One builds AI for film sets, another backs tech startups, and a third designed a wartime radio system. They became famous on screen, but each has a story off the set, and sometimes it is stranger than the roles.
Photo: Elen Nivrae, Ben Affleck, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
1. Ben Affleck: writes code and builds AI for movies
Affleck acts and directs, and he also digs into machine learning. He has talked about writing Python, working with GPUs, and knowing how neural nets work.
In 2022 he founded InterPositive, a company building AI tools for film production.
In March 2026 Netflix bought it, and Affleck became a senior advisor to the streamer. The Hollywood name turned out to be a tech founder, not just a tech fan.
2. Tye Sheridan: built a VFX tech company
The Ready Player One star co-founded Wonder Dynamics with director Nikola Todorovic. The firm built Wonder Studio, an AI tool that eases work with CG characters and visual effects.
Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Instead of hand-doing every heavy step, teams can automate parts of the pipeline. In 2024 Autodesk, the 3D and design software company, bought Wonder Dynamics. Sheridan helped invent a tool that can change how film crews work.
3. Natasha Lyonne: testing AI inside film
The star of Orange Is the New Black and Poker Face did not stay only in acting and directing. In 2025 she co-founded Asteria Film Co., a studio at the line between cinema and AI.
Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
One project is Uncanny Valley, an experiment with AI in production. Lyonne is not just an actor hired for a tech demo; she is building her own lane.
4. Ashton Kutcher: venture capital as a second career
Many still know Kutcher from comedies and Two and a Half Men. For nearly two decades he has also been a venture investor. In 2010 he co-founded A-Grade Investments, and in 2015 Sound Ventures.
Photo: TechCrunch / Flickr, CC BY 2.0
His portfolio includes tech names such as Uber and Airbnb. This is not casual brand checks: judging ideas, teams, and upside became a full career track.
5. Hedy Lamarr: a wartime radio system
Hedy Lamarr was a Golden Age Hollywood star who also invented. In 1942, with composer George Antheil, she patented a frequency-hopping radio system meant to protect radio-guided torpedoes from jamming.
Photo: MGM / Clarence Bull, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
Transmitter and receiver jumped frequencies in sync, which made intercept and jamming harder. The inventors never cashed in during their lives; later the idea was recognized as a step toward modern wireless. Calling Lamarr the inventor of Wi-Fi is a shortcut: today’s wireless stacks many engineers’ work.
6. Ryan Reynolds: turned humor into a company
Reynolds takes his comic timing off the set too. Maximum Effort makes content and ads that often feel like short comedy bits more than spots.
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Photo: Dick Thomas Johnson, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
He also helped grow Aviation Gin and mobile carrier Mint Mobile. In 2021 ad firm MNTN bought Maximum Effort’s advertising arm, and Reynolds became chief creative officer. Acting fame became a lever for entrepreneurship.
7. Jessica Alba: a consumer goods company
In 2012 Alba co-founded The Honest Company, selling care, home, and baby products. It went public in 2021, moving from startup to listed business.
Photo: Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
In April 2024 she left the chief creative officer role but stayed on the board. She did more than lend a name: she helped shape the company, concept, and products.
8. Reese Witherspoon: her own media company
In 2016 Witherspoon founded Hello Sunshine, which makes films and series. Projects tied to it include Big Little Lies and The Morning Show.
Photo: CaseyJNewell, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Another lane is Reese’s Book Club, which helps surface stories for screen adaptations. In 2021 a Blackstone-backed group took a controlling stake in Hello Sunshine. Witherspoon kept equity and a role in its growth.
For some stars, film is the whole job. For others it is one chapter of a wider career. Sometimes the strangest role starts when the cameras go dark.
