Top 20 Celebrities That Are Surprisingly Good Dancers

One of the brightest stars in Hollywood, Amy Adams has quietly managed to carve out a nice little spot for herself amongst cinema’s A-list. With half a dozen Academy Award nominations under her belt, Adams has had starring turns in blockbusters such as “Man of Steel” as well as award winning dramas like “American Hustle”. The latter is where she unveiled to the world her secret skill: dancing. During a club scene with co-star Bradley Cooper, himself an excellent dancer, Adams more than holds her own. She actually studied dance when she was younger, and before making it in Hollywood, worked as a professional dancer with a number of dinner theaters.

Kate Hudson has proven herself a competent dancer on more than one occasion. She had a number of dance scenes in the 2011 comedy “Something Borrowed”, got down with “Dancing with the Stars”’’ Derek Hough at a Hollywood club back in 2013 and even shook her booty during a commercial for Fabletics, a women’s sportswear brand she co-founded. Of course, who could forget her impressive dance moves from the first episode of “Glee” season four, when she made her debut as dance instructor Cassandra July. Hudson clearly knows what she’s doing when she steps on a dance floor!

Bradley Cooper is a triple threat who’s proved his worth as an actor, singer and director. But can we talk about how he is also an insanely good dancer too? The four time Academy Award nominated actor has long been known for his abilities on the dance floor and has had the opportunity to flash his skills on more than one occasion. From the climactic dance routine in “Silver Linings Playbook” to his sexy encounter with Amy Adams in “American Hustle,” Cooper has proven that he can boogie like nobody’s business. For him, dancing is clearly not just part of the job, as he’s been known to break out in dance during interviews as well!

In the ‘90s Salma Hayek cornered the market on red-hot pole dancing routines. From her turn as a vampire stripper in “From Dusk till Dawn” to her sexy schoolgirl dance in “Dogma”, Hayek clearly had no qualms about shaking what her momma gave her at the onset of her career. More recently she’s managed to tone down the number of stripteases, but that doesn’t mean she’s lost any of the skills that make her such a formidable talent! One need only look at her dance routine from Jimmy Kimmel’s Big Night of Stars to see the proof. The girl has still got it!

Now we all know this former pro-athlete can act, paint and do a mean Vanessa Carlton impression (xref White Chicks). On top of this already-triple-threat, we’ve also seen Crews break it down and do an impression of a different Carlton (Brooklyn Nine-Nine drunk dancing clip). While we’ve seen his dancing used for comic effect since early on in his career, we’re consistently surprised that a man with this many muscles is as limber and graceful as Crews continues to be. A master of showing us the depth behind all of his characters, Crews uses his dancing to infuse life into his portrayals in ways that keep defying our ex-PEC-tations.

While the world may know her as an actress, Summer Glau’s childhood dream was to become a ballet dancer. In fact, she began training at a very young age and even received a scholarship to join a ballet company. Glau would later study tango and flamenco dancing, excelling at both before a broken toe prematurely brought that career to a halt. It was only then that she decided to move to L.A. to become an actress. While she may not have become a professional dancer, she’s still managed to successfully show-off her graceful moves on screen on more than one occasion!

Based on his numerous tough guy roles and former bad boy image, it’s hard to imagine Colin Farrell shaking it on a dance floor, let alone line dancing. However, Farrell is not only a great dancer, but was at one time getting paid to do it! Long before he was one of Hollywood’s hottest stars, Farrell could be found teaching country line dancing in Ireland! It may sound ridiculous but it really happened! In fact, Farrell has since shown off his line dancing skills during an appearance on the “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”. It’s clear he still has some wicked moves up his sleeve!

Ryan Gosling is no stranger to the dance floor. At just 12 years old he could be seen busting all kinds of moves in dance competitions or practicing ballet - something he still does to this day. More recently the multi-talented Canadian actor flashed his skills on film, dancing his way across L.A. as one half of the star struck couple from the 2016 musical “La La Land”. While we could pretty much watch Gosling do anything and fall over swooning, watching him dance is pretty hard to top.

Bet you didn’t see this one coming! Mikkelsen, who famously played Le Chiffre in “Casino Royale” and more recently Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the TV series “Hannibal”, began his career as a gymnast and dancer. A young Mikkelsen studied ballet dancing at an academy in Sweden and later married dance choreographer Hanne Jacobsen in 2000. A professional dancer for nearly 10 years, Mikkelsen decided to leave that world behind in 1996 in favor of an acting career. Knowing he once wore tights and pranced around on stage makes this terrifyingly good actor slightly less scary - and even MORE compelling.

That’s right, Spider-Man himself has got some serious moves. No, not THAT one. Holland’s background is actually in gymnastics and dance, having starred in Billy Elliot the musical in the late-2000s, first as Billy’s best friend Michael, and soon after as Billy himself. But Holland hasn’t neglected his dancing roots since hitting the bigtime, as evidenced by his jaw-dropping performance on Lipsync Battle. In fact, Holland stated that his dancing experience helped him nail the part of Spider-Man. Color us optimistic, but we could give Spidey another shot at a big-screen dance number so long as Holland’s in the role.

In cinema, this man is mostly known as a serious method actor; a thespian dedicated to the craft. That’s what makes Christian Bale so valuable to directors. But that’s not to say that he can’t let loose too, as evidenced by his dancing character from the 1993 film “Swing Kids.” Then there’s the 2000 cult classic “American Psycho,” in which Bale plays a serial killer with a fondness for mainstream music. In one particularly disturbing yet memorable scene, a peppy dance sequence is part of the “strategy,” and the performance is so effective that a doomed guest feels at home right until the end.

Over the years, this American actor has evolved into the prototypical nice guy of Hollywood film, and among his many endearing qualities is a penchant and natural ability for dancing. Showing off his moves when the role calls for it, as seen in “I Could Never Be Your Woman” and when it doesn’t, as revealed in these hilarious “Ant-Man” bloopers, he’s developed quite the dancing rep. Rudd has shared his toe-tapping abilities time and time again on talk shows, mixing craft and technique with distinct comedic style. He just may seem like the party guy that tries to dance, but when you look past the silly facial expressions… he’s actually quite proficient on a fundamental level.

With an acting career that began off-Broadway and experience in the dance world, this man entered the film industry with a special set of skills. But it was on “The Mindy Project” that Chris Messina really showed us all what he could really do on a dance floor. As Danny Castellano, he turned heads with a passionate “American Woman” performance, and he’s proven himself to be quite the club dancer as well. There’s nothing goofy going on here – just a man who commits to the grind. Like the aforementioned Paul Rudd, it’s the nice guy factor that allows Messina to get away with a little more in terms of moves than your average actor.

In this man’s vast filmography, there’s no one definitive dancing moment. That’s because Sam Rockwell seemingly finds excuses to dance often, and with good reason. This smooth operator knows that he’s got skills, and there’s an old school mentality that drives each performance. In fact, he’s got a bit of a James Brown style going on, as he’s mostly about hand movements and quick feet. Rockwell makes it look easy, but when you pay attention, you’ll see that it’s anything but that. Then again, when you have a so-called “footloose upbringing,” as Rockwell has previously cited, dancing just becomes natural.

On the NBC series “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” this New York native played opposite a young Will Smith. Over the course of the series, Alfonso Ribeiro famously performed “The Carlton Dance” in numerous episodes, thus establishing a cultural legacy of campy moves. But when Ribeiro competed on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars in 2014 - and won - he showed that he’s more than just a comedic performer. Week after week, Ribeiro displayed his expertise and versatility by racking up 8s, 9s and 10s throughout the competition. In fact, he received all 10s with partner Witney Carson in the finals. And so, Ribeiro essentially dropped the mic and set a new bar for future dancing celebrities.

Given this man’s cinematic legacy and unique manner of speech, he’s become a favorite subject for both amateur and professional impersonators. In 2001, though, Walken achieved a new level of fame, as his dancing acumen was featured in Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice” music video. With a background in theatre, Walken seemed more than comfortable shuffling around, and it’s that kind of dancing bravado that made him an ideal casting choice for the 2007 film “Hairspray.” While some older gentleman look awkward when dancing, Christopher Walken oozes confidence and style.

As a child actor turned A-lister, this man has long been in the public eye. Before Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s career began, however, he developed his performance skills in musical theatre. So, after a big transition into movies, Gordon-Levitt’s dancing skills came in handy for a choreographed dance sequence in the 2009 film “500 Days of Summer.” Impressive as that may be, he upped the ante in 2015 with his Janet Jackson interpretation on “Lip Sync Battle.” He’s even taken his talents to the “Saturday Night Live.” This guy loves to boogie, and it shows.

As one of the more iconic 21st century action stars, this big screen tough guy is anything but one-dimensional. Like so many actors, Mark Sinclair aka Vin Diesel began on the stage, long before he crossed over into mainstream cinema. In recent years, we’ve even seen old school clips of him break dancing in New York City – nothing extraordinary but very entertaining. In 2014, however, Vin shocked and amazed fans with videos of him dancing to both Beyoncé’s “Drunk in Love” and Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse.” It’s not often that you’ll see a rough and tough movie star shaking his hips, but that’s obviously not an issue for Big Vin.

While this man isn’t necessarily a household name, he’s one of the more popular television stars of his generation. Donald Faison starred in over 170 episodes of the comedy-drama series “Scrubs” in the role of Turk, and during an unforgettable 2006 episode showed off some seriously unforgettable moves. With his smooth performance of Bel Biv DeVoe’s “Poison,” Faison’s confident, fun-loving technique had pop culture buzzing. And so, the moment became an instant series classic, a moment that Donald Faison would later revisit on the Queen Latifah Show.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Nick Offerman

Vincent Cassel

Michelle Obama

In the 2000s, this British actor was a West End regular; but the man was destined for success beyond the stage. When Tom Hiddleston joined the Marvel family in 2011, the public began paying even more attention to this multi-talented individual. Over the years, he’s more than once displayed his precise dance moves in the middle of interviews, making him one of the more endearing A-listers of his time. Hiddleston’s relationship with Taylor Swift brought even more attention to his dancing abilities, when he worked it out with the pop star at the 2016 Met Gala, surprising Swifties, and the entire world, in the process.