Actress Mindy Kaling honored with Hollywood Walk of Fame star
Tony Award winner, Emmy nominee and New York Times best-selling author Mindy Kaling was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
From actors to politicians, Massachusetts has produced a number of big-name celebrities.
From the Dunkin-loving Affleck brothers to the legendary sports athletes, there are plenty of famous people with ties to the Bay State.
However, only some celebrities got their start in Massachusetts before finding fame.
Some famous names are known for their Massachusetts roots, while others may surprise you. Here’s a list of 30 living celebrities who grew up in Massachusetts.
Kaling is an actress, showrunner and producer from Cambridge.
She is well-known for starring in “The Mindy Project” and “The Office,” and she also created hit shows like “The Sex Lives of College Girls” and “Never Have I Ever.”
She has been nominated for several Emmy Awards for her work on “The Office” and won a Tony Award for the Broadway musical “A Strange Loop.”
Coolidge, who is known for roles in “Legally Blonde,” “The White Lotus” and “A Cinderella Story,” grew up in Norwell.
The two-time Emmy Award winner also went to Emerson College.
The actor and comedian is from Brookline.
O’Brien is known for anchoring several late night talk shows, including “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” and “Conan.”
One thing Damon shares with his iconic character Will Hunting is their hometown; he grew up in Cambridge and later Newton.
He has appeared in a slew of hit films, from the “Bourne” series to “Oppenheimer.”
Like Damon, the Affleck brothers grew up primarily in Cambridge, though the family also had a stint in Falmouth.
Nowadays, they are often reprising their roles as the DunKings, but both brothers also have impressive resumes as actors.
Another brother-actor duo from the Boston area, the Wahlberg brothers grew up in Dorchester with seven other siblings.
Mark Wahlberg is known for roles in “Ted” and “Daddy’s Home,” while Donnie Wahlberg is known for his time on “Blue Bloods.” Both also started their careers as musicians.
Krasinski, an actor known for roles in “The Office,” “A Quiet Place” and “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” grew up in Newton.
He went to Newton South High School alongside “The Office” co-star B.J. Novak, who he said introduced him to acting when Novak invited him to join a parody skit of teachers.
Also a Newton native, Novak is best known for his role on “The Office.”
He also graduated from Harvard University in 2001.
Thomas is an Olympic sprinter. She was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but grew up in Northampton.
She is an alumna of Williston Northampton School in Easthampton, and she also graduated from Harvard University with a degree in neurobiology and global health.
She won three gold medals at the Paris games last year, and a silver and bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Raisman, a two-type Olympic gymnast, is from Needham.
She competed in the 2012 London Olympics, where she won golds in the team and floor events, as well as bronze in the balance beam. She also won a team gold medal and two individual silver medals for the all-around and floor events at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Nedoroscik is an Olympic gymnast from Worcester.
He won an Olympic bronze medal in pommel horse and a bronze medal for the men’s gymnastics team final at the Paris Olympics.
More recently, he competed on “Dancing with the Stars,” where he took home fourth place.
Nedoroscik’s teammate is also from Massachusetts. Richard, an Olympic bronze medalist gymnast, is from Stoughton.
He is also known for his social media presence on Instagram and TikTok, where he is known as Frederick Flips and has a combined more than 1.5 million followers.
He graduated from Stoughton High School and currently attends the University of Michigan, where he competes on the school’s gymnastics team.
The music legend and six-time Grammy winner was born in Boston.
Though his family relocated to North Carolina in his early years, Taylor returned to Massachusetts for summers on Martha’s Vineyard and later to attend Milton Academy.
The “Saturday Night Live” and “Parks and Recreation” star was born in Newton and raised in Burlington.
Poehler also went to Boston College, where she earned a degree in media and communications.
Before he was Captain America, Evans grew up in Massachusetts.
He is from Sudbury, where he attended Lincoln-Sudbury High School alongside Jeremy Strong.
Strong is known for playing Kendall Roy in “Succession,” which earned him an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Most recently, he was nominated for an Oscar for his role in “The Apprentice.”
Strong was born in Boston and raised in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood before moving to Sudbury at the age of 10, where he was classmates with Evans.
Thurman grew up mostly in Amherst before her family relocated to New York.
The actress and model is known for roles in “Pulp Fiction” and the “Kill Bill” series.
Edebiri is an actress most known for her role as chef Sydney Adamu on the television show “The Bear,” for which she has won a Golden Globe Award, Emmy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award.
She was born and raised in Dorchester, and later went to Boston Latin School, where she was first introduced to acting when she join the improv club, she told Vulture in 2018.
Pompeo, who is known for long-running gig as Meredith Grey on “Grey’s Anatomy,” is from Everett.
She has often talked about her upbringing in interviews, even sharing on “Late Late Show with James Corden” that she used to run a vodka slush stand outside Fenway Park.
The actor and comedian was born in Concord and raised in Acton.
He also owns a home in Marshfield and owns a general store in the town.
Cena is an actor and WWE wrestler.
He was born in West Newbury and later graduated from Springfield College.
Known for playing Joey on “Friends,” LeBlanc was born in Massachusetts like his late costar Matthew Perry.
Like a few others on this list, he grew up in Newton.
The “Pitch Perfect” and “Hunger Games” actress hails from Pittsfield.
“I’m just a regular gal from Western Mass. who puts her family first,” she told The Patriot Ledger in 2012.
Trainor is known for catchy songs like “All About That Bass” and “Made You Look.”
The singer grew up on Nantucket and later moved to Orleans and North Eastham, where she attended Nauset Regional High School.
Lagasse is a well-known restaurateur, chef and television personality.
He grew up in Fall River and graduated from nearby Johnson & Wales University.
Moynahan is perhaps best known for starring alongside fellow Massachusetts native Donnie Wahlberg in the long-running series “Blue Bloods.” She is also known for appearing as Natasha in “Sex and the City” and Rachel in “Coyote Ugly.”
The actress grew up in Longmeadow and graduated from Longmeadow High School before pursuing a career in modeling.
An actress and television host, Menounos grew up in Medford.
She also graduated from Emerson College and is known to be a big Boston sports fan.
Slate, who most recently appeared in “It Ends With Us,” is originally from Milton and currently lives in Dartmouth.
Slate’s husband, Ben Shattuck, owns Davoll’s General Store in Dartmouth, one of the oldest general stores in the United States.
Davis is an actress known for starring in roles like “A League of Their Own” and “Thelma & Louise.”
She grew up in Wareham and attended Boston University but didn’t graduate.
Leno is a television host and comedian known for hosting “The Tonight Show” and “The Jay Leno Show.”
He was born in New York but grew up in Andover and graduated from Emerson College.
Melina Khan is a trending reporter for the USA TODAY Network – New England, which serves more than a dozen affiliated publications across New England. She can be reached at [email protected].