Everyone loves a good underdog story.
That’s exactly what these 10+ celebrities were before they reached fame. They overcame naysayers, personal dilemmas, and money problems along the way.
But looking at them now with their millions, we’d say that it was all worth it.
Here are 10+ celebrities who came from humble beginnings.
1. Mariah Carey
She may be known for her diva attitude, but the singer’s early life was anything but glamorous.
In her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey , she revealed that she grew up dirt poor since she was raised by a single mother.
2. Justin Bieber
Being raised by a single mother meant that things were rough for Justin growing up.
“I remember being poor and being teased by other kids,” he said during an interview with Clique TV . Look at him now, though!
3. Chrissy Metz
Since her parents divorced when she was eight, the This Is Us learned about money struggles from an early age.
She told Glamour that she would be nervous walking home, unsure if the power would be turned off when she got there.
Her mother made a lot of sacrifices for Chrissy and her siblings, including not eating so they had enough food.
These money issues continued into adulthood.
She told Glamour that she only had 81 cents in her bank account when she landed the role of Kate on This Is Us .
4. 50 Cent
The rapper’s name has a deeper significance to it than you’d think.
He lived a hard childhood after his drug-dealing mother, Sabrina, was murdered when he was eight. By the age of 12, the rapper was selling drugs on the street.
By the time he was 25, he famously had been shot nine times. This tragic life story was all part of his first album, “Get Rich Or Die Tryin'”.
While he declared bankruptcy in 2015, he has since landed on his feet.
5. Lizzo
Before she made it big as a singer, Lizzo dropped out of college and was forced to live out of her car.
“That was my home for a little,” Lizzo told CBS This Morning . “I spent Thanksgiving in that car, and I remember I cried myself to sleep.”
6. Demi Moore
Basically, anything that could go wrong for the star did go wrong in her childhood.
She grew up in a trailer park, was sexually abused, and was raised by alcoholic parents.
A lot of this was recalled in the star’s memoir, *Inside Out*.
In the end, getting into acting was the star’s way out of her rough life.
“I entered this career having no background or connection to acting,” she told The Guardian in 2007. “I had so little I had nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking the risk.”
7. J.K. Rowling
Before she became one of the richest women in the world, she was a single mother living off of government handouts.
“I remember 20 years ago not eating so my daughter would eat,” she told The Daily Mail .
“I remember nights when there was literally no money,” she continued.
“I would have done anything to work, and I took as much work as I could.”
After facing rejection letters for years, Harry Potter was her big-ticket out of poverty.
8. Céline Dion
“We were three, four in the same bed,” Dion told CBS News about growing up as he youngest of 14 children.
“I did not have a bedroom. Up the stairs, before going in the bedrooms, there was a little ramp. And my bed was there.”
9. Jewel
The star was a diamond in the rough growing up. That’s because she grew up as a homeless child in Alaska.
“People treated me like I was contagious. They thought the homelessness might spread to them,” she told CNN Money .
Living this way soon forced her to shoplift to survive. This soon made her realize “what it was like to be an animal.”
Everything changed for the singer when she was discovered at 19 by singing in bars and coffee shops.
10. Jennifer Lopez
Jenny from the Block is right. She became homeless when she butted heads with her mom by deciding to pursue her dreams as a dancer.
“I started sleeping on the sofa in the dance studio. I was homeless, but I told her, ‘This is what I have to do,'” she told W magazine.
11. Leonardo DiCaprio
The actor’s childhood was a far cry from the glamorous life he’s living now.
After his parents divorced, his single mother worked several jobs just to make ends meet. These days, Leo is worth a cool $260 million .
12. Hilary Swank
The actress certainly wasn’t a million-dollar baby growing up…
She was raised in a trailer park after her father took off. When her mom lost her job, they were forced to live out of their car.
13. Jim Carrey
The actor was thrown into a life of poverty when his father lost his job as an accountant at 51.
This left a 12-year-old Carrey to get a job working in a factory for eight hours after school.
At one point, the family was even living in a van.
“We lived in a van for a while, and we worked all together as security guards and janitors,” he told the Actor’s Studio .
Thankfully, Carrey used his love of comedy and acting to change his life.
