Hollywood celebrities are mostly adored for their on-screen magic, chart-topping hits, or their on-point wit and humor. But there are some stars who go out of their way for their fans and prove they are awesome off-screen too?
From anonymously donating millions to showing up at hospitals in superhero costumes, several A-listers proved time and again that fame doesn't have to be all glitz and glam. Let's take a dive into the feel-good world of celebrity philanthropy and see how some of the most popular celebrities use their fame (and sometimes their wallets) to make a real difference.
#1 Keanu Reeves
Known for his roles in The Matrix and John Wick, Keanu Reeves is loved by fans not only for his charisma and acting but also for his character in real life. The actor has repeatedly shown to be humble, kind, thoughtful, and generous.
As fan James Dator recounted on X, back in 2001 when he was working at a theater in Sydney, one Wednesday morning, a man came up to him wearing jeans, a leather jacket, and a helmet. Because of the shape of the protective gear, Dator didn't initially see that the man was Reeves, who took advantage of the lack of people during that time of day to watch a Johnny Depp movie.
As soon as he noticed that his customer was one of the hottest stars of the year, he tried asking for his autograph without being too obvious by granting him an employee discount. The plan backfired as Keanu, somewhat confused, told him he didn’t work there and then ordered an ice cream.
A couple of minutes later, Dator heard a knock on the door. It was Keanu.
“I realized you probably wanted my autograph, so I signed this,” he said as he handed a receipt to the teenager, who realized the actor had only bought the ice cream in order to have somewhere to write his signature.
Image credits: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
#2 Tom Hanks
The 2015 America’s Favorite Actor by the Harris Poll has earned his place by contributing to more than 30 causes, including LGBT+ rights, veteran support, environmental initiatives, and children’s rights.
The actor has also surprised his fans with spontaneous and hilarious acts of kindness, such as in 2016, when he crashed a wedding photo shoot in Central Park, adding to the already joyous occasion the couple was celebrating.
Hanks, who was in the middle of a morning jog, stopped his routine to personally congratulate the couple and posed for many pictures with the husband and wife.
“Yesterday's wedding was so beautiful! Elisabeth and Ryan, you planned one amazing celebration. The icing on the cake was @tomhanks stopping in Central Park to wish them congratulations,” wrote their photographer on her Instagram page.
Image credits: megmillerphotography
#3 Robert Downey Jr.
The star, known for playing Tony Stark in Iron Man, doesn’t need his suit to save the day, as he contributes to multiple charities, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, March of Dimes, and Entertainment Industry Foundation.
On one heartwarming occasion back in 2015, the actor surprised Alex Prig, a young Florida boy with a missing right arm, with an unforgettable gift -- a custom-made, 3D-printed bionic arm made by Limbitless Solutions.
What the kid saw was Tony Stark himself taking a break from his world-saving efforts to present him with the latest of his inventions, a brand new Iron Man power arm made just for him.
“Had the absolute privilege of presenting a brand spanking new 3D-printed bionic Iron Man arm to Alex, the most dapper 7-year-old I’ve ever met,” wrote the actor on his personal Facebook page.
Image credits: Robert Downey Jr
#4 Chris Pratt And Chris Evans
In 2015, Captain America actor Chris Evans had the chance to meet some "real-life heroes" during his visit to Seattle Children's Hospital, accompanied by Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt.
This was their second hospital visit following a Super Bowl wager that resulted in a win for everyone involved.
The bet: If Pratt’s team, the Seattle Seahawks, won the Super Bowl, Evans would visit Seattle Children’s Hospital dressed as Captain America. Conversely, if Evans’ team, the New England Patriots, won, Pratt would visit Christopher’s Haven in Boston dressed as Star-Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy, wearing Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s jersey.
Despite the Patriots' victory, both actors visited both hospitals. Pratt wore his Star-Lord costume for his visit to Boston Children's Hospital in February 2015, while Evans donned his Captain America outfit to visit Seattle Children's, bringing along Marvel action figures and accessories as gifts.
Image credits: seattlechildren
#5 Christian Bale
The star of Christopher Nolan’s Batman and his wife recently co-founded a foster care program called Together California, which consists of a community center to house and keep foster siblings together, and it is expected to reach completion in April 2025.
But the project is only the most recent of Bale’s charitable acts toward children. In 2012, the star flew four-year-old leukemia patient Jayden Barber and his entire family to Los Angeles and treated them to lunch at Disneyland’s Club 33.
“The entire interaction was like old friends having lunch. Jayden did not get star struck but was well aware of who we were with!” said the boy's mother, Charlene Barber, to the Hollywood Reporter. “They talked about movies and superheroes and he was genuinely happy to hear about everything Jayden wanted to tell him.”
Image credits: b60
#6 John Cena
From WWE wrestler to action movie star, John Cena has long been an inspiration to kids across the country.
His in-ring persona championed the importance of perseverance and never giving up, a message he furthered through his collaboration with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a non-profit that looks to provide relief to children suffering from serious illnesses.
Among his fellow wrestlers and celebrities, John Cena stands out for breaking the Guinness World Record for most wishes granted after personally visiting a total of 650 children as of August 2023.
The award marks more than twenty continuous years of work with the organization and more than six million miles traveled, all in service of bringing hope and happiness to children and their families going through difficult times.
Image credits: WWE
#7 Ed Sheeran
English singer and songwriter Ed Sheeran consistently makes charitable contributions and even has his own institution dedicated to them.
The Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation, according to its website, was created to “help young people under the age of 18, and living in Suffolk (UK), with small but useful grants to help with studying or playing music.”
In February 2024, the artist donated 1 million euros to his former school. With his help, Thomas Mills High School was able to fund a brand new Expressive Arts course.
Back in 2018, after learning of fan Sherie Hagger’s stage three bowel cancer, Sheeran invited her to hang out with him. The pair talked about life and ate pizza.
“I can't really tell you how long I spent with him, nor what we talked about, because it's all such a blur,” wrote the fan on her personal blog. “What I can tell you however is that the way he comes across is exactly how he is in real life.”
Sherie sadly passed away just one year later, on February 19th, 2019.
Image credits: ButtWhySherie
#8 Johnny Depp
The successful actor known for movies like The Pirates of the Caribbean and Edward Scissorhands had his perspective on life change when his then-7-year-old daughter Lily-Rose Depp was diagnosed with temporary kidney failure.
In 2007, she was admitted to the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, where she had to remain for nine days.
Seeing his flesh and blood at the mercy of a potentially fatal illness made him empathize with the pain many families go through when experiencing similar struggles. Thankfully, his daughter fully recovered, but his visits to the hospital didn’t end there.
Dressing as the iconic Jack Sparrow, Depp has since been visiting the hospital regularly to enliven the days of sick children. Not even COVID-19 could stop the pirate captain, as he hosted a virtual visit streamed throughout the establishment.
He has also made several donations, totaling $2 million.
“The kids are so courageous but to be able to bring a smile or a giggle to the parents means everything in the world to me.” said the actor while on the Graham Norton Show.
Image credits: Jesse Grant/Getty Images
#9 Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Wrestler-turned-movie star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has donated to multiple charities over the years.
In 2017, he donated $25,000 to the American Red Cross to help fund relief efforts after Hurricane Harvey passed through Texas. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson partnered with the sportswear brand Under Armour to donate $1 million in protective equipment to healthcare workers.
On one particular occasion, “The Rock” surprised one fan, a Navy veteran named Oscar Rodriguez, with his own “personal custom-made truck.” The star said in an Instagram post that he’d hoped to give him the Porsche car he drove in the movie Red Notice, but after the company declined, he decided to give him one of his prized possessions instead.
Dwayne Johnson said that the reason he reached out to Rodriguez was because he was impressed with the man’s character, and he listed a variety of examples, including him taking care of his 75-year-old mother, providing support for women victimized by domestic violence, and being a Navy veteran.
Image credits: therock
#10 Colin Farrell
Oscar nominee Colin Farrell has focused his charitable efforts on helping the young. As a father of a son with a condition known as Angelman syndrome, he has made several donations to the Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics and UNICEF.
His kind acts are not limited to big non-profits, as in 2007, he decided to change a homeless man’s life after the simple act of sharing a cigarette together.
Farrell invited the man, called David, to a clothing shop and told him to buy whatever he wanted, with the bill ascending to $2,100. Not content with that, the two headed to an ATM and withdrew $830 dollars, with which David rented a room and started a new life.
"I didn't know who he was," said David in a 2012 Global News report. "I just thought he was a regular human being."
David, who used to go by the street name “Stress,” was able to get back on his feet and was no longer homeless in 2012.
"Him reaching out to me through the years of my journey somehow gave me a good lift of hope," he said, confirming that the two have kept in touch ever since.
Image credits: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images
#11 Lady Gaga
While other celebrities have contributed to hospitals and other causes, Lady Gaga has been of particular importance to the LGBT+ community.
Back in 2016, the singer surprised the youth at Harlem's Ali Forney Center, a shelter for homeless LGBT+ teens, many of whom struggle with trauma and relied on her music for refuge and understanding.
“When my family was pushing me away because I'm gay, all I had was you and the ‘Born This Way’ album on repeat,” one of the teens said to her.
“Meditation helps me to calm down,” she told them while doing a meditation exercise during her visit. “I don't have the same kind of issues that you have, but I have a mental illness and I struggle with that every day so I need my mantra to help keep me relaxed.”
Image credits: Today Show
#12 Adele
The British singer has made it a point to help as many people as possible during her career. Her 2016 world tour was declared a “good deed marathon,” where she wanted to turn the dreams of her most vulnerable fans into reality.
A particularly touching moment occurred during the tour when Adele noticed a 12-year-old girl in the crowd with a sign that read, “It’s my dream to sing with Adele.” She invited her little fan, who is autistic, to join her onstage as the crowd cheered.
Her dream came true as they sang the hit Someone Like You in front of the roaring public.
"Emily went up quite happily, she loves singing. She sings every day of her life," her father told the Manchester Evening News.
Image credits: Stefanie Keenan/The Hollywood Reporter
#13 Taylor Swift
In 2023, Swift officially became a billionaire, with earnings ascending to $2 billion per year, but she hasn’t let the enormous success get to her head and consistently recognizes the work of those who helped her get to where she is.
In the middle of her 2023 Eras Tour, Swift gave every single worker on the production $55 million in bonuses, which included $100,000 for each truck driver involved in moving the show from place to place.
The singer has also made it a habit to donate to local food banks while on the road. For example, in July 2023, she donated to the Silicon Valley Food Bank, providing more than 500,000 people with meals.
Image credits: Noam Galai/TAS24/Getty Images
#14 Angelina Jolie
The actress has cemented her reputation as a dedicated humanitarian, spearheading multiple charities and even working as a Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, under which she has traveled to various camps and war zones worldwide.
Grand causes and efforts are not the only places where she has shown her kindness, as she has frequently shown care for fans in her day-to-day life.
In 2014, she personally comforted a fan who suffered from a panic attack while waiting for her outside the set of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart after the euphoria caused by the actress' presence caused the crowd to squish the fan.
"I went to the Daily Show with my friend to see Angelina Jolie...Chaos erupted...I was getting squished to the point that I started to have a panic attack," wrote the fan, known on Instagram as Techna. "Angelina didn't leave till she made sure I was ok... Thank You #AngelinaJolie I will remember this."
Image credits: ddp
#15 Roman Reigns
Much like his fellow wrestler and on-screen rival John Cena, Roman Reigns, whose real name is Joe Anoa’i, is a frequent collaborator of the Make-A-Wish foundation.
Despite playing a seemingly unbeatable character while wrestling, Anoa’i is no stranger to hardship, having suffered from Leukemia throughout his entire life. A fact that fans were sadly made aware of when, in 2018, he temporarily retired due to his cancer returning.
Reigns was able to return to the ring in 2019 after his illness entered remission, and he has remained healthy ever since despite being on very potent medication to this day.
Because of his personal experience, he has devoted his Make-A-Wish efforts to improving the lives of kids suffering from the same illness. Such as in 2022, when he surprised 8-year-old fan Andrew Sirleaf with tickets to the biggest wrestling event of the year, Wrestlemania.
“Just when we thought WWE couldn’t give us any more, they now also provided Andrew with someone he already looked up to as having ‘the same thing as him,’” said his mother. “It made him feel like he’s in this really cool club.”
Image credits: Todd Owyoung/NBC
#16 Sandra Bullock
The actress and film producer is a known philanthropist, donating millions of dollars to the American Red Cross and other charitable organizations.
Back in 2017, she took notice of the sad story of Svend Petersen, a pool manager of the Beverly Hills Hotel who had slid into homelessness. The man, who was 89 at the time, had lost all means of providing for himself, confessing to local news that he was going on without food for days on end.
Two of his friends set up a GoFundMe page for Peterson in the hopes of providing him with a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles.
After being told of the situation by her then-7-year-old son, Louis Bullock, the actress donated $5000, which motivated 350 people to join in, raising more than $29,000 for Petersen.
Image credits: James Devaney/GC Images
#17 J. K. Rowling
The author of the popular Harry Potter franchise has long been a supporter of charities protecting and supporting women, as well as non-profit organizations dedicated to taking care of children.
While she was writing The Goblet of Fire, the fourth entry in the book series, a family friend brought her publisher a heartfelt letter written by a young fan called Natalie McDonald, who was suffering from a terminal case of Leukemia, which was certain to end her life before the book was released. In her letter, she expressed wanting to know the fate of her favorite characters before passing away.
As soon as she was made aware of the letter, Rowling wrote back with an exclusive preview of the outcome of The Goblet of Fire. Sadly, the 9-year-old girl passed away a day before receiving the reply.
A year later, on page 159 of the released book, a young witch named Natalie McDonald dons the famous Sorting Hat and becomes a member of House Gryffindor, immortalizing the young fan in a way she would’ve never imagined.
Image credits: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images
#18 Nicki Minaj
Hip-hop sensation Nicki Minaj consistently supports charitable causes, such as donating more than $25,000 to St. Jude’s Home for Girls, purchasing essential equipment for rural communities in India, and even paying some students’ tuition fees.
In 2017, Devonte Portis, a student who was majoring in Public Relations at Ohio University, was among the lucky recipients of financial aid after Minaj asked in a tweet for students to send her proof of their straight-A report cards.
Portis confirmed to CNN that the actress took care of all of his debts in less than a week.
“Nicki has always pushed us to further our education and to be assertive and go after what we want,” Portis continued. “I look forward to continuing my education at OU and will forever be grateful for her making it possible.”
Image credits: Astrida Valigorsky/WireImage
#19 Beyoncé
The American singer and businesswoman is no stranger to kindness. Her charity, BeyGOOD, is primarily focused on helping children from underprivileged communities with education and personal and career development, but it also helps in matters of disaster relief.
In 2015, Beyoncé and her team traveled to Haiti to help those affected by the earthquake that ravaged the nation in 2010.
She has also surprised her fans with unexpected acts of kindness. In 2017, a high school student's dreams were realized when she got a FaceTime call from none other than her idol.
Ebony Banks, a senior at Alief Hastings High School in Houston, was fighting stage four of a rare form of cancer. Hoping to lift her spirits, her friends started a social media campaign with the hashtag #EBOBMEETSBEYONCE to catch the superstar's attention.
A few days after the hashtag went viral, Beyoncé surprised Banks with a FaceTime call, where they had a heartfelt exchange. Banks, lying in a hospital bed, told Beyoncé, "I love you, Beyoncé," to which Beyoncé responded, "I love you, too."
Image credits: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
#20 Justin Timberlake
The songwriter, dancer, and singer has a long history of being considerate to his fans. Like in 2014 when, after learning of the skin condition of one of his younger fans, Timberlake invited the 12-year-old to an exclusive New York concert and provided him with celebrity treatment.
Robbie Twible, who suffers from epidermolysis bullosa, a rare skin condition that causes constant blistering, was taken to and from the event in a luxurious limousine. He sat in the front row to enjoy Timberlake’s performance, who dedicated a song to his name.
In 2013, the dancer became the ultimate wingman when, during a concert while performing That Girl, Justin called out to the crowd, saying, "Josh and Kim, why don't you make your way up here?"
He then clarified to a bewildered Kim, "Josh called me earlier. He's got something he wants to tell you." And the man proposed to his girlfriend in front of a roaring crowd.
Image credits: Amy Sussman/Getty Images
