There’s something especially sweet about discovering that our beloved stars were already close pals before they became famous. Perhaps it’s the nostalgia, perhaps it’s the assurance that Hollywood doesn’t destroy everything nice, or perhaps it’s just enjoyable to imagine them exchanging fries in the school cafeteria or riding out high school crushes together. Whatever the reason, these friendships are the real thing. Here are 10 legendary celebrity pairs whose friendship started well before the glare of the spotlight.
10. Timothée Chalamet & Ansel Elgort
Much before the Wards season red carpets, Chalamet and Elgort were merely classmates at New York City’s LaGuardia High School. They connected over their passion for performance as teens, and that camaraderie followed them into their professional lives. It turns out, the “theatre kids” actually did go on to rule the world.
9. Jamie Dornan & Andrew Garfield
Before Christian Grey’s encounter with his Spider-Man alter ego, Dornan and Garfield were also struggling actors living in a London flat. Their flatmate clique wasn’t bad either—Robert Pattinson, Charlie Cox, and Eddie Redmayne all hovered in their sphere. That’s not so much a starter flat, more a Hollywood hall of fame to come.
8. Scarlett Johansson & Jack Antonoff
These two became prom dates in high school and went on to be best friends forever. Johansson and Antonoff were both students at New York’s Professional Children’s School, where their friendship (and short-lived teen romance) started. Although they did not make it as an item, their friendship endured the cringeworthy prom phase and the rollercoaster of fame.
7. Adam Levine & Jonah Hill
Levine and Hill date back to middle school, brought together courtesy of their dads running into each other in the principal’s office. They became neighbors in Los Angeles, remaining close as their careers took off. Hill’s largest cameo in Levine’s life? Officiating his 2014 wedding to Behati Prinsloo.
6. Leonardo DiCaprio & Tobey Maguire
When DiCaprio saw Maguire at an audition during their pre-teen age, he more or less made up his mind then and there that they would be buddies. From hustling for work from their early years to co-starring in This Boy’s Life and afterward The Great Gatsby, they’ve established a relationship based on trust, loyalty, and a great deal of shared history.
5. Demi Lovato & Selena Gomez
Before they were Disney royalty, Demi and Selena shared the screen on Barney & Friends. Their relationship has been put to the test by fame, rehab, and coming of age in the spotlight, but they’ve always managed to make their way back to one another. It’s a testament that friendships made as kids can weather even the most brutal Hollywood storms.
4. Maya Rudolph & Gwyneth Paltrow
Rudolph and Paltrow started as buddies in Los Angeles grade school, where their fathers—college friends—brought their offspring together. From early childhood productions to Saturday Night Live hosting stints, their friendship has endured for decades. Being famous growing up can be difficult, but these two were there for each other from day one.
3. Kate Hudson & Liv Tyler
Hudson and Tyler were barely teenagers when they became close friends at Crossroads School in Santa Monica. Sleepovers, predawn breakfasts, and eventually, co-starring in Dr. T & the Women only strengthened their relationship. Their sister-like friendship is now Hollywood’s most lasting.
2. Nicole Richie & Paris Hilton
Even before reality television made them tabloid sensations, Richie and Hilton were constant toddlers. Raised together in LA, they were already best friends for life when The Simple Life catapulted them into household fame. Theirs is a relationship that has survived media melodrama, breakups, and rediscoveries—but never actually broke.
1. Matt Damon & Ben Affleck
The template for every celebrity bromance. Damon and Affleck were raised in the same Cambridge neighborhood and pursued the acting dream together. From penning Good Will Hunting to acting in movies side by side, they’ve been each other’s support group for more than three decades. Celebrity came and went—but never their friendship.
Red carpets and award shows may make these pairs seem bigger-than-life, but fundamentally, they’re simply friends who knew one another before Hollywood. Childhood friendships, school days, or small apartment complexes formed the foundation—and even with all the glory, fortune, and craziness of show business, those roots are what keep them grounded.