Have you ever been surprised by how much your old schoolmates changed? Or seen a colleague at a party and thought it's like they have two different personalities? Well, celebrities are usually seen in a highly controlled image to allow them to be consistently hired due to the cult of their public personality. Sometimes fans get curious about what they were like before fame or in a private setting.
Someone asked Reddit users "People who were childhood friends with a now celebrity, Who were they & what were they like as a young person?" The post was commented on over 30k times. Bored Panda selected the most popular replies. Read them with a grain or rather a cup of salt, as there have always been plenty of fake celebrity ex-classmates grade digging or second cousins that want money from them. To sum it up, take them as seriously as if you were reading some fan fiction.
More info: Reddit
#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.
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251points
Many celebrities have pointed out that becoming famous is traumatic. Celebrity psychologist Donna Rockwell who wrote on fame says "Developmentally, the celebrity often goes through a process of first loving, then hating fame; addiction; acceptance; and then adaptation (both positive and negative) to the fame experience." She adds that celebrities often develop two different characters, one of them authentic, and the other as a celebrity.
#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.
150points
#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.
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144points
#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
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112points
The psychologist recommends coping with fame by countering it and the narcissistic side it feeds by "becoming part of something larger than oneself," for instance, advocacy and charity work.
#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.
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98points
#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.
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91points
#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**
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84points
We can only speculate if we would be exposed to more diverse art and initiative if people's occasional obnoxiousness, whether past, present, or provoked by paparazzi and reporters, was not always taken as a fatal character flaw, or not.
#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.
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84points
#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.
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80points
Some celebrities have publicly blurted out so many socially unacceptable things that they have become immune to career pitfalls due to such missteps from the glossy pastel norm. It becomes part of the package deal when they perform or are advertised.
What are your thoughts on celebrities, fame, and voyeuristic fans?
#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.
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76points
#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.
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74points
#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.
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72points
#13 Taylor Lautner
Taylor Lautner would get mad when people called him Sharkboy in high school.
Can’t say I blame him
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68points
#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.
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61points
#15 John Cena
My uncle went to college with John Cena. He said he would walk down the dorm halls naked.
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61points
#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
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60points
#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.
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59points
#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.
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58points
#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.
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57points
#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.
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55points