I love to hear random things about celebrities. So I scoured Reddit threads and some BuzzFeed Community posts to find the best tales about celebrities before they were famous. Enjoy these short stories, but just remember this is the internet...take it all with a grain of salt.
1. "My ex-boyfriend’s mom ran a pizza shop that Pink worked at as a 16-year-old. I guess she would always be singing randomly at work. She’d use spoons, utensils, anything she could find to use as a fake microphone. But she was a shitty worker and would straight-up walk out on her shifts whenever she wanted without telling anyone, and somehow she didn't get fired for it. She just didn’t give AF, even back then."
2. "I went to a musical theater conservatory with Jason Derulo. He was lovely and sweet, if a bit of a ditz. He could sing and dance like hell, and his pop music doesn't even hint at how much he can do."
3. "I was on the same Little League team as Tony Hawk when I was 14; we used to sing Devo songs together in the dugout. He wasn't terribly committed to baseball, and my father (one of the coaches) made a comment to him along the lines of 'choosing either baseball or skateboarding to focus on.' He turned in his uniform the next day."
4. "A friend of mine was friends with Tom Hanks in high school and went to prom with him. He still writes her personalized birthday cards on one of his typewriters."
5. "I went to high school with Post Malone. We graduated the same year. He always wore a suit to class and was that nerdy dedicated kid. Glad to see how his life turned out. I hoped nothing for the best for him, and now I listen to him all the time. I’m just a rando to him, though. We never really talked."
6. "I went to school with Emily Ratajkowski. She’s always been kind and really smart and genuinely talented. Worst I can say is in middle school, she auditioned for a play and didn’t get the part she wanted, so she didn’t do the play at all. I got the part she refused, lol. I ran into her when we were in college (still before she got famous), and she seemed sincerely happy to see me and catch up. I remember she loved the coat I was wearing. IMO, her interviews and ‘famous persona’ are authentic — she is a legit badass babe. I’m super proud of her."
7. "My coworker's dad grew up with Queen Latifah in North Jersey. His whole family loves her because they were about to lose their house, so she paid it off for them. They’ve never said a bad thing about her."
8. "My grandmother worked at Dollywood for many years and met Dolly Parton a handful of times. When she died, Dolly sent two dozen or so roses to the funeral home. She’s a real gem."
9. "My friend's mom was one of Kelly Clarkson's teachers in high school. I asked her about it and she said, 'She never did her homework.'"
10. "My dad went to the same youth group as Tom Cruise in Kentucky and smoked pot with him. Apparently Tom bogarted the joint, so my dad wasn’t a big fan of his even before he got famous."
11. "My dad hung out with Adam Sandler a few times back in the '90s. When he was just getting started on Saturday Night Live and came home to New Hampshire, they went to a few parties together. Everyone always referred to him as “Adam the Beer Guy” because of how much beer he would show up to these parties with."
12. "I went to high school with Sandra Oh. She was funny, dynamic, smart, outgoing, and very into drama. In one school play, she played what I will call sort of a mime character — she didn’t have lines but was still a big part of the action, commenting on what was going on through her actions. Anyhow, in one scene, as she was exiting the stage, she banged her head on one of the props — you could hear the loud bang — but she was a pro and just carried on. It has been great to see her have such success, and I love that she has kept in touch with her close friends from high school (you can spot them at awards shows sometimes)."
13. "I went to high school with Mark Ruffalo. He was nice. He was 'one of those thespians.' Our high school had an acting group that challenged the students to get out of their shell and do things in front of strangers, like introducing themselves as the wild fairy of the woods and presenting someone with a flower. We didn’t talk much, but like I said, he was a good guy."
14. "My older brother went to school with Chris Pratt and was in his German class. Chris told the teacher his older brother was in Germany and said he could grab her a piece of the Berlin Wall. Two weeks later, Chris grabbed a piece of concrete from the sidewalk, spray-painted it, and gave it to her. The last time I checked (2018), it was still there."
15. "I went to high school with Mark Hamill. He was in my fifth-period government class, and he absolutely loved to get into debates with our teacher, Mr. Henretty. Mark was always active in many extracurricular activities, including a run for student council. He often wore a suit and tie to school, which caused all the young ladies (and some young men as well!) to swoon. He was always upbeat and exuded an air of positivity. It is no surprise to me that he has met with the level of success that he richly deserves!"
16. "I went to elementary and middle school with Aidy Bryant from Saturday Night Live (and many movies). She was incredibly sweet and quirky, but not nearly as funny as she is today. One year she wore a new Paul Frank shirt every single day. When we met in third grade, she told me her name was Loafy, which I still call her to this day. Her family is also awesome. Her mom once threw a party before they remodeled their house where we all got to draw all over the walls and destroy things. Her mom also owns the cutest little boutique in Phoenix (where we’re from)."
17. "Michael Shannon lived in my home while I was growing up and he was beginning his career. He lived with us for four years or so on our top floor. He has always been a humble and great guy and is still friends with our family to this day. He hasn't changed a bit since we've known him!"
18. "I went to college with Joe Keery, aka Steve Harrington in Stranger Things. He was my college boyfriend’s suitemate and just the nicest guy. His hair has always been dreamy and amazing. Last time I saw him was at a viewing of The Hateful Eight after we graduated, and he still made a point to come over and say hi!"
19. "My best friend's dad used to be in the same group of friends with Bruce Willis. He said he played harmonica, wore Hawaiian shirts all the time, drove a Camaro, and was a total fucking asshole."
20. "My wife grew up with the Odenkirk (Bob, Billy) family in Illinois. Her brothers were friends with the boys, and my wife was besties with his sister. I met him at the sister's wedding, and he was down-to-earth and witty, as you'd expect. He took time to explain to me how they wrote the SNL 'Weekend Update' skits when he wrote for the show. He said it was the easiest to write, since the material was already there in the news; just alter for yuks. That was way back in like '87, prior to Mr. Show and Breaking Bad, etc. A genuine and smart dude. Wife and I are fans for life."
21. "I sat next to Tom Holland while we did our history GCSE and I went to primary school with him, so I knew him quite well. He was often off filming in Thailand for The Impossible at the time. I didn't keep in contact with him past GCSE, but he was a great guy and very funny, as he seems to be now, which is nice to hear. One memory I do have is a bunch of us laughing at him when he was practicing ballet in the school gym getting ready to be Billy Elliot. We weren't laughing for long."
22. "I went to college with Hasan Minhaj. He was an early open mic–er then and I thought he was hilarious, so I would go to his shows and tell friends of mine to come too. We became Facebook friends, I moved to San Francisco, and he started performing at some pretty big clubs there. He would reach out and offer me free tickets because I'd supported him for so long. One time, he set aside four tickets for me and my friends. I got the date wrong and we missed the show; I was too embarrassed to ever go to a show of his again."
23. "I went to high school with Bo Burnham as he was just starting out in comedy and music. He walked into my chemistry class one day, joked with the chemistry teacher, then kicked over a trash can. As he was walking away down the hall, he yelled, 'Badass alert.' Thought he was entertaining."
24. "Went to middle school with Megan Fox for a bit. She rode my bus and she mostly kept to herself. Most of the guys would fight over who was going to sit next to her, but she was very shy and didn't really have much to say."
25. "I knew Robert Pattinson about 15 years ago. Nice guy, friendly, a lot of fun to be with. He lived by himself in the center of Soho, in London, in a tiny one-bedroom flat where I think he felt like the romantic version of a starving artist. He had a weird side. He'd say random, violent, depraved things. He was obsessed with Jack Nicholson. He never really gave a fuck; he had confidence and he was always himself, and he knew he could be deliberately contradictory, and he used that as a personality trope. But he was a good guy, and I get the impression he's very comfortable with himself now that he has developed his career, that he acts very well, and that he can pick and choose his roles based upon what he wants to do and who he wants to work with."
26. "My dad was good friends with Will Smith before the Fresh Prince days — Will actually showed him the pilot before it aired. Fast-forward many years to After Earth, and Will invited us on the set. His first words when he saw my dad 10-plus years later were, 'The Philly crew is back!'"
27. "Right before he became famous, back when he was still recording in Asbury Park, Bruce Springsteen saw my mother at the end of the bar at the Stone Pony and was clearly smitten. He immediately had the bartender send her a drink from him. She said she looked him up and down, having utterly NO idea who he was, and described him as 'this scruffy-looking, long-haired hood with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve.' My siblings and I still haven't forgiven her for rejecting the Boss."
28. "My fiancé fell off his bike when he was a little kid in LA. A nice boy age 12 or so helped him up and walked him home to make sure he was okay. The nice boy was Jake Gyllenhaal."
29. "Thomas Middleditch briefly dated my roommate right before he got on Silicon Valley. He seemed like a cool guy but seemed kind of down because he was going to be in the spinoff of The Office called The Farm, but that didn't get picked up. Then we got drunk and he made fun of all of my Nintendo games and called them baby games and talked about some Canadian hockey video game league he and his roommates had — like, it was two or three of them and then they gave themselves a trophy."
30. "My husband's band played warmup to a young comedian in the early '80s — Jim Carrey. He was doing mostly impressions back then and was just getting some good gigs. We got to hang around with him a bit, and he was very nice and very funny. A month or so later, the drummer for the band was on the subway, and Jim got on his car and recognized him from the gig. Jim went into his whole act for him right there on the subway. Our buddy wanted to crawl under the seat as this crazy man did his rubber faces and made strange noises, and everyone on the subway was looking. After Jim got off the train, the rest of the ride was uneventful."
31. "My sister and cousin were friends with Elisha Cuthbert when they were in high school. She slept over a few times. I don't remember her that clearly, since I was never home, but she still owes me for the money I lent her and my sister to buy ice cream."
32. "More than 10 years ago now, my papa lived right outside of Las Vegas. He went to his local Starbucks every Saturday morning with his bulldog and sat outside. Eventually he started talking to this man who also happened to be there every Saturday morning after this guy complimented my papa's dog. So every Saturday, my papa and this guy sat together at this Starbucks in Nevada, talking about his dog and everything under the sun. The guy was Matthew Gray Gubler. Matthew LOVES dogs, just in case anyone needed convincing."
33. "My friend dated Jimmy Fallon back in the '90s. They met because he was drunkenly screaming stupid shit at her from across the street somewhere in New York."
34. "Kesha. Total nerd; 1600 on her SATs. Quiet. A bit of a social outcast. Nice, though. You could tell she cared about others and wouldn't ever hurt a flea."
35. "My brother used to play basketball with a bunch of people in high school. Among those who would sometimes join in was Pete Davidson. My brother said he got ripped on a ton and no one really liked him. But that might just be because he wasn't great at basketball."
36. "I went to high school with Dacre Montgomery. He was a dick with a huge ego in high school, and I saw him recently when he came back to his hometown, and he seems like he's still a dick with an even bigger ego now. I can't watch Stranger Things without rolling my eyes every time he comes onscreen."
37. "When I was 15, I met Ariana Grande on Facebook. I was into flirting with random people back then, LOL. We talked for a while and shared some jokes and rage comics. After about two months of occasional conversations, she made an update on her wall saying that she signed a contract with Nickelodeon, and then I saw her on Victorious. I was dumbstruck when it happened."
If you have a story you wanna share, tell us in the comments below. I NEED MORE GOSS!!!
Note: Some submissions have been edited for grammar, length, and/or clarity.