30 Celebrities Described By People Who Knew Them Before They Became Famous

Someone once said, "it's a small world after all..."

Lakeisha

• Published in Film & TV
• January 9, 2022

Isn't it funny how things turn out for people you've known your entire childhood? Some friends grow up to be famous celebrities, others become successful businessmen, and the rest of us remain surviving humans.

What's common in all these situations is the fact that people change. There's no denying that people you knew when you were younger changed to become what they are now.

Change is inevitable, but what you change into is under your control. You can grow to be a kind, humble human, or a bitter bully.

Then again, we've all heard the saying, "... will never change." This doesn't mean some people don't change, they do; to become the worst version of themselves.

When it comes to celebrities and famous people, we often wonder what they were like when they were younger and/or before they became famous. And today we've got answers!

A person on Reddit asked the world one simple question, "People who were childhood friends with a now celebrity, Who were they & what were they like as a young person?"

Over 10,000 people responded to his query, and since we can't show them all, here are 30 of the best comments for you to read.

1. Tom Hanks

My dad interned with Tom Hanks when he first started out at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival. He was always very kind and charismatic with everyone, and just a constant ball of energy.

When his son Colin was born, he proudly showed him off to everybody. He was probably just days old. About 3 years ago, there was a reunion of all the Great Lakes interns.

My dad went, not knowing if he was going to show up and if he did, if he'd remember him.

But not only did he show up, he approached my dad and remembered him by his full name. He is honestly just a really great man.

2. Snoop Dogg

Not me, but my aunt. She knew Snoop during highschool, and at the time everyone there were getting into colors.

She decided to join in, tied a bandana to her arm. Later in the day he took it from her, without a word.

Turns out that people wearing her color were being hunted down. Overall, pretty cool dude. I hear he hasn't changed much.

3. Justin Bieber

Went to elementary school with Justin Bieber. He was a total bully and a giant a**hat but for some reason he took a liking to me and invited me to all his birthdays.

A funny memory I have is of him making fun of some kid on the stairwell and then tripping and falling down the stairs and then crying all the way to the Principals Office. He has always been a total douche.

4. Emma Stone

Emma Stone! She was very bright, intelligent, and naturally charismatic.

She often got the lead in all of the school plays. I remember one year, in our 3rd grade play, the main role was something she really wanted, and I ended up getting it!

Even though she was disappointed, she still told me Congratulations and that she thought I would do a good job. We used to play gymnastics at her house all the time and pretend we were Kerri Strug, her parents got us both USA leotards!

She was a sweet girl, we kind of split up later in elementary school and don’t talk anymore but she was a great friend! Also wanted to add that I called her by her real name, Emily, haha

5. Tupac

Studied performing arts in Baltimore and shared a stage several times with Tupac.

he was kind, sweet, and brilliant. His public persona was just his brand.

The rest of us knew then he was going to do something great. Other people would do 2 or 3 person workshops on stage and the rest of the group would study lines or workshop on the floor in the corner, but when he was up, everyone would watch.

His only dream was to be kind, and his drive to success was for no other reason than to be able to be kind to as many people as he could.

6. Rami Malek

My husband grew up with Rami Malek. Probably comes at no surprise but he and his twin are just as cool and down to earth as you'd expect.

7. Elvis Presley

My Great Grandma (still alive) lived close to Elvis' home, they talked like 3 times, she literally thought he was the most annoying little sh**

8. Viggo Mortensen

Not me but my father went to high school with Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn from LOTR). He said he was a really nice guy from the couple times he met him, and that he totally understands how he went on to save Middle Earth.

My dad is a huge LOTR fan if you can’t tell.

9. Mike Myers

Mike Myers went to a high school down the street from mine. We hung out with the same people.

Charmingly funny and very humble. I haven't seen him for a very long time, but I do watch his interviews and he seems to be the same guy he was.

I always loved it when he came on the TV wearing a Toronto Maple Leaf Jersey. Happy he has done so well.

He was a jokester and always good to people. Hasn't forgotten where he came from.

That's endearing and rare.

10. Jensen Ackles

Don’t know if this counts but I went to the same jr high and high school as Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester in Supernatural). All the teachers would talk about how nice he was and how he was going to make it big (think he was already a regular on a soap opera by then).

I finally saw him when I was in tech theatre, he had come to see his sister in a high school play. He stayed to the end and looked so proud of her.

11. Gillian Anderson

My father-in-law went to high school with and briefly (like one date briefly) dated Gillian Anderson.

He says she was really wild, your typical bad girl, but she was super sweet and genuinely a good person so she got away with it.

12. Bob Odenkirk

My mom went to college with Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul guy). They were in the radio department together and apparently he was super funny.

They also took shrooms together and I’ve been jealous of my mom ever since I heard that story.

13. Taylor Lautner

Taylor Lautner would get mad when people called him Sharkboy in high school.

Can’t say I blame him

14. P!nk

I went to high school with Pink. I was kind of shy but a lot of my friends were better friends with her.

She was alright. I remember her singing to herself a lot.

15. John Cena

My uncle went to college with John Cena. He said he would walk down the dorm halls naked.

16. Stephen Fry

My dad went to college with Stephen Fry. Said he was one of the funniest dudes he ever met

Also my granddad went to art college with John Lennon. I unfortunately don't know if they knew each other well or not since my granddad passed away when I was 6.

I learned that they went to college together through my mother

17. Jake And Logan Paul

My old roommate went to high school with Jake and Logan Paul. He said it was when they were starting to get big on vine, they started turning into complete a**holes.

So nothing has changed.

18. Marlon Wayans And Omar Epps

Went to LaGuardia High School in NYC. (The "Fame" school.)

I graduated with Marlon Wayans and Omar Epps. Both very chill, Marlon was funny as hell.

Like, seriously funny. Omar was chill as well but always had a... I dunno... A strength behind his eyes.

Like he was having fun, but seemed aware of everything at the same time. I was a year older than Adrian Brody, I taught him how to run the sound board in the school theater.

Nice kid. I was two years after Jennifer Anniston.

She was nice, but I didn't know her well at all. In the end, we were mostly just high school kids doing high school stuff.

I think Marlon had an idea of what his future held because of the rest of the Wayons family, but in general, we just cared about passing Mr. Murphy's math class and not getting busted by Mr. Cooney, the always angry dean of students.

19. Zendaya

My aunt was Zendaya’s teacher in 4th grade. She says that she was a sweet girl.

They saw each other at a meet and greet a while back, pretty nice.

20. Chris Pratt

I went to school with Chris Pratt - and he was a nice guy. Was able to bounce between all the different circles / or cliques.

Got along with everyone. I wasn’t surprised when he became famous.

21. Frank Sinatra

My great grandmother was a rockette dancer in the Macy’s NYC Parade, she used to brag about how she went on a few dates with Frank Sinatra.

22. Sophie Turner

I went to school with Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark). She was a couple of years below me, but I was in a few plays with her.

She was just an average girl tbh, in every way. Really normal, didn't really stand out, but wasn't quiet or shy either.

She never got the big parts in plays and wasn't even considered to be one of the 'good' actors at our school, was always just a part of the chorus.

Was quite surprised to hear she got a major part in a TV drama, seemed to come out of nowhere.

23. Post Malone

I was best friends with Post Malone in high school, and he’s pretty much the same person he was then in high school that he is now, just some more wild adventures, but his personality has been that same, and it’s nice to see, with the fame and money he stayed who he is.

Fun fact; he use to be an indie music guy in high school, wore Hawaiian V necks, high water tight black jeans, and toms.

Coolest, chilliest, and funniest dude you could of hung out with.

24. Royal Families

Went to school with several people in various royal families, European and African.

They could never show in team sports photos or things like that for security reasons but surprisingly there were no actual bodyguards required (at least not that I saw).

They seemed pretty down to earth compared to all the other rich a-holes there.

25. John Travolta And Peter Horton

My siblings and I found some pictures the other day of our mom with John Travolta and Peter Horton hanging out on the beach and with his private jet when they were younger.

Our grandma was and still is best friends with Ellen Travolta, John's older sister. :)

26. Henry Cavill

Not a friend, but I knew Henry Cavill when he was a kid. He was sweet and reliable and generally a very nice person.

Haven’t seen him since around the era when he was taking roles in films like Hellraiser VIII because working as an actor isn’t easy.

Can’t really imagine what it must be like to be the subject of the intense media gaze that goes with being a global celebrity.

27. 6ix9ine

One of my cousins went to school with 6ix9ine. They weren't friends, I asked him what it was like.

He told me that 6ix9ine was just the same dumba** that he is today and I'm not really surprised.

28. George Lucas

My dad went to high school with George Lucas.

George was the same age as my aunt, and had a huge crush on her. She was already dating my uncle at the time, and was super popular, so that never would have happened anyway.

My dad was a few years younger. He was on the tennis team with George and would get rides to practice from him from time to time.

My dad said George was nice and also pretty nerdy (no surprises there, and my dad was too so they got along fine). I don't think he was bullied necessarily, but it definitely wasn't popular.

He had big ears. They weren't friends, but they were friendly.

At least as much as a senior would be to a scrawny freshman on the tennis team. He also talked about the car accident.

It was a really huge deal in the town. I like to think George Lucas would remember my family, but who knows.

29. Ryan Lochte

Knew Ryan Lochte. Not much changed since he was a kid.

Swims fast, thinks slow. I view him now as a teenager's mind in a middle-aged man's body, still doing things that don't make much sense

30. Christopher Paolini

The kid who wrote the Eragon series (Christopher Paolini) went to school a ways from here. I can't say I knew him, but its rural Montana so I ran into him a few times since nobody lives out here.

He used to show up at our school promoting his book dressed in reneassance fair style clothing. We all thought he was kind of a geek.

He's worth like 30 mil now because of a book he wrote when the rest of us were still trying to figure out who to take to prom.

Whats funny is that I actually recognize a few characters and places in his books as being partly based on locals and the surrounding area.

In Summary...

As you've probably noted, change is inevitable. Some people become the best versions of themselves while others go the opposite way.

While I'm not judging, I've come to realize stardom and fame doesn't force you to change for the worse, it just gives you an opportunity to shine. How you portray yourself is up to you.

Before I take your leave, here's a question for you - did you grow up with a now celebrity? If yes, who were they and how were they when they were young?

The comment box is all yours.

Lakeisha