20 Times Celebrities Absolutely Nailed It With Graduation Speeches

Getty | Douglas McFadd / Kris Connor / Robert Spencer / Bobby Bank

A good graduation speech should be funny, wise, creative, and inspiring, and these celebrities managed to check off all the boxes during their times at the podium. This week, Natalie Portman addressed Harvard University's graduating class, sharing the most important lesson she's learned and joining several stars who have delivered memorable commencement speeches through the years. Back in 2003, Will Ferrell channeled Frank the Tank when he spoke at Harvard, and Tom Hanks brought his Hollywood insights to Yale in 2011. To celebrate graduation season, get inspired by watching these thoughtful celebrity commencement speeches!

click to play video

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman spoke to Harvard's Class of 2015 in May, sharing the biggest lesson she's learned in her life so far.

Can't-Miss Quote: "You can never be the best. The only thing you can be the best at is developing your own self."

click to play video

Steve Carell

Steve Carell made the Princeton graduates laugh with a funny speech in 2012.

Can't-Miss Quote: "Every once in a while, put something positive into the world. We have become so cynical these days. And by we, I mean us. So do something kind, make someone laugh, and don't take yourself too seriously."

click to play video

Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock surprised the students of Warren Easton Charter High School when she took the podium to speak in 2014.

Can't-Miss Quote: "Go find your joy. It's what you're going to remember in the end. It's not the worry; it's not the what-ifs. It's the joy that stays with you."

click to play video

Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert delivered the commencement speech at Northwestern University, his alma mater, in 2011.

Can't-Miss Quote: "Whatever your dream is right now, if you don't achieve it, you haven't failed, and you're not some loser. But just as importantly — and this is the part I may not get right and you may not listen to — if you do get your dream, you are not a winner. . . . Life is an improvisation. You have no idea what's going to happen next and you are mostly just making things up as you go along. And like improv, you cannot win your life."

click to play video

Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep inspired the 2010 graduates of Barnard College.

Can't-Miss Quote: "Awards have very little bearing on my own personal happiness. My own sense of well-being and purpose in the world. That comes from studying the world feelingly, with empathy in my own work. It comes from staying alert and alive and involved in the lives of the people that I love."

click to play video

Ben Affleck

Over Memorial Day weekend in 2014, Ben Affleck gave a short speech after receiving an honorary degree from Brown University.

Can't-Miss Quote: "This is a spectacular honor for me. Among other things today, in terms of higher education, I've passed Matt Damon."

click to play video

J.K. Rowling

Author J.K. Rowling delivered the 2008 commencement speech at Harvard.

Can't-Miss Quote: "It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all — in which case, you fail by default."

click to play video

Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell mixed comedy and wisdom for his speech at Harvard in 2003.

Can't-Miss Quote: "As you set off into the world, don't be afraid to question your leaders. But don't ask too many questions at one time or that are too hard because your leaders get tired and/or cranky."

click to play video

Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler brought big laughs and thoughtful insights during her 2011 speech at Harvard.

Can't-Miss Quote: "Try putting your iPhones down every once in a while and look at people's faces."

click to play video

Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks spoke to the class of 2011 at Yale.

Can't-Miss Quote: "Your rising from bed every morning will give fear its chance to grow stronger just as it will afford faith its chance to blossom. You will make the choice to react to one or create the other."

click to play video

Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres spoke to 2009 Tulane University graduates in her home state of Louisiana.

Can't-Miss Quote: "Follow your passion. Stay true to yourself. Never follow anyone else's path, unless you're in the woods and you're lost and you see a path, and by all means you should follow that."

click to play video

Conan O'Brien

Conan O'Brien cracked up the class of 2011 at Dartmouth.

Can't-Miss Quote: "Whether you fear it or not, disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality."

click to play video

Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama spoke to the graduates of Virginia Tech in 2012.

Can't-Miss Quote: "In the end, people can only define you if you let them. In the end, it's up to each of us to define ourselves."

click to play video

Andy Samberg

Andy Samberg spoke to Harvard graduates in 2012.

Can't-Miss Quote: "Whatever it is you try, make sure it's what you really want to do because the only person who knows what that is, is you."

click to play video

Kerry Washington

In 2013, Kerry Washington delivered the keynote address after accepting an honorary degree from George Washington University, her alma mater.

Can't-Miss Quote: "You and you alone are the only person who can live the life that can write the story that you were meant to tell."

click to play video

Alec Baldwin

In 2010, Alec Baldwin accepted an honorary degree from NYU and spoke to the graduates at his alma mater.

Can't-Miss Quote: "Share the best of who you are with the next generation."

click to play video

Oprah Winfrey

In 2008, Oprah Winfrey talked about failure and happiness during her Stanford commencement speech.

Can't-Miss Quote: "When you don't know what to do, get still, get very still, until you do know what to do."

click to play video

Jane Lynch

Jane Lynch spoke to Smith College graduates in 2012.

Can't-Miss Quote: "Accept the world for what it is, and at the same time, make it your own."

click to play video

Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton delivered the 2010 commencement speech at Yale, where he earned his J.D. in 1973.

Can't-Miss Quote: "We have to be relentlessly committed to change, and change is hard."

click to play video

Lisa Kudrow

Lisa Kudrow spoke to graduates at Vassar College, her alma mater, in 2010.

Can't-Miss Quote: "Maybe there is a reason for everything. I think there is."