Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts both grew up in Australia and attended North Shore Sydney Girls' High School together, laying the foundation for one of Hollywood's most enduring friendships. Watts has said that the shared history binds them in a way that's hard to replicate, while Kidman described their relationship at a 2015 awards ceremony as being like sisters. Not bad for two classmates who both went on to become Oscar winners. | © United Artists
Scarlett Johansson and Jack Antonoff attended the Professional Children's School in New York City and were reportedly a couple back then. Antonoff even took Johansson to prom, as old photos confirmed. Lena Dunham, who later dated Antonoff, casually referenced Johansson as his high school girlfriend in 2014, which is the kind of celebrity overlap that takes a moment to fully process. Christy Carlson Romano was also a classmate, making the Professional Children's School another quietly impressive alumni roster. | © MGM
Rachael Leigh Cook and Josh Hartnett were both students at Minneapolis South High School, where Cook remembers thinking he was really cute, a detail she shared with PEOPLE in 2001 without much hesitation. The two ended up crossing paths again professionally, eventually starring together in the film Blow Dry. It's one of those high school crushes that turned into an actual Hollywood costar situation, which doesn't happen very often. | © Columbia Pictures
Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton go back to their days at the Buckley School in Los Angeles, a connection that grew into one of pop culture's most talked-about friendships and rivalries. Richie has described their bond as more of a sisterhood than a standard friendship, telling PEOPLE in 2024 that they've simply been through everything together since they were little. The Buckley School also counts Kim Kardashian and Rashida Jones among its alumni, making it one of the more quietly star-studded schools in Los Angeles history. | © Call Her Daddy / YouTube
Timothée Chalamet and Lourdes Leon didn't just cross paths at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City, they actually dated, making him her first boyfriend. Leon has spoken about him with nothing but warmth, telling Vanity Fair simply that she respects him a lot. It's one of those high school relationships that looks increasingly remarkable in hindsight as both of their careers have taken off. | © 20th Century Studios
Kate Hudson has known Liv Tyler since around ninth grade at the Crossroads School, and by her own admission, meeting her was a big deal: Tyler had just appeared in her father Steven Tyler's "Crazy" music video and was already a recognizable face. Hudson recalled being completely in awe of a girl showing up in a tiny baby doll dress and Converse, while trying very hard to act like she wasn't impressed at all. The two eventually starred together in Dr. T & the Women in 2000, proving the high school connection had some staying power. | © CBS Sunday Morning / YouTube
Kate Hudson and Zooey Deschanel were classmates at the Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences before they became costars in Almost Famous, and their high school dynamic involved competing for the same part in a school musical, which neither of them got. Hudson ended up as Don Quixote's niece, which sounds like a decent consolation prize until you hear what Deschanel landed. She played Don Quixote's horse, which she recounted while laughing, and honestly that detail alone makes the whole story. | © CBS Sunday Morning / YouTube
Cameron Diaz and Snoop Dogg both attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School, and Diaz's memory of him is about as memorable as celebrity high school stories get. She told George Lopez in 2011 that she remembered a very tall, skinny kid with lots of ponytails, and casually added that she was pretty sure she bought weed from him. Snoop remembered her too, describing her as cool, fly, and hip, which coming from Snoop is about as high a compliment as a high school classmate can receive. | © Sony Pictures Releasing
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon met as kids in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and bonded over a shared love of theatre at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, a friendship that eventually led to Good Will Hunting and one of the most celebrated creative partnerships in Hollywood. The bond ran deep enough that Affleck once physically tackled a 6'6" kid off Damon during a fight on the Cambridge common after Damon mouthed off to the wrong person. By Damon's own telling, Affleck may have literally saved him from a serious beating, which is a solid foundation for a lifelong friendship. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Jake Gyllenhaal went to elementary school with Adam Levine at the Center for Early Education in Los Angeles. By his own account, Levine was already "the guy" even back then. Gyllenhaal told Howard Stern in 2022 that he himself wasn't exactly popular, but Levine had already formed a band called Kara's Flowers, the group that would eventually become Maroon 5. It's a fun reminder that some people's trajectories are visible pretty early on. | © Open Road Films
Adam Levine and Jonah Hill go back further than most people realize: their friendship started when their dads met in a principal's office in junior high, and from there the two were practically inseparable, carpooling and living at each other's houses. Hill told Howard Stern in 2014 that Levine is one of the rare people in Hollywood who hasn't changed at all from who he always was. The friendship has clearly stuck — Hill officiated Levine's wedding to Behati Prinsloo in 2014, which is about as close as friendships get. | © Apple Music / YouTube
Gwyneth Paltrow and Kerry Washington both attended the all-girls Spence School in New York City, and their first meeting came when a young Kerry Washington auditioned for Paltrow's high school music group, Triple Trio. Paltrow remembered an eighth-grader walking in with total confidence and an extraordinary voice — Washington, for her part, said she wanted in specifically because Paltrow was president of the group and was simply "always cool." It's a sweet origin story for what became a lasting friendship between two of Hollywood's most accomplished women. | © Vogue / YouTube
Jessie J and Adele were in the same year at the BRIT School in London, and by Jessie J's account, they used to spend their lunch breaks singing together and performing whatever they were working on at the time. Jessie J wrote about it in her 2012 book, describing Adele as amazing and as a bright, standout energy at school. Looking back, that was probably the most talented lunchroom in the country. | © Apple Music / YouTube
Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes both attended George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Brooklyn, and their paths crossed in the most fitting way possible, a rap battle in the lunchroom. Jay-Z recalled the moment on Jimmy Kimmel in 2015, saying he loves Busta Rhymes, suggesting no hard feelings toward whoever won. He also confirmed that the Notorious B.I.G. was at the same school, making Westinghouse arguably the most stacked high school in hip-hop history. | © GQ / YouTube
Matthew Perry revealed in a 2017 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel that he and a friend once beat up a young Justin Trudeau at Rockcliffe Park Public School in Ottawa, apparently out of jealousy over Trudeau excelling at a sport they weren't good at. Trudeau responded on social media by jokingly challenging Perry to a rematch, which is about the most Canadian way that story could have ended. When Perry passed away in 2023, Trudeau honored him warmly, writing that he'd never forget their schoolyard games and that Perry had been loved by people around the world. | © Warner Bros. Television
Long before the red carpets and the headlines, some of Hollywood's biggest names were sitting in the same classrooms, competing for the same roles, and occasionally getting into fights on the same playgrounds. These celebrity pairs go back further than most people realize, and their shared history makes their stories a lot more interesting.
