If you think all celebrities were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, you’re dead wrong.
So many big stars today had to struggle before they made it in Hollywood. In addition to enduring some traumatic life experiences, some had no real bed to lay their heads down at night.
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Here are 10+ celebs who were once homeless.
Hilary Swank
She certainly wasn’t a million-dollar baby.
The Oscar-winning actress grew up in a trailer park. But after her mom lost her job, they were forced to live out of their car . Thankfully, she eventually got her big break with Boys Don’t Cry .
Jim Carrey
After his father lost his job, Jim and his family were forced to live in a van when he was a teenager.
He told The Actors Studio that they also had to all work together as security guards and janitors to get by.
Tyler Perry
Before his name was everywhere in Hollywood, the actor, producer, and director was living on the streets of Atlanta .
This happened after he took a risk and put all of his money into a play that ended up bombing.
Kelly Clarkson
Before she made it big on American Idol , she was forced to live in her car .
This happened after her L.A. apartment complex burned down. When she drove back to her hometown, she auditioned for American Idol since they promised to pay her.
Shania Twain
The country music star has always been open about her difficult childhood.
As a young girl, she stayed at a Toronto homeless shelter with siblings and mother after her mom left an abusive relationship. As a teen, she squatted in an empty house and on buses.
Jewel
The singer grew up as a homeless child in Alaska who would have to shoplift to get by
“People treated me like I was contagious. They thought the homelessness might spread to them,” she told CNN Money .
This tragically soon made her realize “what it was like to be an animal.”
Before she was discovered at 19, she was living out of her van and performing her songs at local bars and cafes in San Diego.
Phil McGraw
The famous psychologist hasn’t lived a perfect life. When he was 12, he was homeless and living in a car with his father.
Despite this, he’s grateful for the experience. “That was my time to learn how to deal with stress and adversity—lessons I’d never have learned any other way at that age,” he told Parade .
Steve Harvey
Choosing to pursue a career as a comedian left the Family Fued host living out of his 1976 Ford Tempo.
“I sat down and started crying, but a voice said, ‘If you keep going, I’m going to take you places you’ve never been,’ “ he told People . “It was like God said, ‘Don’t quit, you’re almost there.’”
Daniel Craig
If anyone understands the struggling actor life, it’s the James Bond actor.
He waited tables as a server and would occasionally sleep on park benches to get by until he landed his big break as an actor.
This act of tough love served as a blessing in disguise.
“That’s probably one of the best things [my mother] did for me because it taught me. She said, ‘If you want to be there, then you be there. You work it out.’ And I had to work it out. And shelter life was part of figuring it out for a minute.”
Ed Sheeran
In his book, Ed Sheeran: A Visual Journey , he wrote that he didn’t have a bed to sleep in some nights between 2008 and 2010.
“It’s just that I didn’t have a place to stay [those nights], so I slept on the Central Line and outside Buckingham Palace. That’s just what I did.”
Sylvester Stallone
He’s always been the ultimate underdog.
“I was broke and basically sleeping in the Port Authority bus station for three weeks straight,” the Rocky actor told Total Film .
He said that he worked for the money to get out of there instead of “doing something desperate.”
One thing that was extremely difficult, though, was when he was forced to sell his dog for $40.
Thankfully, this story has a happy ending, as he was able to buy back his dog for $15,000 once his career took off.
Halle Berry
The early days of the star’s career were filled with struggle. At the age of 21, she lived in a homeless shelter in New York.
“I took my modeling money and I thought, ‘Oh, I’ve got some cash!'” she told People . But when she ran out of cash, her mother refused to help her.
Chris Pratt
After the Guardians of the Galaxy actor dropped out of college after one semester, he moved to Maui, Hawaii and lived out of a van.
“It’s a pretty awesome place to be homeless,” he told The Independent .
“We just drank and smoked weed and worked minimal hours, 15-20 hours per week, just enough to cover gas, food and fishing supplies,” he continued.
He was working at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company when he met actress, Rae Dawn Chong, who cast him in his first movie.
Jennifer Lopez
While she may be worth $400 million now, she once was a struggling artist.
She was homeless at the young age of 18 due to the decisions she was making to follow her dreams as a professional dancer.
“My mom and I butted heads. I didn’t want to go to college – I wanted to try dance full-time,” she explained to *W* magazine.
“So she and I had a break. I started sleeping on the sofa in the dance studio. I was homeless, but I told her, ‘This is what I have to do.’”
Thankfully, this paid off , as she eventually booked In Living Color .
