Just like regular people, celebrities sometimes have strange encounters in their everyday lives. Interestingly, a number of them have found themselves in crisis situations and faced with the need to act in order to help another person — or even save a life. Most celebrities like to keep their personal lives under the radar, so most of the time, it's in their best interest not to get involved in any situation that would draw attention to them. Despite that, some still choose to put others first and do the right thing.
When that happens, it almost always makes headlines, so throughout the years, we've heard of quite a few interesting situations in which celebs have turned into real-life heroes — whether it's because they literally talked someone off the ledge or because they were generous in times of real need for strangers. All of it matters.
Even though we'd like to think that people with huge influence and seemingly endless resources are always happy to help, they don't have to, so it's still impressive when they do. If we're honest, a lot of regular people don't have the courage to act when there's a crisis at hand, and we commend anyone who is brave enough to step in and help when the need arises. Here are some of the heroic celebs who've done just that.
Lorde
Singer Lorde may not be as famous as she once was, but she's still quite generous. Several years ago, she donated nearly $7,000 to a New Zealand family who had to move out of their house with their autistic child for months so they could have essential repairs done. They were strangers, and Lorde apparently came across their need randomly on the site Give a Little, which is similar to GoFundMe.
Tom Cruise
Honestly, it's no real surprise that actor Tom Cruise has a hero mentality. He does all of his own stunts, so there's probably not much that truly intimidates him. All the way back in 1996, he came upon a bad car accident on his way home one night, and stopped to help a pedestrian who had been struck by a vehicle. He called emergency services, waited with her, and paid her hospital bill.
Chris Rock
Actor and comedian Chris Rock is genuinely a good guy. In 2010, he came to the aid of a pregnant woman who went into labor in a Neiman Marcus store at a mall in New Jersey. He reportedly waited with her and tried to keep her and onlookers calm by making jokes until the ambulance arrived. Wonder if she named the baby Chris?
T.I.
Atlanta rapper T.I. doesn't always make headlines for good reasons, but that wasn't the case in 2010 when it came out that he had actually showed up to help talk a suicidal man off the side of a building. When he heard about what was going on, he called DJ Ryan Cameron, who worked in the building, and asked if he could help. The DJ suggested he drive over, and when he got there, T.I. worked with police to record a video message for the troubled person. Police played it for the individual, who was eventually talked down. T.I. remained at the scene, and met with the individual for a private conversation afterward.
Kim Kardashian
At this point, many of us probably know that Kim Kardashian works with wrongfully incarcerated individuals to get them released from prison, and sometimes even off death row — but that isn't the extent of her heroic behavior. In September 2021, it came to light that Kim had donated $3,000 to a complete stranger to help her and her four children avoid being evicted from their home after her husband died.
Anderson Cooper
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper has found himself in dangerous situations on more than one occasion, and it turns out, he's the type of guy who will put his own safety aside to help others. In 2010, he saved a young Haitian boy who had been hit in the head with a slab of concrete during some looting after a devastating earthquake had ravaged the country.
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford has a habit of flexing his fortune and resources for good. He reportedly volunteers to use his personal helicopter for search-and-rescue missions on occasion, and during one such situation, he ended up saving two hikers at Table Mountain in Idaho, when dehydration and altitude sickness incapacitated them.
Melissa Errico
Only in New York! Broadway star and Billions actor Melissa Errico happened to be waiting for a subway train one day, when a man fell onto the track and broke his foot, leaving him unable to move as a speeding train approached. She ran over to the two men who were struggling to pull him up, and immediately grabbed on, providing the extra strength they needed to get the injured man back on the platform.
Leonardo DiCaprio
We all know that Leonardo DiCaprio likes to party, so it's no surprise that he found himself at the right place at the right time one day, when a drunk man fell off a cruise ship and was stuck in the water for hours. Leo was on his yacht with friends in the Caribbean at the time, and when he heard what was going on, he joined the rescue mission, and crewmembers from his yacht were the ones who ended up spotting the man and pulling him to safety.
Danny Trejo
Iconic actor Danny Trejo may often play a bad guy in the movies, but that's evidently not who he is at all in real life. In 2019, he witnessed a car crash and got out of his vehicle to help, only to end up being the one to physically remove a special needs toddler from his car seat and get him to safety.
Michael Rapaport
In 2018, comedian Michael Rapaport was on a flight from Houston to Los Angeles, and noticed a fellow passenger who appeared to be about to open the plane's emergency door mid-flight. He says he got up, confronted the man, and when the man wouldn't let go of the door, he pinned him to a seat until the flight attendants and other passengers arrived to help.
Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Cumberbatch was not about to stand by and watch helplessly when he spotted a delivery rider on a bicycle being attacked. According to his Uber driver, the British actor jumped out of the car and fought off the four muggers, who fled when their attempts to attack him in return failed.
John Malkovich
Actor John Malkovich once found himself in an interesting situation when he came across an elderly gentleman who had taken a terrible fall while vacationing in Toronto and ended up with his neck sliced open and bleeding. John stopped at the scene, put pressure on the man's wound to staunch the bleeding, and tried to keep him calm until professional help arrived.
Tom Hardy
A few years ago, actor Tom Hardy was a witness when a thief stole a moped and then crashed it. Tom reportedly chased after the thief and caught him. "Tom must have been walking down the road. He went off like a shot in pursuit and looked furious. If the kid had been dumb enough to resist, I reckon Tom would have given him a good hiding," an eyewitness told The Sun.
Jamie Foxx
Actor Jamie Foxx didn't want to be called a hero after saving a man from a car that was on fire in 2016. An alleged drunk driver crashed his car near Jamie's home, and Jamie jumped into the action and ended up pulling the man out of the car that was already ablaze when he got to it.
Steve Buscemi
Actor Steve Buscemi was a real-life hero before he was a famous actor. He was a member of the FDNY in the 1980s, and when the World Trade Center was attacked on September 11, 2001, he jumped back into action. He returned to the station he had worked out of years earlier, and volunteered his time to search for bodies in the rubble. Incredible!
Zoe Saldana
Zoe Saldana is yet another actor who happened to witness a bad car crash, and rather than moving along like most people do, she jumped to the aid of an elderly woman who was injured in the Los Angeles wreck. Zoe reportedly called 911, then helped the woman move from her vehicle to the curb to wait for help. Zoe even made sure to get the woman's purse and sweater from the car for her.
Patrick Dempsey
He's not a doctor, but he played one on TV — and apparently, that gave Patrick Dempsey the confidence to help out when he witnessed a car crash. He reportedly pulled a teenager from a wrecked car in Malibu, California, using a fire extinguisher and a crowbar. Then Patrick called 911 and waited by the teen's side for emergency responders.
Ryan Gosling
Passersby witnessed The Notebook actor Ryan Gosling literally break up a street fight in New York. Several people were standing by watching as two men got into a physical altercation in the middle of a street in New York City, when the actor happened to walk by and calmly jump in, separating the men and breaking up the fight.
