle Upham and his bride-to-be, Kristen, were in the market to purchase something sparkly. Kyle Upham, who was about to depart for his second tour in Iraq, chatted with Walker about his service and struck a chord. The couple decided the ring was beyond their means and left empty-handed, but the store called them back later. To their surprise, they were gifted the ring they had been admiring. However, the store wouldn’t disclose who paid for it, as Walker had sworn them to secrecy. It wasn’t until Walker’s passing when a store employee reached out to the Uphams to tell them the identity of their mystery benefactor. Kristen Upham told the Daily Mail, “His real life speaks volumes of his character. He really did put his money where his mouth is and did good for this world."
Chris Rock
Comedian, actor and filmmaker Chris Rock is a man of many talents. He’s sold out massive venues. He’s made us laugh in the darkest of times. He’s even helped an expectant mother in labor to stay calm until help arrived. According to FreddyO.com, he was reportedly shopping at a mall in New Jersey when he saw the woman, whose water had just broken on the escalator, and rushed over to help distract her from the pain with some of his infamous comedy stylings.
Brad Pitt
Imagine fearing you might be crushed to death by a stampede of panicked people only to look up and see Brad Pitt’s angel face illuminated in a halo of light, hand extended, ready to lift you up to higher ground. That’s what we’re guessing the experience was like for two women saved by the actor. HuffPost reports that on the set of World War Z in 2011, Pitt saved a female extra who had slipped and fallen during a calamitous zombie-crawl sequence. A few years later, in 2016, Business Insider reports he on the set of Allied when the worldwide mega-star rescued a young girl who was nearly crushed between a crowd and a barrier when fans became overzealous, clamoring for selfies and autographs.
Demi Moore
Twitter can be awful when it comes to bullying, with people shouting their opinions into the endless internet chasm. But it can also be a lifesaving device. This was true for someone contemplating suicide who reached out to actor Demi Moore in 2009. Instead of sitting back and thinking someone else’s problems were not her problem, Moore sprang into action. According to CNN, with the help of her followers, she was able to track the user’s handle and alert the authorities, who arrived at the person’s home before anything bad could happen.
Vin Diesel
Just because actors play heroes in the movies doesn’t always mean they’re heroic in real life. However, in the case of Vin Diesel, he was able to use his action movie-star knowledge to help rescue a family from a burning car wreck before their vehicle exploded. Like a scene out of one of his Fast And Furious films, the actor was riding his motorcycle in Hollywood when he saw an accident. According to Cinema.com, he quickly helped the driver and passengers exit the vehicle before it burst into flames. We’re also assuming he then walked away in slow motion with his back to the fire like any true action-movie hero.
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe played a wizard in the Harry Potter films, but he’s also a wizard at comforting victims in distress. Take a quick listen to the dulcet tones of his soothing voice and tell us you wouldn’t feel reassured after an incredibly traumatic experience. In 2017, Radcliffe helped to calm a 50-year-old male tourist who was slashed in the face after muggers grabbed the man’s bag. An ex-cop at the scene recognized the actor and told the Evening Standard, “It was a bit of the surreal moment, I said ‘you’re Daniel Radcliffe.’ and he replied, ‘I am.’ He was a really nice bloke, a lot of stars wouldn’t have stopped to help.”
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