These 15 Celebrities You Didn't Know Grew Up Together

In life, we grew up with some of our friends. They are very special to us as they always appeared in the greatest time of our childhood. They have also shared with us a plethora of memories during school time and even supported us when we were in trouble.
In the Entertainment industry, celebs becoming friends is not out of the ordinary. Still, there are some pairs or groups of celebrities who grew up together and were close before they became famous. They have been friends since childhood and have grown up together, supporting each other as they pursued their dreams. And now it's great to see that they are all successful as talented celebrities, proving that their enduring friendship has been a valuable part of their lives and careers. These celebrities grew up together.
In this post, we want to share with you 15 cases of celebrities that grew up with each other that even their fans have yet to know. Keep scrolling down to see if your idol has a close relationship with other celebs in their childhood. These celebrities who grew up together.

#1 Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire

Source: Distractify

It’s safe to say that Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire were destined to be best friends. They first knew each other when they were kids and the friendship stuck. They even lived next door to each other at 12 and became very close together. Leo eventually becomes the godfather to Tobey's daughter.
Moreover, Leonardo and Tobey have had 3 times worked together since their first joint work on “This Boy’s Life” (1993), and then “Don’s Plum” (2001) and “The Great Gatsby” (2013). DiCaprio claimed in a 2014 interview with Esquire that he saw Maguire on the street after meeting him during an audition and asked his mother to stop the car. "I was like, 'Tobey! Tobey! Hey! Hey!' And he was like, 'Oh, yeah — I know you. You're… that guy.' But I just made him my pal."

#2 Adele and Jessie J

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Both Adele and Jessie J are mega stars today. Before captivating audiences all over the world with their remarkable voices, Jessie J and Adele were just two Londoners with aspirations of becoming famous. It didn't take them long to become close friends once they first met in school because they shared a love of singing and music. It turns out that Adele and Jessie J shared a lunch table together while they were classmates at the BRIT performing arts school in London.
"We used to sing at lunchtime together," Jessie J shared with People in 2014 about going to school with Adele. "Obviously at that time, we didn't realize that we'd both [eventually] have music out. But she's amazing. She was always that really bright energy at school."

#3 Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

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Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are well-known Hollywood best friends. The stars first ran into each other when Damon was ten and Affleck was eight in their hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Then they collaborated frequently and won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Good Will Hunting in 1998. "I've known him for 35 years, and we grew up together," Damon said to Entertainment Tonight in 2016. "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."

#4 Gwyneth Paltrow and Kerry Washington (and Maya Rudolph)

Source: Shutterstock/DFree/Kathy Hutchins/

While attending the Spence School in New York City, Kerry Washington, and Gwyneth Paltrow were in different grades. The ladies talked about their time on Paltrow's Goop podcast and recalled a time when Washington tried out for a Cappella group that Paltrow was a member of. "I was in a singing group called Triple Trio," Paltrow told E! News. "We were holding auditions because a bunch of us were graduating, and in walks Kerry Washington … This beautiful eighth grader comes in so confident. She opened her mouth and the most exquisite voice came out." Meanwhile the Scandal star said Paltrow was "always cool."
Paltrow also grew up friends with Maya Rudolph, a former cast member of Saturday Night Live, which she mentioned in her opening speech when she presided over the program. "I hosted once before, but this week has been really extra-special to me because one of my best friends is on the show now, and I'm so proud of her," Paltrow shared. "We've known each other since we were seven years old, and she's super-funny and talented, and I'm so glad she's in the cast. Her name is Maya Rudolph!"

#5 Jaden Smith and Kylie Jenner

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The youngest Kardashian/Jenner sister and Jada Pinkett Smith's son are longtime friends and also dated when they were teens. Jaden Smith, then 14, and Kylie Jenner, then 15, began dating — or "dating" — back in 2013, according to Us Weekly. "It's new, but they've been friends forever." Smith himself said to Wonderland magazine about hanging out with the reality TV star, "She's one of my best friends. It's pretty awesome."

#6 Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand

Source: Zimbio

Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand attended Erasmus Hall High School in New York before collaborating on the song "You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore." They even sang together in the school choir. "When I sang in the school choir, I enjoyed it, but I didn't think that I was taking my first steps on the road to a career," Streisand said to The Sunday Post in 2018. "Besides, there was someone else in the school choir who was much better than me. He had a fantastic voice and I had the pleasure of recording a duet with him some years later. You may have heard of Neil Diamond!"

#7 Snoop Dogg and Cameron Diaz

Source: Ew

Snoop Dogg and Cameron Diaz attended the same high school in Long Beach, California, and their paths eventually met in a very clear and expected way. "I'm pretty sure I bought weed from him," Diaz shared during a 2011 appearance on Lopez Tonight. The rapper also shared that when was on the show himself, "I might have sold her some of that white girl weed." Well, it's true when they both share the same story.

#8 Chelsea Peretti and Andy Samberg

Source: Justjared

In Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Chelsea Peretti and Andy Samberg shared a recurring role until Peretti left the show a few seasons ago. They also appeared together in this incredible vintage shot. Samberg and Peretti attended the same elementary school, which explains why. On a Conan appearance, Peretti claimed, "I had a huge crush on Andy and for some reason, he will never acknowledge this". She continued by saying that, in the days before emoji, she would repeatedly phone his residence, hang up, and then try again.

#9 John Boyega and Letitia Wright

Source: Nme

Both John Boyega and Letitia Wright are well-known as big action actors now, with him as Finn in Star Wars and her as Shuri in Black Panther, but they knew each other before the big franchises came calling. Both Boyega and Wright studied acting at The Identity School of Acting in London. "Letitia and I were in the same class," Boyega shared with The Grio in 2018. "It was so special for me to see her in [Black Panther] because I have seen Letitia from when we both had nothing, had no credibility and wanted our chance. We would sit and after classes, everybody would congregate at a nearby McDonald's and I remember seeing Letitia and we would speak about our dreams and our visions."

#10 Ryan Gosling and Justin Timberlake

Source: Popcrush

When they were kids, Timberlake and Gosling were castmates in The Mickey Mouse Club. Furthermore, Ryan's mother was working in Canada at the time he was offered the job in Florida, so Justin's mother volunteered to be a temporary legal guardian, effectively making them brothers for a time.
They reportedly had a wager on who would kiss Jessica Simpson first when they were kids. In 2017, Timberlake described their relationship to The Hollywood Reporter, saying, "We aren't the closest of friends, for whatever reason."

#11 Eddie Redmayne and Prince William (and Andrew Garfield and Jamie Dornan)

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Eddie Redmayne is well-connected in the celebrity world. He first attended Eton College, a residential institution, alongside Prince William. "I did play rugby with Prince William," the Theory of Everything star revealed on Watch What Happens Live. "I always felt a bit sorry for him because basically any school you played all they wanted to do was tackle Prince William, so they could say, 'I tackled Prince William.' So if you were standing next to Prince William, it was actually quite easy and quite fun."
Following school, Redmayne shared a room with two other actors you may recognize: Jamie Dornan from Fifty Shades of Grey. and The Amazing Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield. "The stakes weren't that high, because we weren't really getting work," Dornan said to Variety. "We played a lot of table tennis and volleyball and had nice dinners. What's the song ['Drinking in L.A.']—' What the h*ll am I doing drinking in L.A. at 26?' We kept singing that."

#12 Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts

Source: People

Both Australian actresses went to Sydney's North Sydney Girls' High School. In an Instagram post in honor of Watt's 50th birthday in 2018, Kidman stated that they'd been friends for 35 years, implying that they met when they were 15 years old. Kidman once revealed to the Telegraph. "Naomi Watts and I are very, very good friends and have maintained that through so many things," she added "I think that's really rare, particularly for actresses, and I take a lot of pride in that."

#13 John Krasinski and B.J. Novak

Source: Pinterest

Ryan and Jim from The Office knew each other before they both started working at Dunder Mifflin as B.J. Novak and John Krasinski both grew up in Newton, Massachusetts. During an appearance on Great Day Washington, Krasinski revealed that they were on the same little league baseball team in elementary school and that Novak persuaded him to act in a play he wrote in high school."He was really one of the first people ever to tell me that acting is something I should even consider," Krasinski stated.

#14 Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein

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Ben Platt of The Politician and Beanie Feldstein of Lady Bird are so close because they're ready to begin filming a 20-year project. They're both in Richard Linklater's Merrily We Roll Along, an adaptation of the musical that will follow the same two characters over the course of two decades. Feldstein claims that the two actors have known each other since high school and are more than just great buddies. "I think what Ben and I have is beyond friendship, honestly," she shared with Broadway.com. "It's like a soulmate connection. We're like twins separated at birth or something."

#15 Nicole Richie, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, and Rashida Jones

Source: Shutterstock/Kathy Hutchins//Featureflash Photo Agency/Ron Adar/Tinseltown

You may have heard that Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton, stars of The Simple Life, were friends, or that Kim Kardashian used to hang out with Hilton all the time, but their friendship goes back much longer than you may have known. Rashida Jones mentioned going to primary school with Kardashian and Hilton during an interview on Watch What Happens Live in 2014, saying, "They were younger than me. They were really cute and little and they wore a lot of bows in their hair." Throwback images have also been exchanged among the group, such as this one of Jones and Richie and this one of Richie and Kardashian.
In conclusion, learning about celebrities who grew up together and have maintained lifelong friendships is a heartwarming reminder that even the biggest stars are human and rely on their closest friends for support. These 15 celebrities are proof that childhood friendships can evolve into powerful professional partnerships, and that a solid foundation of trust and loyalty can help navigate the ups and downs of life in the spotlight. As fans, it's inspiring to see that these celebrities who grew up together have maintained such strong bonds despite the pressures of fame, and we can only hope that their friendships continue to flourish for years to come.