10 Celebrity Backstories That Were More Compelling Than Any Story Hollywood Could Write
As celebrities have flourished under the public gaze, it’s intriguing to discover their stories from the past. Many of them are more captivating than Hollywood’s narratives. Before the world echoed with their names, these famous people led lives that ranged from astonishing to heartrending. It turns out that even Hollywood stars have their own unexpected stories, full of both laughter and tears. These backstories leave us pondering how they got caught up in such situations.
Some Pre-fame stories are absolutely more shocking or devastating than any story we saw on screen. They have some twists that movie buffs suggest to make it into a movie.
Here are 10 celebrities with wild and surprising backstories which happened before the world knew their names.
#1. Rihanna
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When being a 15-year-old girl, Rihanna was shocked when her secret half-sister named Kandy (32 years old) showed up and revealed that she had 3 older half-siblings. It was said that her father had some kids before getting married to Rihanna’s mom.
#2. Colin Farrell
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As a teenager, Colin Farrell found himself being questioned as a suspect in an attempted murder case. On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he said, “I saw a photofit of the guy who actually did the crime and it looked remarkably like me, and for a second because I had had a blackout that night, I wondered, 'Could I have done such a thing?'”
#3. Kim Kardashian
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At age 19, Kim Kardashian eloped with Damon Thomas who was around 30 in Las Vegas. She was charged to be high on ecstasy at that time. In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, she shared, “I used to be so dependent on the guys I was in a relationship with. I don't know why, because I wasn't raised that way. If I looked at myself at 19, I would shake myself and be like, 'Wake up; you are way too smart for this.'”
#4. Jackie Chan
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As a kid, Jackie Chan was abandoned by his birth parents. However, the 2003 documentary Traces of the Dragon: Jackie Chan and His Lost Family, revealed that his father was a gang boss and Nationalist spy while his mother was an infamous legendary Shanghai gambler. It was more interesting to discover that they met when his dad arrested his mom for smuggling drugs.
#5. Liv Tyler
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It is true that Liv Tyler is Steven Tyler’s daughter. The secret was revealed when she was 8 years old. At one time, she was shocked when seeing her younger sister Mia at the side of the stage of a concert and she was looking at her twin.
She told The Jonathan Ross Show, “She looked exactly like me, and I looked at my mum and she had tears in her eyes and I kind of put it all together.”
#6. Leighton Meester
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Her mom was sentenced to 16 months for a drug conviction. At that time, she was pregnant and then gave birth to Leighton Meester in a prison in Texas. Her grandmother raised her until her mom was released.
#7. Woody Harrelson
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Woody Harrelson’s dad took part in an organized crime and was jailed as a convicted hitman. He was in prison for most of Woody’s childhood so he didn’t know much about him.
#8. Jack Nicholson
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It turned out that Ethel May, who was considered as a birth mother by Jack Nicholson, is actually his grandmother, and his sister, June, was actually his birth mother. June gave birth to him when she was 18. At that time, she was so young so her mother decided to raise the kid as her own to keep her daughter’s honor. June's boyfriend at the time, Don, was already married, and Ethel May ordered him to keep away from her daughter.
#9. Kesha
Source: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images
Kesha broke into Prince’s house by sneaking under the fence and walking inside through an unlocked door. To do that, she bribed a gardener with 5 dollars. After meeting Prince, she left her CD and then ran away.
#10. Rose McGowan
Source: Craig Barritt / Getty Images
The American actress, Rose McGowan, grew up in Italy in a polygamous cult when she was a kid. However, they, including her, her dad, her two sisters, and his other wife escaped there in the middle of the night to protect them from abuse.
Whose backstories came as a huge shock to you? Do you have their own story? Let's share with us. We’d be glad to hear from you in the comments!