11 Celebrities You Probably Didn't Know Hail from the Bay Area

The strawberry-blond beauty (This Is 40 and the soon-to-hit-theaters How to Be Single), whose hubby is the brilliant Judd Apatow, was born in San Francisco before moving down to Orange County, where she was raised by a single mother.

The great theater actor, and X-Men’s Sabretooth, was born here before his family moved to Canada and then New York City.

The Transparent star was born and raised in San Francisco. Although he lives mostly in L.A. now, he found his passion for acting while in SF and graduated with a drama degree from San Francisco State University.

Silverstone’s real-life upbringing may have mirrored that of her character Cher in Clueless. The actress grew up in the very posh neighborhood of Hillsborough, where San Francisco socialites and Silicon Valley millionaires have sprawling mansions.

The San Francisco native and Lowell High School graduate came back to the city to film his brother Peter’s 2009 movie La Mission. He’s frequently spotted at Giants games and community events to support the Mission, the neighborhood where he grew up.

Most beloved for his roles in Big, Forrest Gump and Philadelphia, Hanks has roots all over the Bay Area. The actor was born in the suburb of Concord (about an hour from SF), attended high school at Skyline High in Oakland, studied theater at Chabot College in Hayward and then transferred to California State University in Sacramento.

Swoon. The stud quarterback for the New England Patriots (and husband of Gisele Bündchen) was born and raised in San Mateo. As a boy, he regularly attended 49ers games at the now defunct Candlestick Park, where he watched his idol, Joe Montana. He was inducted into the Junipero Serra High School Hall of Fame, along with fellow graduate Barry Bonds.

The former SNL cast member and current star of Brooklyn Nine-Nine (who was one of the few highlights of this year’s Golden Globes) grew up in Berkeley and graduated from Berkeley High, where he poured all of his time and effort into his writing classes.

The reigning queen of rock and roll moved around a lot as a kid, but she spent her high school years in the South Bay at Menlo-Atherton High. It was here that she met future musical and romantic partner Lindsey Buckingham. After graduating, the two attended San Jose State University together.

The harem-pants-wearing 1980s hip-hop icon known for “U Can’t Touch This” grew up in East Oakland and toured with the Oakland A’s as master of ceremonies (that’s where the MC in his stage name comes from). He now lives in Tracy and--shocker of all shockers--is a tech mogul and consultant to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. He’s also a huge Warriors fan and can often be spotted courtside at home games.

The film legend and political figure (and real-life cowboy, in our minds) was born in SF but now spends a lot of his time in Carmel-by-the-Sea, where he once had a two-year stint as mayor.