Celebrity Friends Who Were Besties Before Fame!

It often looks like the celebrity world is so tight-knit and that everyone knows everyone. There are so many friendships in Hollywood between high-profile celebrities. The safe assumption is that those friendships come from traveling in the same circles, working on big movies, going to award shows, or through other situations that are commonly experienced by celebrities. However, that is not always the case. Not all celebrity friendships started with fame and fortune already at play. There are some friendships that predate these people’s celebrity status. There are friendships where two people met randomly, perhaps related to entertainment, became friends, and then they both became lucky enough to make it in the entertainment industry. They are also lucky that their friendship has stayed strong through the pressures of fame. Here are some friendships between celebrities that started before we even knew their names!

1. Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein

The first time you meet someone may not be where the friendship starts, but it could be what leads to a future connection. Actors Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein have recently been dominating the stage and screen, but they originally knew each other as hopeful children. The two originally met each other at a mutual friend’s bar mitzvah in middle school, but this was only a brief meeting. Later, the two attended Harvard-Westlake School, which is where the tight connection began. The two became inseparable and even went to prom together! They both bonded over their dreams of theater, and now, still as best friends, they get to see each other’s dreams come true.

2. Pedro Pascal and Sarah Paulson

Not all of the famous friendships come from the pairs that you know. Some can be unexpected. For instance, people do not often associate Pedro Pascal and Sarah Paulson’s careers with each other. Nevertheless, the two have been friends for a long time. The two met when Pascal was attending NYU Tisch School of the Arts and Paulson had just graduated from the renowned LaGuardia High School. Their friend groups connected, leading to the two of them hanging out. This would include many wild nights of fun in the Big Apple. They lost touch for a bit, but they reconnected and their friendship has remained stronger than ever. The two support each other's projects every step of the way and are happy to be each other’s dates on red carpets when the time calls for it. These two stars have created a friendship that has become so wholesome.

3. Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson

College is intended to be a place where you can make great connections for your future. Those connections could sometimes lead to a future with Academy Award nominations. That was what happened with Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson. The two Hollywood darlings met when they happened to be college roommates at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition, the two were taking the same playwriting classes. Soon after meeting, the two became collaborators. Anderson’s first project was the short film "Bottle Rocket", which Wilson starred in. That short film then became a feature film that Wilson helped write. After the success of that film, the two continued their work together with a series of high-profile collaborations, including writing The Royal Tenenbaums, where they both shared an Oscar nomination. This goes to show that the people you meet in college could be a big help for you in life.

4. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

When two people form a strong bond early, they work together to help each other achieve their goals. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon met when they both were two kids with dreams of Hollywood, so they wanted to help each other make it big. The two first met when Damon was 10 and Affleck was 8, as they were both neighbors in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Later, they both went to Cambridge Rindge and Latin School for high school. Later, after Damon dropped out of Harvard, they both moved to Los Angeles to break into the movie industry. They each got a few acting jobs, but they decided to work on a script that Damon had started in college. That script was Good Will Hunting, which Damon and Affleck eventually won Oscars for. Now, the two are A-list stars. They might have made it big in the entertainment industry on their own, but these friends were lucky to have some great support along the way.

5. Greta Gerwig and Kate McKinnon

It can sometimes take years for friends to start to work together, but it does not make the friendship any less strong. Greta Gerwig and Kate McKinnon recently worked with each other for the first time in Barbie, but the two have known each other for a long time. They first met when they went to college together, as Geriwg went to Barnard at Columbia and McKinnon went to Columbia. In addition, the two both had a love of a theater. They were in the same improv comedy group and were always making each other laugh. That led to them eventually becoming roommates during college. While their careers went off in different directions, the two still remained close and they finally got to combine their talents for the biggest movie of the year.

6. Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire

It is no secret that being a child in the entertainment industry is tough, as you sometimes don’t even feel like a real kid. However, friendship can make a child actor feel a little less alone. Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire were both trying to get into the entertainment industry very young. As children, they would often see each other at auditions that they probably would not get. One day, DiCaprio saw Maguire on the street and talked to him, determined to make him his friend, and the rest was history. The two would bond over the cutthroat world of acting and they would have friendly competition at auditions. Luckily, some of those auditions ended up working out and they both were able to be stars. The two even got to work together a couple of times, most notably in The Great Gatsby. Stress of landing a gig may not go away with friendship, but it is nice to have someone to talk to about it who truly understands.

7. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler

When it comes to comedy, two people’s comedy styles can often mesh perfectly from day one. That is what happened when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler met. The two are an iconic comedy duo today, but they had to start somewhere. They met at Chicago ImprovOlympic, an improv comedy school. Naturally, both of them wanted to break into the comedy world. They were introduced to each other by one of its co-founders, Chandra Halpern, who knew the two would click instantly. It turns out, she was right. They then began doing improv in the same group and did comedy at Second City together. Fey was also one of the reasons Poehler joined "Saturday Night Live", as Fey was there first and spent a while convincing Poehler to come along. Since then, they have had wonderful careers in comedy, both together and separate, and it does not look like they are slowing down.

8. Judd Apatow and Adam Sandler

Breaking into the entertainment industry is never easy. However, it can be a bit easier when you are with a friend who is going through the same ordeal. Judd Apatow and Adam Sandler had the support of each other. Early in their careers, when they both needed to save money, they were roommates. The two were struggling comedians without much experience that were sharing a $900 apartment in Los Angeles, trying to find their big breaks. Luckily, comedy ended up working out for both of them in a large way and they became successful. The two would work together on the film Funny People and the friendship would continue.