SMALL WORLD!
Celebrities you didn’t know were childhood friends – from Adele and Jessie J to Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire
SOME celebrity friendships started long before they were stars.
Here is a list of celebrity pairings you didn't know grew up together.
ANSEL ELGORT AND TIMOTHEE CHALAMET
15
Ansel Elgort became a familiar face in the entertainment industry after he starred in the Divergent series as Shailene Woodley's little brother in 2014.
Timothée Chalamet also made waves in 2014 with a role in one of the year's top-grossing films, Interstellar, and has since become a household name thanks to his roles in 2017's Lady Bird and 2019's Little Women.
It turns out the two actors have been on similar paths for quite some time, as they both attended New York City's LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts.
Even more coincidental, they were both nominated for Golden Globe awards in 2017.
"It's really crazy, Timmy and I played on the same basketball team, we had the same drama teacher, Mr. Shifman, we had the same science teacher, Mr. Singh, and then in the same year, both of us are nominated for a f$&king Golden Globe!!!" Elgort wrote in a celebratory Instagram post at the time.
"Living the dream sitting courtside at the Knicks game together.
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"Life is crazy. Congrats to you Timmy."
JUSTIN TRUDEAU AND MATTHEW PERRY
15
Unlike Elgort and Chalamet's friendly bond, Friends star Matthew Perry admitted he hated Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when they attended elementary school together.
"I have a story about him that I'm not proud of," Perry admitted during a 2017 interview on.
It turns out that Perry beat Trudeau up when he was in fifth grade and Trudeau was in the third grade.
"I think he was excelling in a sport that we weren't, so it was pure jealousy," he recalled.
"I'm not bragging about this, this is terrible. I was a stupid kid, I didn't want to beat him up.
"In fact, I think at one point I tried to turn it into love play," he added.
It seems like there's no bad blood between the two now, as after Trudeau caught wind of the interview, he jokingly at Perry, saying: "I've been giving it some thought, and you know what, who hasn't wanted to punch Chandler? How about a rematch @MatthewPerry?"
RAMI MALEK, KIRSTEN DUNST, AND RACHEL BILSON
15
Rami Malek, Kirsten Dunst, and Rachel Bilson attended California's Notre Dame High School together, but it turns out Malek only looks back at one of the friendships with a smile.
In 2016, he spilled to that he and Dunst are "still friends" and even admitted to having a "little crush" on her during their high school days.
Unfortunately, he doesn't look back on memories with Bilson as fondly – or at least doesn't want that friendship advertised.
In 2019, the O.C. star shared a seemingly innocent throwback photo of herself and Malek in high school, who graduated with her in 1999.
She later revealed on Dax Shepard's podcast that Malek made her take it down.
"I don't usually check my DMs on my Instagram and maybe a week goes by, and I actually look and I have a message from Rami," she recalled.
"But it wasn't like: 'Hey! How are you?'
"It was straight to: 'I would really appreciate if you take that down. I'm a really private person.'"
Bilson admitted she was embarrassed by Malek's message.
"Like, I get really hot, I start sweating, and I'm all nervous.
"I'm like: 'Oh my god, what did I do?'"
She hypothesized that he just didn't like the photo of himself and said two of her friends admitted it wasn't the most flattering shot.
She continued: "I removed it, and I even wrote to him a really nice message like: 'I'm so sorry! Go get the Oscar! You're doing amazing.'
"And I never heard anything back, which is fine. I was super bummed because he was so nice, and we were good friends.
"I'm a big fan of not taking yourself seriously, especially at that level of fame and talent.
"But look, he wants to be super respected. It's his thing, so I respected it."
JESSIE J AND ADELE
15
Adele and Jessie J attended the BRIT performing arts school in London and were supposedly quite close.
"We had no idea what would happen I guess," Jessie J said during a 2014 episode of , referring to their success as singers.
"When you’re at college you’re just trying to get your grades but we used to sing at lunchtime together, which was really surreal thinking about it now."
Unfortunately, rumor has it that fame got in the way of their friendship and the two musicians aren't close like they used to be.
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE AND RYAN GOSLING
15
It's not news that Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling met at a young age, as they famously starred on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club together as kids in the 1990s.
However, few know how close they really were.
It turns out that during the second season of the Disney show, Gosling's mother had to return to Canada for work, so Timberlake's mother became Gosling's legal guardian for about six months.
"We were probably a little closer than the rest of the kids that were on the show just because we had to share a bathroom," Timberlake in 2011.
Sadly, it seems that their booming careers pulled the two accomplished actors apart, as Timberlake admitted to Ellen that it was quite difficult to keep up with his former brother.
In a 2013 interview with , Gosling told a similar story.
"I see him around but it's like anything where you're friends with somebody in elementary school or something, how many friends do you still have from elementary school?"
ADAM LEVINE AND JONAH HILL
15
Jonah Hill and Adam Levine grew up together because their fathers were lifelong friends.
"Our dads met in the principal's office in junior high," he shared in a 2014 interview with.
"We were in carpool, we lived at each other's houses."
Hill went on to gush about how kind-hearted Levine is and confirmed that he's still the fun-loving guy now that he was before the fame.
Sweetly enough, Hill officiated Levine's 2014 wedding to model Behati Prinsloo.
TUPAC SHAKUR AND JADA PINKETT-SMITH
15
Tupac Shakur and Jada Pinkett's relationship dates back to high school, where they met at the Baltimore School for the Arts.
Their relationship is highly debated, as many fans think it was much more than platonic and also believe that Pinkett-Smith had feelings for the late rapper even when married to Will Smith.
However, Pinkett-Smith has continued to deny these rumors.
"Pac and I's relationship was about survival," she stated on Sirius XM's in 2017.
"That's how it started. And I know most people want to always connect it in this romance thing, and that's just because they don't have the story."
Despite her denial of ever having a romantic fling with Tupac, her husband said it was hard to control his jealousy about their close relationship in the past.
"That was a big regret for me.
"They grew up together but they never had a sexual relationship but now they had come into that age where that was a possibility, and Jada was with me," the King Richard star admitted in a 2020 interview with .
"I was deeply insecure and I wasn't man enough to handle that relationship."
BEN AFFLECK AND MATT DAMON
15
The bromance that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck share is no secret – but many people don't realize how far back the two movie stars go.
Damon and Affleck have been friends nearly their whole lives.
They both grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts and met when Damon was 10 years old and Affleck was 8.
Speaking of their strong bond in a 2016 interview with , Damon sweetly said: "I've known him for 35 years, and we grew up together.
"We were both in love with the same thing – acting and filmmaking.
"I think we fed on each other’s obsession during really formative, important years and that bonded us for life."
He added that Affleck is a "brilliant director" and he will always sign up for a project if he asks him to.
EDDIE REDMAYNE, PRINCE WILLIAM, AND TOM HIDDLESTON
15
British actors Eddie Redmayne and Tom Hiddleston attended Eton College boarding school for boys with the future King of England, Prince William.
Redmayne opened up about his experiences growing up with Prince William in an interview with magazine, in which he revealed that he played Rugby with the royal.
"He's a wonderful man," he noted.
"I always felt slightly sorry for him because everyone wanted to tackle the future king of England.
"He took all the hits."
Meanwhile, Redmayne was called a "great talent" by Hiddleston in a 2017 episode of .
While on the show, he humorously reflected on acting in A Passage to India with the future Oscar winner.
"There’s an expedition to this cultural landmark known as the Marabar Caves by elephant.
"I’m delighted to reveal that I played the front, right leg of the elephant that Eddie Redmayne was riding on," he smiled.
NAOMI WATTS AND NICOLE KIDMAN
15
Australian actress Nicole Kidman and British-born Australian actress Naomi Watts went to North Sydney Girls' High School together, and have kept their bond going strong.
"Naomi Watts and I are very, very good friends and have maintained that through so many things.
"I think that's really rare, particularly for actresses, and I take a lot of pride in that," Kidman told in 2005.
JOHN KRASINSKI AND B.J. NOVAK
15
John Krasinski and B.J. Novak may have become household names thanks to their roles on The Office, but it turns out their friendship began much before that.
"John Krasinski and I have known each other our whole lives in the weirdest, most coincidental way," Novak shared on a 2014 episode of
"We played little league together," he recalled.
"There's a picture in my house of the little league team that I was on in sixth grade and I was sick that day the photo was taken, so John is in this photo that's been in my house this whole life and I'm not.
"That's how bizarre the whole thing is."
SCARLETT JOHANSSON AND JACK ANTONOFF
15
Scarlett Johansson and Jack Antonoff attended New York's Professional Children's School together and both went on to have incredibly successful entertainment careers.
People may be surprised to find out that the Black Widow star and the Bleachers musician even dated in high school.
KERRY WASHINGTON AND GWYNETH PALTROW
15
Gwyneth Paltrow and Kerry Washington attended the private all-girls Spence School in New York City, and it turns out they equally impressed each other.
In a 2014 interview with Washington revealed that she wanted to be in the school's a capella group called Triple Trio because of the "amazing senior" and club president, Paltrow.
It turns out young Washington equally impressed Paltrow.
Speaking to Washington about the day she auditioned for Triple Trio on her podcast, Paltrow remembered the future Triple Trio president as a "confident" eighth-grader.
"She opened her mouth and the most exquisite voice came out," she gushed.
How sweet!
CHELSEA PERETTI AND ANDY SAMBERG
15
Former Brooklyn Nine-Nine co-stars Andy Samberg and Chelsea Peretti grew up together but didn't have a super tight relationship like Matt Damon and Benn Affleck did.
In a 2020 interview with , Samberg said the two "weren't good friends, but we also weren't not friends."
Regardless, the two certainly had enough chemistry on-screen.
LEONARDO DICAPRIO AND TOBEY MAGUIRE
15
Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio became friends as child actors, but not from running into each other at auditions or landing a project together.
DiCaprio admitted to he basically threw himself at Maguire as a kid in hopes that the two would become pals.
It all happened when he was in the car with his mom and noticed Maguire filming a television episode.
"I literally jumped out of the car.
"I was like: 'Tobey! Tobey! Hey! Hey!' And he was like: 'Oh, yeah – I know you. You're ... that guy,'" DiCaprio recalled.
"But I just made him my pal.
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"When I want someone to be my friend, I just make them my friend."
Their friendship has certainly lasted, as they have been spotted together frequently around Hollywood over the years.
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