8 celebrities who learned a language for a movie role

18 November 2025

Image Credit: Instagram/@priyankachopra

Besides their on-screen presence, acting sometimes requires actors and actresses to be fluent in a whole new language

Image Credit: Instagram/@tchalamet

Meryl Streep had to learn Polish for the role of Sophie Zawistowska in 1982's Sophie's Choice

Image Credit: IMDb

Robert De Niro learned to speak a Sicilian dialect to play Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II in 1974

Image Credit: IMDb

Timothée Chalamet learned Italian for Elio's role in 2017's Call Me By Your Name by spending time in Italy

Image Credit: IMDb

Priyanka Chopra is learning Telugu for Mandakini's role in Varanasi, which will mark her re-entry into Indian cinema

Image Credit: IMDb

For the 2007 film Eastern Promises, Viggo Mortensen studied Russian to play the role of Nikolai

Image Credit: IMDb

Alicia Vikander had to learn Japanese to take on the role of Lucy Fly in the 2019 movie, Earthquake Bird

Image Credit: IMDb

In the 2009 film I Am Love, Tilda Swinton learned Italian with a Russian accent to fully submerge herself in the role

Image Credit: IMDb

Robin Williams learned to speak Russian for his role in the 1984 movie Moscow on the Hudson

Image Credit: IMDb