73 People Who Knew Celebrities Before Fame Reveal What They Were Like
I went to college with Adam Driver. He was a nice, quiet, guy and incredibly talented. We had a cast party once at his off-campus house he shared with some friends. He was one of those people who was kind of quiet until he got on stage, and then he just came alive.
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John Goodman threw my baby shower for my mom. She worked for him, and said he’s an incredibly nice and gentle person. This was before his acting days.
I went to school with Margot Robbie, she really is as lovely as she seems.
Some of her friends weren’t nice, but she actually stuck up for me when they were cruel to me when we were young.
A friend went on a date with Michael Buble before he was big. She said his ego was prematurely big. There was no second date.
A friend knew Ariana Grande before she was famous, back in her early Broadway days. Apparently she was always [mean].
My dad used to babysit Nicole Kidman when she was a little kid. She thought it was hilarious to make him chase her through the mangroves in the middle of the Australian summer, he strongly disagreed with that. He did say she was a very hard worker once she started acting and very kind to people and animals – nothing but nice things to say about her and her family (except the babysitting stories).
A friend of mine grew up with Ali Wong. Apparently she was always hilarious and said [stuff] that was way outta pocket.
I went to HS with a beautiful soul that the drag world would one day know as Chi Chi Devayne. He was a hard worker and incredibly charming. Everyone loved him. Being an out and proud gay black man in the south wasn’t easy, I know. I really respected him for being so true to himself.
Little anecdote – My dad wouldn’t let me cut my VERY long hair, so he and some other pals would braid it in very intricate braids that my dad hated soooo much, he finally let me cut it, LOL.
The world is a little darker without Chi Chi in it. We miss you, babe.
My grandma reckons she breastfed Elton John as a baby. Elton was born the same day as my mum and within the stay at the hospital, nanna said the nurses would bring her a little baby boy to nurse, as his own mum couldn’t produce milk or something.
Not really a celebrity but if anyone has seen the Netflix series Heartstopper, it was based on a novel by the author Alice Oseman. Well when I was a teenager (not sure what year exactly, let’s say 7/8 years ago) I read one of her novels called Radio Silence. I had randomly picked it up at the library and I don’t think she was well known then, because I remember really loving the book and searched online to find out more.
I ended up finding her webpage and sent her an email telling her how much I loved her book (used to do that with a lot of authors when I was a kid and would usually get a copy-paste response), however she sent back a long, heartfelt, personal letter, and little 14 or 15 year old me was really touched! This year I was scrolling through Netflix and saw her name on the Heartstopper show. I was so proud and happy for her 🙂 she was so sweet to me and I’m glad her series got a TV adaptation.
My best friend in high school was The Weekend’s cousin. He would always have me over for dinner after studying and his mom would make this incredible Ethiopian spread where a bunch of the extended family would attend. So ya, I shared a couple of dinners with Abel.
My partner was good friends with Heath Ledger. He burned the handle off his coffee pot, it was a long running joke for about 10 years that he kept saying he didn’t have the money to replace it.
My sister dated Sean William Scott in high school and he babysat me once. Humble and super kind guy. Saw him after American Pie. He recognized me walking past him and stopped me to say hello. Was still humble and kind. Good dude.
Two of my college friends were in a drama group as teens with Jack Gleeson (Prince Joffrey in Game of Thrones).
When I started watching GoT my housemate (who I’ve known since I was 5) came home and started watching with me then went “What? Is that Jack Gleeson!? He was in school with my little brother – he’s had dinner at our house!”
I met him at a play one of my friends put on and had a brief chat – he was very excited that I was reading the books, asked where I was “I just got to the wedding…” meaning The Red Wedding, he absolutely misinterpreted this information and jumped around getting excited “Can you believe I die from poison???” – the look on my face told him all he needed to know and he was so apologetic. I reassured him that if I was gonna be spoiled I’m glad he was the one to do it.
Super cool guy, and nothing like Joffrey IRL.
I was in a 3rd/4th grade split class with Emma Roberts. She thought she was soooo cool because her aunt is Julia Roberts, and she never shut up about it. She was a mean girl, at least to 8 year old me.
My grandmother taught French and her favorite high school student was Jamie Lee Curtis. Said she was a sweet girl. My moms next door neighbor was Ed Asner. My moms parents were very absent and Ed was a stand in parent for her when she was little. He would help her with homework and everything. An Angel of a man. My moms high school bully was Cathy Hilton (Paris hiltons mom)- the whole family has always been awful and entitled. Also my aunt dated the lead singer of Devo and broke his heart. A few popular songs were written about her.
I went to School with Eminem’s little brother, however, my Boss at the time grew up friends with Eminem’s family.
I was 16 working my first job at the mall. I got transferred from my store at the ‘nice mall’, to the sister store at the ‘not so nice Mall’ in a bad part of town, to cover for a girl that had to have surgery.
My boss at the place I was covering grew up with him and would say, ‘He’s just Marshall to me’. Which was hilarious after that line in his song came out. 😂
Anyways, she said he was a very angry kid that grew up into a teenager that ended up being a very driven and hard worker. (Still angry, but didn’t let it control him as much)
She also said his Mom was worse than the lyrics in his song refer to. And that she deliberately tried to keep him down and ruin opportunities for him. Big or small.
That’s all I got. His brother was a brat in highschool. But I honestly don’t hold it against him. I think most teenagers with a famous family member probably don’t handle it very gracefully.
My sister went to high school with Ruby Rose. She was a really bad bully. It’s so [messed] up the way she accuses people of bullying her all the time now. Rose isn’t even her real last name. She appropriated it from a legendary Aboriginal family she claimed she grew up with but they say they don’t know her.
Ruby Rose is gross.
Met someone in passing who used to hang out with Evan Peters in high school. They said he’s a very normal dude.
A good friend of mine used to go to parties and have sleepovers with Margot Robbie I think just after Home and Away but pre her Hollywood success. She’s super nice apparently! My friend doesn’t really see her anymore bc she was more on the outskirts of that friend group, but apparently Margot still keeps in pretty good touch with the other hometown friends.
My uncle went to high school with Vince Vaughn and apparently Vaughn was an [jerk] and bullied my uncle and many other kids. Supposedly he’s never changed.
Cillian Murphy is a good family friend. He grew up with my dad and his brothers. Never changed at all. Been to a few sets. Tom Hardy in person.. I owe him that. Colin Farrell is one of my uncles best friends from secondary and is the nicest fella ever. He was over in my uncles one day I was there and realised it was my 21st a week before and gave me 500 quid 🤣🤣🤣
Most irish celebs stay normal. We hate anyone like McGregor. If you let fame get to ya you go in the fkn bin.
My old boss went to the same private catholic school as the late fashion designer Virgil Abloh. She said he was extremely kind and intelligent. He donated a ton of Off-White sports gear to the school’s teams.
I went to high school with Anderson Paak. I didn’t know him super well but we had classes together and we’re friends. He was really cool, always into music and even though he was chubby in high school always had a swagger.
I also knew Karl Glusman (actor who married Zoe Kravitz) shortly before his big break. He was best friends with my roommate and basically lived on my couch for a few months in Brooklyn. He’s really tall, really good looking good. He was cool, but I didn’t talk to him much after he started starring in movies.
I worked with Megan Thee Stallion in 2014. She was super cool and one of the nicest people ever. I spoke with her back in 2021 and she said she missed me. Such a humble, talented bright human. Glad to have called her a friend.
Not super famous but people know him. I went to college with Tyler Oakley. We ran in overlapping circles. He also happened to be my RA for a semester. He got fired and kicked out of the dorms. He was pretty bitter and kind of a [jerk]not at all his happy-go-lucky video persona.
Calista Flockhart’s family lived down the street from mine. She and one of my sisters were friends. I don’t remember Calista, but I do remember her parents. They were super nice people.
Two friends of mine knew Seth Green from the local Jewish community, and a former coworker of mine from years ago dated him when they were teens.
Oh, and the cousin of some of the kids I used to babysit dated Joey Lawrence when they were in HS.
My mother met Lil Wayne when she worked at Walmart near New Orleans. She said he was polite and said yes ma’am no ma’am to all the older employees. She said he asked her if she knew who he was, she said no. He asked if she had a son or nephews, she said yes. He signed some copies of his album and gave them to her and told her to tell my older brother/cousins he said hi. She said “For what?” Lol.
My dad was friends with a couple members of slipknot before they were slipknot, and stayed friends with them for a long time. I played with Corey Taylor’s son a few times as a kid. Very nice people.
My cousin went to high school with Melissa Benoist and Amy Adams attended the high school where my Aunt worked. They both only had nice things to say about them.
Nick & Aaron Carter’s grandparents had a summer cottage in the same community/same street as my family. Never met Nick but Aaron was around when he was a kid &young teen. He came & stayed for a couple of weeks around the time he was dating Lindsay Lohan & just starting to get famous—I think I was 16 or 17 & he was a couple of years younger than me & my friend group—we were doing a lot of underage drinking back then & he partied with us, but wouldn’t let anybody take any photos. The memories are hazy lol but he was a nice kid. RIP ❤️His parents are [horrible] & notorious in the area for being terrible people & just awful to their children.
My husband went to high school & was good friends with Harry Connick Jr. He & his now wife Jill came to our wedding, and we were invited to theirs’ the next year but my older brother got married the same day so we couldn’t go. Both are very nice and down to Earth.
My mother in law went to undergrad with Jerry Springer. They went to different law schools but kept in touch, and she invited him to my wedding. He was very friendly & was a great sport when my 12-year-old brother & his friends did the “Jerry, Jerry, Jerry” chant at our reception 🤣.
My dad went on a date with Joan Cusack in college. She HAAAAATED him lmao.
My mom went to high school with Axl Rose, who is from my home town. They sat next to each other in speech class and she said he was quiet and respectful.
My grandmother was a music teacher and coached Shannon Hoon on vocal stamina and tour conditions right at the beginning of Blind Melon. She said he was a great student and even when she would try silly/outside of the box things, he was always game. I think she probably just worked with him about 3-4 times, but she took his death pretty hard. We all did.
I was in a small, intimate therapy group with Anya Taylor-Joy. (She was 14 I was 17, and it was for a 3 month period) Won’t go into the reasons why she was there, but she was very fond of me in group (I was very outspoken and blunt.) She asked me to go to London to visit her. Never took her up on it because I didn’t think my parents would let me, haha. Last time I spoke to her was when The Witch came out.
One day in group I told her I could see her in a Tim Burton film and she loved that, lol. Still no Tim Burton film but I guess back then I knew she was destined for great things. I also met her parents, they are the nicest people in the world.
My distant relative was neighbours with Cathy Hilton (Paris Hilton’s mom) and described their mom as the biggest seducer in the neighbourhood. Apparently She was an average looking woman but had the charms to get anyone.
My dad went to school and was very good friends with the beastie boys. I’m not sure which one he knew more. I think it was ad rock. But we listen to them a lot and they’re my favorite. He has loads of stories about times with them.
Grimes… was in the same silly semi-ironic after hours party cult she was in before she left mtl and become unbearably cringe.
British one: my best friend’s big sister went to school with Sophie Ellis Bextor and was in her class. This was a super posh private school in west London (Godolphin and Latymer) Apparently she used to boast about how her mum used to present Blue Peter and all the BBC parties she went to and the famous people she met. All the names she dropped were her mums mates so her classmates all just thought they were old men and weren’t impressed.
I’ve known Terry O’Quinn from Lost since before he had his first TV job. He married my horseback rider instructor and worked as a barn hand and lived in apartment over the stall before he got tv jobs. I remember his big break was a role on The Doctors, a popular soap opera in the 70/80’s. He’s a cool guy and I was so excited when he got Lost, it was awesome to see him win an Emmy. I actually dated his wife’s brother and we used to stay at her and Terry’s house when they were away. I also babysat their kids a few times with a friend I rode horses with.
One of my dad’s exes left him for the drummer of Ratt. To this day he hates “Round and Round”.
My grandma was neighbors with Meryl streeps family while they were growing up. Their mothers were good friends. Meryl streeps mom threw my grandma a baby shower too. She said the family was always very nice.
I went to theatre school with Thomas Middleditch. I don’t have anything nice to say.
My old roommate went to high school with Lady Gaga. Said she was an art kid who mostly kept to herself.
Another friend of mine used to know a bunch of famous people in LA but the best one was Robert Pattenson. He was just an odd guy who didn’t shower and always wore the same black hoodie. At parties it was like “oh look weird Rob is here again, sitting alone in a corner.” I hear stories about him having body dysmorphia and it makes sense.
I used to babysit Ben Harper (his grandparents and my father were friends) and went to high school with John Darnielle. Both were already ridiculously talented.
I’m distantly “related” to Matthew Lillard (through the marriage of a family member, no blood). He went to a wedding I was at. I was young, but he’s nice lol.
I do remember we didn’t know he was coming until right before the wedding. One of my cousins especially was a fan and idk I just remember he was really nice and gracious and never seemed annoyed that anyone wanted to talk to him. Most of my side of the family was like “that’s cool but whatever” so it’s not like anyone really bothered him or “fangirled” but still. This was easily 20 years ago (just over 20 I just don’t remember the specific year), It was right around Scooby Doo, but I can’t remember if it was just after or right before, I know we knew about it. I feel like he had just came from some sort of promo for it because I remember some of my family talking about being surprised he actually made it with what he had going on. She’s All That was one of my favorite movies around that time so I thought it was the coolest thing.
I went to school with Jamie Foxx (Eric Bishop). He was a very sweet guy. He was always the best talent show act playing piano and singing. He would bring down the house. He was also very funny.
He dated the one of my friends for years. Sadly our town was small and racist so he wasn’t treated very well by the adults. The things he faced were just heartbreaking and bother me to this day. Mac Squires!
He also was the person to introduce me to Doug E Fresh. He made me a cassette tape because he thought I would like the music. He was a well liked guy at our school.
I went to school with ASAP Ferg. He was in the fashion program at my public art HS. Don’t remember much but he seemed pretty nice (we we are teenage boys tho so take that with a grain of salt). I remember him giving out cupcakes once.
My hairdresser used to be a personal assistant to Pharrell / The Neptunes in the 1990s/early 2000s when they still did a lot of their work in Virginia Beach. She said they were both really nice and easy going. They offered to have her stay on as a personal assistant in LA but she said she didn’t wanna leave the area. She said it was one of the easiest jobs she’s ever had. Pharrell apparently gave her his old (but still very new) blackberry but forgot to erase the phone numbers of a lot of celebrities. So she was just walking around with people’s numbers but she was too nervous to actually call anyone. But her friends did sneak Val Kilmer’s (like 99% sure I have the right celeb) number out of it but they also chickened out.
My mom grew up with Queen Latifah. When I was younger she told me stories about her and about how my mom and aunt were at the community pool with her when her brother drowned. Every time she would come on TV, my mom would call her by her real name and go, “There goes Dana.”.
My best friend knew 5SOS way before they were famous. She used to hang out at one of their homes a lot. We even both went to their first ever “concert”. She said they were huge [jerks] as soon as they got some sort of recognition and dropped all the mates they grew up with when they moved to America.
My BIL went to high school with Phillipa Soo. She’s younger by 1 or 2 years, but they’re both musicians so the circles overlap a bit. He didn’t really know her, but obviously when Hamilton came out, he recognized her.
Not me but my best friend went to HS and was friends with Timothee chalamet! She was like “omg my friend Timmy is gonna be huge” freshman year of college lol and then he was.
I worked at a summer camp for one summer, living in cabins with the kids and all, and Clairo was one of my campers.
My dad went to high school with Dr. Phil. Apparently he was a stereotypical jerky jock.
My ex went to school with Jessie J. He gave her a rose on Valentines day when they were like 15 and she laughed at him and threw it in the bin.
Also not big name but a 5 minute wonder in the 00s; singer called Kele Le Roc. I used to buy weed from her then-boyfriend. She came along to a few deals, spoke to her a few times. She was nice but a little stand-offish. Can’t say I blame her because it was around about when her Little Bit Of Lovin’ song came out so she was probably nervous about being involved in [illegal activity] with potential fame round the corner.
I decided at pretty much the last second that I *did* wanna go to prom my senior year of high school. I asked basically every girl I knew, and they all had plans already.
The last one I asked said she had a fun friend she could set me up with. I didn’t know the friend, she was a sophomore, but for fear of missing out, I agreed to go.
It was Stephanie Hsu. I imagine I was a bit of a wet blanket that night since I felt a bit embarrassed about going to prom with a bunch of younger people, but she was a super magnetic, charismatic person. She really went out of her way to loosen me up.
We didn’t keep in touch much afterwards, just commented on stuff on Facebook here and there and maybe bumped into each other once, she was always funny when we did interact.
I *barely* knew her, but her success has never been a surprise to me, it’s fun to see. I hope she had a couple of better proms after that!
My mom loves telling the story of how Missy Elliot gave us dugout baseball seats.
I remember seeing pictures of us at a Dodgers game and wondering how we could’ve afforded those seats. My mom swears up and down that the woman who frequently visited her work (and who she had befriended) turned into a hit artist and came back to give her the tickets.
My friend’s grandpa used to date Anita Baker and his mother got to meet her. Apparently Anita is bout that life cause the area she met her in was ROUGH. She was already famous at the time of the encounter. So idk if she knew someone over there or had her own place.
His mother also worked with someone that went to school with Aaliyah. Said she was always so sweet and kind.
Not really “before he was famous”, but more like “before he blew up”, Dave Grohl sat next to me in the DMV around 2003. I was like 18-19, sitting there waiting for a bunch of plates because I worked at a car dealership, and he just sat next to me, so I turned and said to him “whoa, my cousin would really love your autograph!” and he chuckled and said “what about you?” and I paused and sheepishly said “I really loved Nirvana.” He laughed and we talked about bands and music for a bit until he got called up. His whole thing finished before I was even called up, and he came back to me with a folded piece of printer paper that he signed for my cousin. People never believe me when I tell them this story, but my cousin framed that autograph.
I had the most dramatic on-off relationship with the original singer for Hollywood Undead 2 years before their first album was released. Technically they were already famous as they got big on MySpace originally, but they were not yet mainstream famous, just online famous.
I used to know most of the original 7 members of HU to varying degrees, several I got to know well. Also have a former roommate in common with Jeffree Star from that same era (when Jeffree was still just MySpace famous) the aforementioned former roommate I knew through that ex. I did also meet Jeffree on a couple of occasions.
Much less famous, but I also used to know the guys in Hey Marseille, their first album also came out in 2008, I was hanging out with them mostly in 2007. Nothing serious but I hooked up with one current member a couple times…and a former member once lmao I really did have a type in my early 20s 😅
Even bigger gap here between when I knew them and when they made it big but I was friendly with Macklemore’s younger brother in high-school. He was a year below me, but one of my close friends dated one of his close friends for a couple of years, so we knew each other.
My cousin was best friends with jacob elordi. they’re still friends today.
Aunt and father went to school with Prince. The crazy thing is they always said they knew he would be famous by the way he acted in high school. Also he was a badass basketball player and even after he got big he still kept in touch with some schoolmates. Whe they first told me I was like meh, until they piled out yearbook and old photos together. It was surreal for me as this was when he just passed away and it was never told to me prior or pics shown.
Not really, but neighbor dated Kanye West’s mom when Kanye was a teen. He said Kanye was a horrible self centered little brat. While my neighbor loved Kanye’s mom her parenting choices regarding Kanye really stressed the relationship. I was too young to know Kanye, but I ended up going to the same high school he went to and had many of the same teachers. The opinion that he was a self centered psychopath with a lot of talent is pretty common.
My neighbor was friends with Ted Bundy in college. Said he was a great guy, when they knew him.
A close friend of mine went to high school with Ansel Elgort. Apparently he handed out calendars and each month was a picture of himself. I think it was a Christmas thing but I could be mistaken.
Emma Stone used to post on the same website forum as me in the early ‘00s. Her user id was DramaQueen or something like that. She was so fun!
