19 Hollywood Celebrities Who Visited Nepal

Over the decades, various Hollywood celebrities have visited Nepal. Some came on holidays, some on business, and some for good cause like Leonardo DiCaprio’s visit for tiger preservation. And most of them came to Nepal without loud bang that usually accompanies these stars.

1. Richard Gere:

The Pretty Woman star has travelled to Nepal many times. His first visit was in 1978. A Buddhist, he is a great admirer and friend of the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama.

2. Keanu Reeves:

Keanu Reeves, the actor who starred in The Matrix and Speed, came to Nepal for shooting of the movie Little Buddha in 1992. He played the role of Prince Siddhartha.

3. Steven Seagal:

The action star of movies like Under Siege and Half Past Dead was here so many times. He had even lived in Tibet as a Buddhist monk. He is one of the founders of Himalayan Panda Sanctuary.

4. Ricky Martin:

The Livin’ La Vida Loca hitmaker, who is also the reason for bringing Latino pop music to US, has spent his holidays in Nepal twice. In 1999 and 2000. He stayed at Kathmandu Guest House in Thamel. Now a gay and Buddhist, he told People magazine,”I love Nepal because you can walk for miles and never get anywhere. I go trekking in the mountains, and I will walk for seven days in a row. When I come back, people are like, ‘What is it? Are you in love?’”

5. Jeremy Irons:

The Oscar-winning actor, who portrayed the role of the villain Simon Gruber in Die Hard with a Vengeance, did trekking in Nepal with his wife and two sons in 2001. In London, he even attended a charity event to help raise fund for Nepal.

6. Sting:

The 16-times Grammy winner and Every Breath You Take hitmaker was in Nepal in 2005 and 2008. He did rafting, trekking and sightseeing with his family. And at a jazz bar in Thamel, he even gave performance with a local band.

7. Cameron Diaz and Eva Mendes:

The two stars, the former is known for movies like Charlie’s Angels and Shrek while the latter is for Training Day and Hitch, came to Nepal in 2007 for the eco-tourism show called Trippin’. They visited Chitwan National Park and other places before heading off to Bhutan.

8. Orlando Bloom:

In 2008, the Pirates of the Caribbean actor Orlando Bloom did a four-day tour with UNICEF for its programmes for children in Nepal. He visited mainly western districts of Kaski, Chitwan and Lumbini.

9. Geri Halliwell:

She is a former Spice Girls singer and a Goodwill Ambassador for UN Fund for Population Assistance. In 2009, she came to Nepal to promote maternal healthcare and raise awareness on women’s issues in Nepal.

10. Bryan Adams:

The best-selling singer of songs like Everything I Do I Do It For You and Summer of ’69 rocked Nepal when he did a concert in 2011.

11. Leonardo DiCaprio:

The actor, better known for his portrayal of Jack in Titanic and for not winning Oscar despite being one of the most talented actors, traveled to Nepal in 2010. He visited Bardia National Park, one of the four tiger reserves in Nepal, to observe the dangers tigers face. The three-day visit was a part of his global campaign to increase the tiger population of the world. While in Nepal, he also inaugurated Alternative Energy Model Village in Bardia. And he has also donated $3 million to World Wildlife Fund to protect tigers in Nepal.

12. Demi Moore:

The Ghost actress was in Nepal in April 2011 to film a documentary for CNN on sex trafficking trade. She visited various places in Nepal, and Maiti Nepal, which is the premier Nepali non-profit organization for rescuing and rehabilitating trafficked girls, and met Anuradha Koirala, the organization’s founder and CNN Hero-2010, and the rescued girls and women and the people who work there.

13. Lauren Conrad:

Lauren is an American television personality known for reality shows Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and The Hills. She came to Nepal in 2013 on holiday.

14. Everest Movie Stars:

Everest is an upcoming American movie based on 1998 Mount Everest disaster. For the shooting, in January 2014, Hollywood actors Josh Brolin (Men in Black 3), Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty), John Hawke (Contagion), Martin Henderson (Bride and Prejudice) and film crew were in Nepal.

15. Selena Gomez:

The famous pop singer and former Disney star is a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. In May 2014, she toured Nepal through UNICEF to bring attention to children in need within the country and across the globe. She met school kids, female community health volunteers and women who solve cases of conflict and domestic and child abuse.

Well, these are Hollywood stars whose visit to Nepal is known. There can be many more stars that secretly holidayed or came to the Himalayan country for good cause. Legend has it that the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley and Mick Jagger had spent time here.