Six Hollywood Stars Who Are Undercover Metal Heads

When it comes to Hollywood, metalheads are usually portrayed in a... not so flattering light. We're the drunks and stoners, braindead from too much head-banging, clad in grimy vintage band t-shirts and greasy hair.

Well, that may be so. But who is Hollywood to judge? I'd take our stereotype over the popped collar, Axe-body-spray-soaked L.A. douchebag or Paris-Hilton-wannabe freaking out because the Chihuahua in her purse broke open her coke baggie with its pink toenails tropes.

But when you hear about legitimate actors who actually love and appreciate heavy metal, you gotta feel like there's a little hope about there. Because we only feel more hopeless when we see someone like Megan Fox wearing a Megadeth t-shirt in the airport. And I'm not talking about Jack Black or Kevin Smith. Yes, they are awesome, successful, and support heavy metal, but we already know about them. OH--and don't expect to see Jared Leto on here, either. The most metal thing about that guy was when he was getting beaten to hell in Fight Club, and when Christian Bale took an axe to him in American Psycho.

So here's a list of six Hollywood actors you've heard of for years who are also secret metal fans.

Nicolas Cage I've always felt like Nicolas Cage was one of those undercover metal heads. You can see it in his eyes, when he gets that crazy look with his more irrational movie characters. Like, in Face/Off when he starts headbanging as a priest. Anyways, his son, Weston Coppola Cage, is a known black metal musician. He was the frontman in the now-disbanded LA black metal band, Eyes of Noctum and nowadays is working on a solo black metal project called Allone. In an interview he admitted that his dad is a fan of black metal himself, particularly Darkthrone and Satyricon.

Brian Posehn Die-hard metalheads probably already knew about this pick, as the U.S. comedian has been involved in an array of heavy metal projects. He's not only been involved in a few Rob Zombie projects, including a role in the 2005 film The Devil's Rejects, he also released an album in 2006 called Live In: Nerd Rage. Scott Ian of Anthrax, John Tempesta of The Cult and White Zombie, and Jonathan Donais of Shadows Fall showed up on the track "Metal By Numbers, which makes fun of musicians who claim they are metal but really aren't.

He's also appeared on That Metal Show, Lamb of God's Walk With Me In Hell DVD and a ton of other projects.

Metal By Numbers

Cameron Diaz As one of Hollywood's most powerful and highest paid actresses, Cameron Diaz has accomplished a ton of versatile roles. But she also has a soft spot for heavy metal. She has been rocking out since she was a teenager in Long Beach, California, and her very first concert was Van Halen with her mom. "I banged my head quite a bit," the she told Harper's Bazaar. "I liked everything from Iron Maiden to Ozzy to AC/DC."

Jada Pinkett Smith Best known as Will Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett has had quite the successful Hollywood career on her own. But back in 2002 she formed the nu metal band Wicked Wisdom. She's a fan of all types of metal, spanning Metallica to Deftones, and has also played on Ozzfest. Years ago I saw Wicked Wisdom at the now defunct music venue The Clubhouse. Not only was I blown away by her dreads and ripped arms, I was also impressed with her growls and screams.

Wicked Wisdom at Download Fest '06

Jim Carrey Ah, Jim Carrey. One of our favorite comedic icons, ever, at least in my opinion. His goofy, nerdy awkwardness resonates with metalheads, no doubt--which is hilarious, since Carrey is a fan of one of the most offensive death metal bands out there: Cannibal Corpse. Maybe you remember a little scene from a little 1994 movie called Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, where he headbangs to Cannibal Corpse before heading back to his secrete investigator friend with the password "New England...clam...chow-der."

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Chris Hemsworth Thor is probably one of the most metal superheroes, so it's suitable that the actor who played him, Chris Hemsworth, is a fan of the genre. In a recent interview with Esquire, the writers showed up at Hemsworth's house, where he was boxing to a soundtrack of Pantera. He's also admitted that Metallica's Black Album was the first album he owned... but then again, that's pretty common.

As quoted from his interview: "My cousin, who was educating me on heavy metal, bought it for me. I remember at the age of 11 pulling something in my neck from headbanging -- being kind of semi-paralyzed from trying to mosh and outdo each other."

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