Today I learned that Albert Einstein, Natalie Portman, and Alex Trebek all lived elsewhere before settling in the US.

Born in Israel, the V For Vendetta star holds dual citizenship in America and her birthplace. Britannica says her father worked as a fertility doctor in Israel before the family resettled in the United States. 

Her career already had a jump-start in Mexico, where she appeared in shows like Un Nuevo Amanecer, but Salma Hayek eventually moved to Los Angeles to study acting. According to E! News, she told the Spanish edition of V Magazine that she had been in the country illegally since her visa expired. Her publicist confirmed that she quickly sorted it out and became an American citizen. 

The former governor of California's journey began in Graz, Austria, where he was inspired by newsreels to move to the United States. "I saw the skyscrapers, and the bridges, and the highways, and the cars with the fins sticking out, and all this stuff. Hollywood," said Schwarzenegger in a 2002 interview with LA Weekly. "I said, 'What am I doing here on the farm? Oh, God, I‘ve got to move on. How do I move on?'"

In 2015, the Terminator actor celebrated the anniversary of becoming a citizen on Twitter/X. "Today is one of the proudest days of my life. 32 years ago I became a US citizen. Grateful to be here and give back," he wrote.

According to ET, the British-Canadian star moved to New York City after landing her first TV role at 16. In 2020, she announced that she became an American citizen for the sole purpose of voting in the election that year during an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan. "I was so emotional. I was verklempt. I didn’t expect that reaction. The officer who sent me through, she said, ‘You know, some people don’t take this as seriously and I was really touched at how emotional it was for [you],'" she said. 

Already a star in India, Priyanka Chopra-Jonas explained that the politics within the Bollywood scene had her looking for a way out. During an appearance on the Armchair Expert podcast, she said that Desi Hits's Anjula Acharia spotted her in a music video and asked whether she was interested in pursuing a musical career in the United States.

"I was being pushed into a corner in the [Bollywood] industry. I had people not casting me, I had beef with people, I am not good at playing that game so I kind of was tired of the politics and I said I needed a break,” she said. “This music thing gave me an opportunity to go into another part of the world. It would require groveling and I had worked a long time by then that I didn't feel like I wanted to do it." 

Estefan has proudly shared her story as an immigrant throughout her career. Per the LA Times, she moved to the US when she was 2 years old in the midst of the Cuban Revolution. She became a citizen in 1978.

Nyong'o holds three citizenships: Mexico, Kenya, and the United States. When she was 16, she moved back to Mexico from Kenya to study Spanish before relocating to the United States for college, per Irish Independent. Eventually, she graduated from Hampshire College with a bachelor’s degree in Film and African Studies. 

After an extraordinary career that saw him reaching massive feats with Manchester United and Real Madrid, David Beckham signed a five-year contract with LA Galaxy and moved to the US in 2007. Here, he helped boost the popularity of the MLS.

The Australian actor gained esteem for his roles in X-Men and, most recently, reprising his role as Wolverine for the latest Deadpool movie. According to an interview with Cowboys & Indians, Jackman moved to the US when he landed the role of Wolverine. He reportedly still resides in New York City, where he owns a penthouse.

The "Umbrella" singer moved to the United States at 16 with hopes of pursuing her music dreams, according to Visit Barbados. After meeting producer Evan Rogers in Barbados, her mother sent her to move in with him and his wife in the US. Clearly, things paid off, as she's not only a billionaire but one of the most iconic artists of her generation. 

After the Nazis came into power in Germany, Einstein renounced his citizenship and moved to the US. According to the Library of Congress, he became a U.S. citizen by 1940. He landed a job as a professor of theoretical physics at Princeton. "As long as I have any choice I will only stay in a country where political liberty, toleration, and equality of all citizens before the law is the rule," he reportedly said about moving to America. 

Born in Ukraine (which was part of the Soviet Union at the time), Kunis and her family moved to the United States. She said that her parents raised her Jewish, but the rise in antisemitism played a role in their decision to leave their home behind. "After the Holocaust, in Russia, you were not allowed to be religious. So my parents raised me to know I was Jewish. You know who you are inside," she told  The Sun in a 2012 interview. 

The legendary Fugees member was born in Haiti. Due to the social, political, and economic conditions under Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier's dictatorship, his family eventually moved to the United States when he was 9, per Global Citizen Forum. His family first moved to Brooklyn before settling in New Jersey. Since then, Wyclef has become one of the most influential artists of all time, especially as a member of the Fugees alongside Pras and Lauryn Hill, and even tried to run for president of Haiti at one point. 

Iman moved to New York City after being offered a modeling gig. It all began when she was in Kenya and was approached by photographer Peter Beard, who asked if she was ever photographed. "I said, 'Of course I've been photographed.' And he said, 'By whom?' And I said, 'My parents.' He said, 'No, no, no, I'm talking professional.' And all I could think of was my brother's Playboy and I said, 'I'm not that girl,'" she told TODAY. Eventually, they struck an agreement, and he took photos of her for $8,000, which helped her pay for tuition at her local university. After Beard used her photo in an exhibition, he invited her to come to New York, where she jumpstarted her modeling career in 1975, per W Magazine. 

Many actors move to the United States with dreams and aspirations of making it to Hollywood but apparently, for Penélope Cruz, her move to America wasn't necessarily intentional. Speaking with The Guardian, she explained that she "went to America with a return ticket. I thought I was going there for three months [to film The High-Lo Country in 1998] and then I’d go back home. Then I got another part," she said. However, she has since returned to Spain, where she and her husband Javier Bardem raise their two children, per PEOPLE.

Kumail Nanjiani was born in Pakistan but later moved to America to attend college. He eventually moved his family to the US. Now, he's a bonafide star, and in 2020, he created the show Little America, which he described to Newsweek as "an anthology show based on the true stories of immigrants."

The Canadian star initially flew out to Los Angeles for an opportunity to shoot for Playboy, per Variety, which marked the beginning of her tenure in the entertainment industry. In 2004, she became a citizen. "I felt it was important to become a US citizen in order to vote in the United States,” Anderson said in a statement. ”US citizenship will allow me, in the future, to petition to bring my children’s grandparents down to the United States to care for them once they become older.”

The late, great Alex Trebek had already established himself as a voice in the Canadian media landscape. However, before his big break on Jeopardy, Trebek actually moved to the United States to host The Wizard of Odds, a game show based on the law of averages, where a contestant could win $10,000. According to Variety, the show didn't last long, but there's no doubt that it created the foundation for his tenure on Jeopardy.