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As average Joes, we usually tend to assume that when a friendship is forged between two stars in Hollywood, this is due to the fact that the pair can bond over both knowing what it’s like to be famous or that they share the same passion. What we never stop to consider, however, is that sometimes these stars knew each other before they become rich and famous and that some of them have even lived together as roommates, sharing a similar goal of making it big one day.

Yes, all the cases on this list are celebrities who slummed it together before they were famous or before making a name for themselves in Hollywood. Some went to Arts schools together, some have been friends for a really long time, while some were just happy to reside with someone who was after the same thing in life as they were at the time (and probably still are today). So, sit back and prepare to be surprised by some of the stars on this list who you had no clue were once roommates.

Connie Britton And Lauren Graham - Became Friends While Taking The Same Acting Class In New York

Before they played some of TV’s best moms, Friday Night Lights star Connie Britton and Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham were actually roommates. The two actresses first crossed paths and became friends while taking the same acting class in New York. The pair quickly decided to give fame a shot and moved to L.A. together to pursue their dreams. Britton, who also starred in Nashville, stated, “We were in class together, became friends, and then we both decided to make the big move and give Los Angeles a shot.” Graham has also been vocal about the time she spent living with Britton and even explained how they may have been living together not completely legally. She stated, “We lived in an empty house that we weren’t supposed to be living. We had no furniture and all we ate were Rice Krispies Treats.” Although both actresses went on to find fame in their own right, the pair still consider themselves friends and regularly keep in touch.

John Cusack And Jeremy Piven - Grew Up Together In A Small Town

John Cusack and Jeremy Piven’s friendship goes way back, long before they both had success as actors. In fact, the two guys grew up together in the same small town of Evanston, Illinois. The pair crossed paths when John, along with his sister, Joan Cusack, started attending acting classes that were given by Piven’s parents, Joyce and Byrne. This is when the friendship between the two began and it lasted for many years, with the two men moving in together for a time while they both individually continued to work on their acting, regularly attending auditions. During the mid-2000’s, however, things turned pretty sour between the men after Cusack made a snide comment saying that Piven did not handle his Entourage success in the best way. As far as we know, the pair doesn’t speak anymore.

Mel Gibson And Geoffrey Rush - Lived Together While Studying At The National Institute of Dramatic Art In Sydney

Mel Gibson and Geoffrey Rush are now both famous and established actors in their own respect, but did you know that the pair slummed it as roommates when they were trying to make it big? Gibson and Rush lived together for four months while studying at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney. It’s amazing to think that both stars managed to make it huge and a lot has changed since those days they spent studying acting; it is now something they have made millions doing. Amusingly, not only were Gibson and Rush roommates but they were also both pursing the same woman. Rush later revealed in an interview that the woman in question chose him, he stated, “Oh, I’d forgotten about that. That was probably my biggest achievement.”

Judd Apatow And Adam Sandler - Shared A $900/Month Apartment In The Valley

Judd Apatow and Adam Sandler are now both household names due to their individual contributions to comedic films—Sandler as an actor and Apatow as a director. Back around 20 years ago or so, life was far less sweet for the pair. Apatow and Sandler were sharing a $900-a-month apartment in The Valley because this was all that they could afford. In a recent interview, Apatow looked back nostalgically on his time living with Sandler, “Back then, life was just doing stand-up and writing jokes. You would sleep until noon every day and kind of stumble out. You would have to be at work at 8:30 at night. Work was sometimes 15 minutes.” He continued, “Adam always had a rental car. He never bought a car for literally 12 years.” Sandler joined in to say, “It wasn’t like we were broke. We were doing as comedians good enough to get by. We could eat at Red Lobster once every month. That was a big night out.”

Conan O’Brien And Jeff Garlin - Shared A Chicago Residence

Many of you may not have known that show host Conan O’ Brien once shared a Chicago residence with The Goldbergs star Jeff Garlin. Garlin talked about his time living with Conan by stating, “There was a writers’ strike at Saturday Night Live at the time, and he moved in for a bit.” He added, “He was a great roommate. I was the bad roommate. My bedroom had air conditioning and I rarely invited anyone in there. He was not happy about it, because his room was really hot. And I used to wake him up all the time to make him do impressions to make me laugh. I love the guy.” Conan himself backed up the story by stating, “I’d be fast asleep, it would be 3 in the morning, he would kick my door open and say, ‘It’s pudding pop time,’ and then he would make me do impressions and skits for him for his amusement, and for some reason, I did. He has that power. I didn’t say no. I just was like, this guy is yelling at me to perform, I better do it.”

Jax Taylor And Channing Tatum - Lived Together In New York

Jax Taylor and Channing Tatum are two men nobody ever imagined had lived together. But in 2013, Taylor revealed this is exactly something that used to be the case. The Vanderpump Rules star revealed who his ex-roommate was during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live in 2013. The big reveal happened during a game Taylor played where three choices were given and the audience had to decide which was false. “I lost my virginity at 19. I used to be roommates with Channing Tatum. I hooked up with more than two people at Sur” were Taylor’s two truths and a lie. The lie was revealed to be about how many people he hooked up with at Sur. Therefore, it was proven true that he lived with the Magic Mike star for a while before Tatum had his big break. Speaking about Tatum, Taylor stated, “Yeah, he was my first roommate in New York when I first started modelling.”

Robin Williams And Christopher Reeve - Roommates When Attending Juilliard In New York City

Robin Williams and Christopher Reeve had an extraordinary friendship. The pair first met and became roommates when they were attending Juilliard in New York City. After living together and forming a close bond, both men were lucky enough to share in each other’s success. Both the actor’s careers took off in the late ‘70s—William’s in Monk and Mindy and Reeve’s in Superman. After Reeve suffered a tragic horse riding accident that almost saw him lose his life and left him paralyzed, he said how it was Williams who lifted his spirits in those dark days. It’s claimed that Williams even showed up at the hospital pretending to be an eccentric Russian proctologist who was going to perform a rectal exam on him. When Reeve passed away in 2004, the pair was still as close as ever and a heartbroken Williams dedicated his Cecil B. Demille Award at the Golden Globes to Reeve in a touching gesture.

Robert Downey, Jr. And Kiefer Sutherland - Lived Together For Three Years

When Kiefer Sutherland first made the big move from London to Hollywood, it was Robert Downey, Jr. who took him in, and the pair ended up living together for three years. It was in the late ‘80s, and the pair had become acquainted when starring in the movie 1969. At the time, Robert Downey, Jr. was dating Sarah Jessica Parker, and the two were going through a rough patch. It is thought that Parker also shared the residence with the two men. When asked about how Sutherland living with the pair affected his relationship with Parker, Downey Jr. stated, “He (Sutherland) was probably staying with us for a while, and then I was having some trouble with Sarah Jessica, and he was looking after her. The star was also questioned over whether there was a love triangle going on, to which he responded, “It’s more that thing, like you’re all close friends, and he was probably consoling her a bit. He didn’t steal my girl, he remained in the relationship he was in. He was a shoulder [to cry on]. Better him than some stranger.”

James Corden And Dominic Cooper - Were Flatmates

Considering both these stars are successful Brits, it’s not entirely surprising that the two have crossed paths on a few occasions. What is surprising, however, is that Corden and Cooper actually used to share a home. It was revealed that the two are old roommates when Cooper appeared on Cordon’s The Late Late Show. Cordon stated, “Dominic and I used to be flatmates which you call roommates, but we lived together. Describe to people what our flat was like in London. Cooper was quick to respond to this, stating, “Well, I don’t really remember…I think we, we were never there at the same time much…but there was absolutely no furniture.” Cordon finished the story, by saying, “We rented it furnished but it had no furniture in it and we never thought to complain!”

Lili Reinhart And Madelaine Petsch - Decided To Live Together

Lili Reinhart and Madelaine Petsch are two of the actresses of the moment, both starring in the hit teen TV show Riverdale. This just demonstrates how well the co-stars of this show get along as some of them even choose to live together. “When we all got to Vancouver and first started hanging out, it was immediate closeness. We all immediately felt connected to one another. I live with Madelaine, who plays Cheryl. You can’t fake the closeness that we have,” Reinhart stated. So, although Reinhart and Petsch’s characters, Betty and Cheryl, may be onscreen enemies, in real life, the pair are BFF’s and couldn’t be closer.

Lindsay Lohan And Raven-Symone - Ex-Roommates

This is one of the more peculiar cases of celebrity ex-roommates on our list. Many would wonder what exactly Lohan and Symone had in common that would inspire them to move in together. Apparently, the two stars found common ground due to the fact that they were both former child stars. After crossing paths at a fashion show, they decided that moving in together would be a great idea. However, Symone was looking for a friendship and lasting bond with her roommate, then she was sadly let down. The star later spoke out explaining that Lohan was a rather absent roommate, she stated, “She paid rent, and she was there probably three times.” This is hardly surprising as back in those days, Lohan was spending most of their time passed out drunk somewhere.

Milo Ventimiglia And Penn Badgley - Up-And-Coming Actors Living Together

Before they both had great success on their respective TV shows, Milo Ventimiglia and Penn Badgley were a pair of up-and-coming actors living together, hoping they could make the whole acting thing work. In a recent interview, Badgley, a former star of Gossip Girl, revealed that living with Ventimiglia had its perks. “When I was 18, my roommate was Milo Ventimiglia, who was 28 at the time. I used to borrow his ID to get into bars. I’ve still got it somewhere.” Here, Badgley explains how he was able to take advantage on the 10-year age gap between him and his roommate. As we all know, Ventimiglia had his own share of success with big roles on shows like Gilmore Girls and Heroes.

Michael Douglas And Danny DeVito - Lived Together In New York

There are a lot of high-profile friendships in Hollywood, but many of them rarely last. Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito are definitely exceptions to this with the pair now having a friendship that has lasted for decades. The stars have been best friends since the ‘60s and decided to move in together in 1968 when they both happened to be in New York. Since this point, both men have remained the best of friends, proving that it is possible to develop a genuine and lasting relationship in Hollywood. Douglas and DeVito have even starred in a number of movies together—1984’s Romancing the Stone, 1985’s The Jewel of the Nile, 1989’s War of the Roses, and 2009’s Solitary Man.

Marilyn Monroe And Shelley Winters - Shared An Apartment In Los Angeles

Shelley Winters was a huge star in her own right during the ‘50s and ‘60s, having big success in movies, particularly The Diary of Anne Frank and A Patch of Blue. Before this fame, though, Winters moved from New York to Los Angeles and shared an apartment with a then-unknown actress, Marilyn Monroe, who was just starting out in Hollywood. It’s hard to envision a time when Monroe was ever a little-known star, considering she now has one of the most recognizable names of all time. Nevertheless, this was exactly the case, and Monroe, along with Winters, was just an up-and-coming actress looking for her big break.

Jensen Ackles And Ryan Seacrest - Lived Together In California

Yes, we bet you didn’t see this one coming as it’s certainly the most surprising case on the list, mainly because both Ackles and Seacrest are such big stars in their separate professions. It’s strange to think that two roommates could both make it so big. As we all know, Ackles went on to have huge success portraying Dean Winchester, one-half of a demon-hunting pair of brothers on Supernatural. This is a show that Ackles still currently stars in and has for the past 13 seasons, making it one of the longest-running shows in TV. Seacrest, on the other hand, went down the presenting path and has certainly had his own share of fame. He is best known for co-hosting Live with Kelly and Ryan and for presenting American Idol. It was actually during an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan, Ackles revealed that he did live in California with Seacrest years ago and pulled out an old photo as proof. “It was a long time ago, my friend. You were on the radio. You were doing a morning show. I was doing a soap opera. We were the E list.”