Sure, Massachusetts residents love their Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins and have legalized Massachusetts sports gambling to make that even more clear.
Massachusetts also has a lot of famous celebrities. Some of them are beloved, some of them less so.
BetMassachuetts.com decided to take a hyper-localized approach to see which celebrities raised in the state of Massachusetts have been discussed the most in the past year and came up with a Top 15. There are some new names in the mix like Jennifer Coolidge, some familiar faces such as Chris Evans, Ben Affleck and Mark Wahlberg, and a bunch of other actors, actresses, singers and other entertainers. Notables who fell out of the top 15 to start 2024? Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy and comedian Bill Burr.
Methodology: BetMassachussetts.com utilized a weighted system among AhRefs.com Keywords Explorer and Google Trends to look at the most searched Massachusetts celebrities over the past 12 months. Once finding the statistics, they were averaged to determine the Top 15. Massachusetts celebrity was defined as a person who resided in Massachusetts in their formative childhood and teenage for more than 10 years. Celebrity was broken down to include only actors/actresses, singer/songwriters, TV personalities, comedians, dancers, athletes and social media influencers.
These celebrities vary widely. One of these celebrities works with a sportsbook that offers Massachusetts sportsbook promos, while others wrestled in the WWE or starred in box-office movies.
Most Well-Known Massachusetts Celebrities in 2023
Chris Evans Leads the Top Massachusetts Celebs List
Few states punch above their weight class when it comes to celebrity status than Massachusetts does, with a who’s who of Academy Award winners hailing from the Bay State over the years.
Between Captain America himself (Chris Evans) and Academy Award winners like Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, other well-known actors from the state include Steve Carrell, Mark Wahlberg, Jennifer Coolidge, John Krasinski and more.
Famous Massachusetts Actors
This year, there’s a change atop the Massachusetts celebrity list, as Captain America star Chris Evans unseated Boston’s Ben Affleck atop the state’s well known list, with a search volume total of 2 million during the year.
Evans, who also hails from Boston, has emerged as a lead man on a number of films after his breakthrough performance as the American-clad superhero, including roles in “Knives Out,” “The Gray Man” and his latest turn voicing Buzz Lightyear of “Toy Story” fame in 2022’s “Lightyear.”
Affleck finished second on our list for the year, at 1.9 million search volume, as the Academy Award winner from Boston was unseated from his usual perch atop the state’s most famous residents list in 2024.
Additional Celebrities From Massachusetts
Of the Massachusetts top 15 for 2024, all were actors or musicians, with former professional wrestler turned actor John Cena of West Newbury drawing the most search volume of the rest of the group, at 1.6 million, followed by “White Lotus” star Jennifer Coolidge (1.4M search volume) and Mark Wahlberg (1.3 million).
Coolidge, who has been acting since 1993, won two Emmys for her role in the HBO comedy series, taking home an award for Outstanding Supporting Actress In a Limited Series, as well as the honor for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
Wahlberg has been a major figure in American entertainment since his days as a member of boy band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch before taking his talents to the big screen, where he’s been nominated for two Academy Awards and a slew of Golden Globes, Primetime Emmys and SAG Awards.
Down the list, Affleck’s co-star in “Good Will Hunting,” Matt Damon, finished No. 6 on the Massachusetts celebrity list for 2024 with a search volume of 1.2 million, while “The Office” stars John Krasinski (915K search volume) and Steve Carrell (780K search volume) finished at Nos. 7 and 8.
The rest of the list includes musician Meghan Trainor of Nantucket (750K search volume), actresses Elizabeth Banks (687K search volume), Uma Thurman (605K search volume), Amy Poehler (601K search volume) and Mindy Kaling (563K search volume), while actors Kurt Russell (582K search volume) and Joe Keery (506K search volume) were 13th and 15th on the list, respectively.
If you're interested, be sure to check out our reviews of top-tier sportsbook and promotions, such as the ESPN BET Massachusetts promo code.
If you prefer to follow the Hollywood angle, we also cover similar topics on occasion. This includes articles on things such as famous Massachusetts movies, breaking down the most popular films involving the Bay State.
Massachusetts Celebrities FAQs
Yes, Ben Affleck is one of the most famous celebrities from Massachusetts. Affleck appeared in the Massachusetts-focused movie "The Town" and was also born in Cambridge, MA.
Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, is from Swampscott, Massachusetts. The controversial yet popular media celebrity is one of the most famous people from Massachusetts, especially as of the last few years. While Portnoy currently lives in Miami, Florida, he still talks about his home city and state often.
Chris Evans is from Boston. While most famous for "The Avengers" series, he has also found success in films like "Knives Out," "Snowpiercer," "The Gray Man" and Pixar's "Lightyear."
Yes, famous actor and celebrity Mark Walhberg is from Boston, Massachusetts. Wahlberg was born on June 5, 1971 in Boston, MA.
John Cena was born in West Newbury, Massachusetts on April 23, 1977. He attended Springfield College in Springfield, MA. He eventually went on to be a WWE star and actor, and still pays homepage to his home state.
While Joe Rogan spent much of his teenage and young adult years in Massachusetts, he was not actually born in the state. Rogan was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1967, and his family moved to Newton, Massachusetts in the 1980s.
Famous actor Steve Carrell is from Acton, Massachusetts.
