Actresses Who Are Multilingual (6+ languages)

Some performers don’t just cross genres—they cross languages, too. From Hollywood icons to pan-India powerhouses, these actresses switch tongues for press tours, film sets, dubbing booths, and humanitarian work. Here are notable stars who speak six or more languages, with examples of how those skills show up in their careers.

Audrey Hepburn

Born in Belgium and raised across Europe, Audrey Hepburn is documented as speaking English, Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, and German. Her multilingual background came from schooling in the Netherlands and England and later life and work in France, Italy, and Spain. Biographical notes and language-education organizations consistently list six languages for Hepburn. She also leveraged her languages during her UNICEF work later in life.

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman is described as a polyglot who speaks English, Hebrew, French, German, Japanese, and Arabic, to varying degrees. She has used Hebrew extensively on set—most prominently in her feature directorial debut, ‘A Tale of Love and Darkness’—and has given interviews in French. Coverage over the years has highlighted her comfort switching between these languages in public appearances. Reference biographies continue to note six languages for Portman.

Nithya Menen

Nithya Menen speaks six languages—Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and English—and regularly dubs her own performances across industries. Profiles and interviews emphasize that she learned Telugu specifically for early film roles and now works fluidly in multiple South Indian cinemas. She has also done character dubbing outside live-action, including voicing Elsa in the Telugu version of ‘Frozen II’. Recent features reiterate the full six-language list.

Sai Pallavi

Sai Pallavi’s known languages include Badaga (her family language), Tamil, English, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, and Georgian—well over the six-language mark. She has acted and dubbed in several of these, and industry coverage often points to her command of regional Telugu dialects for specific roles. Biographical entries enumerate the full set, including Georgian from her medical studies in Tbilisi. Trade press has also noted her dialect training within Telugu.

Priyamani

Priyamani is listed as fluent in English, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, and Hindi. She has worked extensively across these industries, and interviews in the Indian press highlight both her pan-language career and her comfort switching among them. Her filmography spans lead and supporting roles in all five major South Indian and Hindi markets.

Vidya Balan

Reports on Vidya Balan’s language skills commonly cite six: Hindi, Marathi, English, Bengali, Tamil, and Malayalam. Beyond acting in several of those, she has participated in campaigns requiring her to record material in multiple additional Indian languages. Features over the years have emphasized both fluency and functional proficiency used for promotional work.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Coverage has long described Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as multilingual, often noting “about six” languages, including English, Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, and Tulu. Biographical pieces and entertainment reporting point to her ability to work across multiple Indian film industries and converse in several Indian languages. Profiles summarizing her career frequently include her language abilities alongside her cross-regional filmography.

Share your favorite examples of actresses switching languages on and off screen in the comments!