37 Stars Who Made Their Teaching Character's Role Look Like A Piece Of Cake

These stars totally smashed their characters.

Maryjane

• Published in Film & TV
• April 10, 2022

The profession of teaching is unique and is one of the most respected in our world. Both in the past and present, there has always been a need for teachers. 

But yet, there are people who still run away from being a teacher. This may be due to the fact that they found their teachers boring, or that they just hated school or whatever.

A teaching role is not exactly the type of character that will make anyone excited, especially with how boring a lecture can get. But these stars made sure to smash their teaching roles so much so that you would want to return to class – preferably their class. 

We have the likes of Stephen Colbert, who acted as a history teacher but was having a secret affair with the arts teacher. There is Justin Timberlake, who acts as a junior high school teacher that all the girls are fighting over.

Or is it Richard Harris who acts as Professor Dumbledore in the famous Harry Potter series? They all make us want to see more of them in acting roles as teachers.

So we’ve gone ahead and compiled a list of stars who have gone the extra mile to smash their teaching roles.

1. Morgan Freeman stunned as former teacher and current principal Joe Clark

2. Harrison Ford plays the ever daring, ever afraid of snakes adventurer in all four Indiana Jones films

3. Ryan Gosling stars as a high school teacher and secret drug addict in the 2006 drama Half Nelson

4. Richard Harris acted as Professor Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films

5. In the 2014 Oscar-winning film Whiplash, J.K. Simmons teaches music and inspires students

6. Richard Dreyfuss plays a classical composer turned high school music teacher Mr. Holland in the 1995 film Mr. Holland's Opus

7. Alan Rickman plays professor Severus Snape in all eight Harry Potter films

8. Viola Davis acted as a ruthless educator, mentor and defense attorney Annalise Keating in the show How to Get Away With Murder

9. Cameron Diaz plays an all around beyond bad educator in the 2011 comedy Bad Teacher

10. Matthew Morrison plays McKinley High's Spanish teacher in Glee

11. Jennifer Garner plays an elementary school teacher in the 2010 romantic comedy Valentine's Day

12. Ian Harding plays Ezra Fitz, the teacher on Pretty Little Liars

13. Julia Roberts is an art history professor in the 2003 Mona Lisa Smile

14. Jack Black plays a substitute teacher for some cash and turns his classroom into a rock band

15. Gwyneth Paltrow is the substitute teacher who takes over for the Spanish teacher in Glee

16. Hugh Dancy is the FBI Academy teacher and FBI profiler Will Graham in the series series Hannibal

17. Zooey Deschanel is the quirky teacher in New Girl

18. Arnold Schwarzenegger played a tough badass police officer gone undercover in the 1990 flick Kindergarten Cop

19. Jane Lynch plays the head coach of the Cheerios cheerleading squad in Glee

20. David Schwimmer plays a NYU paleontology professor

21. Alyson Hannigan plays the kindergarten teacher in the How I Met Your Mother TV series

22. Justin Timberlake plays the junior high school teacher in the 2011 comedy Bad Teacher

23. Kate Hudson plays the dance instructor Cassandra July on Glee

24. Russell Crowe plays mathematician John Nash in A Beautiful Mind

25. Jason Segal is a junior high school gym teacher in the 2011 Bad Teacher

26. Michelle Pfeiffer acts as a high school teacher in the 1995 film Dangerous Minds

27. Bryan Cranston plays a high school teacher in the hit TV series Breaking Bad

28. Ken Jeong plays a Spanish teacher in the TV series Community

29. Dot Jones is McKinley High's football coach on the TV series Glee

30. Robin Williams is an English teacher John Keating in the 1989 classic Dead Poets Society

31. Meryl Streep plays a school teacher in the 1999 film Music of the Heart

32. Jim True-Frost becomes a teacher in the HBO series The Wire

33. Laurence Fishburne plays a professor in the 1995 film Higher Learning

34. Stephen Colbert plays a high school history teacher in the TV comedy Strangers With Candy

35. Dennis Haskins acts as Principal Richard Belding in the TV series Saved by the Bell

36. Gabe Kaplan teaches an unruly group of high school students in the '70s TV series Welcome Back, Kotter

37. William Daniels plays principal in the series Boy Meets World

Teaching is not as boring as you think—well, at least not in movies. These actors have given their teaching characters a new meaning and have made it fun for us to watch.

Which of these actors smashed their teaching characters for you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Maryjane