Left: Bomer and Pace in high school. Right: Bomer and Pace in 2011.
Matt Bomer and Lee Pace are currently two of Hollywood's hottest stars, but 20 years ago, they were simply two students at Klein High School in Spring, Texas — as the newly surfaced above photo spotlights.
"He was a year older than me," Pace told BuzzFeed in May of Bomer. In addition to being "friends for years," the two co-starred in many plays together. "We did The Diary of Anne Frank," he added. "He was Mr. van Daans and I was Mr. Dussel."
Pace and Bomer also discovered Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart together, thanks to their high school drama team. Coincidentally, Pace went on to make his Broadway debut in the 2011 revival, while Bomer starred in HBO's 2014 production of the play.
"The fact we had that play in our hands, in this very conservative area of Texas, is extraordinary," Pace said of the groundbreaking drama about the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City in the '80s. "It opened my mind and I feel really lucky we had those plays [because] communities need leaders with strong ideas, even if those leaders are kids — kids who are like, I don't care what you think. Those seeds get planted early."