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A-List Hollywood Stars Who Actually Make A Difference

Actors earn more in a year than we do in a lifetime, but the Hollywood elite are known to be a charitable bunch from time to time – nothing to do with the world’s cameras watching them 24/7, we’re sure.

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These are the movie stars who don’t just entertain, they give a bit back to the world that keeps them in work.

It just might change your opinion on them…

Emma Watson

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Above: Emma at the HeForShe campaign launch in New York

The erstwhile ‘Harry Potter’ star made a big impact in the press earlier this year by launching HeForShe, a campaign attempting to rid the word ‘feminism’ of all its negative connotations. “I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me,” said the actress, “but my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word.”

Watson – now a U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador – spoke up about gender equality at a time when the #GamerGate fiasco was yielding ugly results and ill-conceived counter-movements like ‘Women Against Feminism’ were gaining traction. U.N. Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon welcomed Emma’s contribution, quipping: “She’s been waving a magic wand. I hope you use your magic wand to end violence against women.”

Angelina Jolie

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Above: Angelina hugs Neema Namadamu at the ‘End Sexual Violence in Conflict’ summit

The ‘Humanitarian Work’ section of Angelina’s Wikipedia bio is almost as long as the section on her career. Jolie’s life changed when she visited Cambodia while shooting ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’; not only did she return to adopt her first child, Maddox, she made the single biggest ever donation to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and was later made UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador for her field work after she travelled to more than 30 affected countries.

Angelina bought a house in Battambang, Cambodia, and turned the huge grounds into a wildlife reserve, later expanding to become a ‘Millennium Village’, home to 6,000 villagers and 72 employers, all paid by Jolie herself. She’s also built dozens of schools and care centers around Africa.

Keanu Reeves

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Reeves has suffered his fair share of tragedy – prompting the not unwarranted and good-natured ‘Sad Keanu’ meme – but he’s always used his fame to help others. Keanu set up a cancer charity anonymously after his sister battled leukemia for over a decade.

Reeves is known to be extremely generous with not only his money (he gave away £50 million of the £70 million he earned from the Matrix sequels to cast and crew) but with his time as well (there exists paparazzi footage of Reeves chatting with a homeless guy in his downtime). His philosophy is a healthy one: “Money is the last thing I think about. I could live on what I have already made for the next few centuries.”

Sean Penn

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Above: Penn in Haiti, helping a family relocate to higher ground

Penn is a professional do-gooder; a man whose profession requires the additional qualifier ‘Actor/Activist’. When an earthquake killed over 100,000 people in Haiti in 2010, Penn founded the J/P Haitian Relief Organization, which ran a tent camp housing up to 55,000 people in need of aid. The actor was so outspoken in his support for the nation that Haiti’s president Michel Martelly made Penn Ambassador-At-Large for the country, the first time anyone from outside the borders has received the honour.

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Penn also visited Karachi and Badin in Pakistan in 2012, where he distributed blankets and survival equipment for victims of flooding, and was instrumental in the release of political prisoner Jacob Ostreicher from a Bolivian prison in 2013. And he still had time to make ‘Gangster Squad’.

Leonardo DiCaprio

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Above: Leo with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon

Leo might live a playboy lifestyle only marginally less extreme than the real Wolf Of Wall Street, but he does at least care about the planet and has spent much of his adult life dedicated to raising awareness of climate change. He created and funded 2007 environmental documentary ‘The 11th Hour’ and made the Oscars green with Al Gore, plus was appointed as an official U.N. representative on climate change earlier this year.

A keen philanthropist, Leo gave £1 million to the post-quake citizens of Haiti and donated the same amount to Russia’s Wildlife Conservation Society, an act which led to President Vladimir Putin to describe DiCaprio as a “real man”.

Mel Gibson

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Above: Gibson at a Mending Kids event in February, 2014

He may not have the best public image these days, but Gibson is a man who likes to give back – and not just when the court orders him to do so. Mel and his former wife Robyn gave millions to charities Healing The Children and Mending Kids International, and he’s been known to donate anonymously to all manner of businesses and organisations in need of financial aid (including, weirdly, a Malaysian tire factory in New Mexico).

Says Mel of his charidee work: “It gives you perspective. It’s one of my faults, you tend to focus on yourself a lot. Which is not always the healthiest thing for your psyche or anything else. If you take a little time out to think about other people, it’s good. It’s uplifting.”

George Lucas

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Above: Steven Spielberg assists Lucas at a groundbreaking ceremony for the USC School of Cinematic Arts

Though it’s easy to get caught up in the internet hatred for sole Jar-Jar Binks apologist George Lucas, it’s important to realise the good things the creation of ‘Star Wars’ has led to in the real world. Even before he sold Lucasfilm to Disney, Generous George wasn’t stingy with his cash: he poured £2.6 million into the creation of The George Lucas Educational Foundation, aimed at inspiring youngsters to achieve their dreams, and will plough around £500 million into the creation of a cultural arts museum in San Francisco.

Oh, and then there’s the small matter of the £2.4 billion he made by selling up to the Mouse House, most of which Lucas claims he’ll give away: “For 41 years, the majority of my time and money has been put into the company. As I start a new chapter in my life, it is gratifying that I have the opportunity to devote more time and resources to philanthropy.” Still, that Jar-Jar Binks, eh?

Matthew McConaughey

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Above: McConaughey at a ‘Just Keep Livin’ event

Just like he quietly and determinedly toiled away at becoming your new favourite actor, Matthew McConaughey has been persistently giving money to charity behind the scenes for years. The foundation McConaughey set up himself is called Just Keep Livin’ (which you can totally imagine him saying, shirtless, on a beach) and he recently swelled their coffers with a substantional donation of £930,000.

Matthew is also an animal lover and rescued several stranded pets and animals in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (which, presumably, also required him to go shirtless). He even saved the life of a California cat when two youths attempted to set it on fire. Matthew McConaughey: Greatest Man Alive.

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Image credits: Press Association