24 celebrities that dropped out of school — and made it big anyway
But these 24 famous figures decided to forego finishing school altogether. Some had already gotten their big break, others chose to ditch school to focus on their dreams, while others again found that academia simply wasn’t for them.
While we officially recommend staying in school, from Eminem to Jessica Chastain, see which celebs made their professional lives work without a high school degree.
Jennifer Lawrence didn’t even finish middle school — she started pursuing acting when she was just 14.
“I dropped out of middle school. I don’t technically have a GED or a diploma. I am self-educated,” Lawrence said during a “60 Minutes” interview, “I struggled through school, I never felt very smart.”
Rihanna was only 16 when she left Barbados to pursue a record deal in the US.
She was just a teenager when she moved into famed music producer Evan Rogers’ house in Connecticut. One year later, she was auditioning for Jay-Z (a fellow dropout) and well on her way to stardom.
Ryan Gosling was a child star on the “Mickey Mouse Club,” but dropped out of high school to move to New Zealand and film “Young Hercules.”
Gosling was 17 when he moved to New Zealand to shoot ’90s historical-fantasy show “Young Hercules.”
Jay-Z is a vocal supporter of the importance of education, even though he doesn’t have a degree himself.
Johnny Depp dropped out to pursue a musical career, and now his daughter is following in his footsteps.
His daughter, Lily-Rose Depp, is following in her famous father’s footsteps, whether he likes it or not. In an interview with Vanity Fair, she revealed that she has also ditched school to pursue her career. “They [her parents] were in no position to tell me, ‘Get your diploma first,'” she told the magazine.
Roseanne Barr was in a car accident that lead to her being institutionalized at 16. When she was released, she almost immediately left school.
Harry Styles was only 16 when he auditioned for “The X Factor” — he’s the youngest member of One Direction.
Now he’s 23 and worth $75 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Whoopi Goldberg had an undiagnosed learning disability that lead to her dropping out of high school at age 17.
John Travolta was already honing his craft in high school, and was forced to leave his high school sweetheart behind when he moved to New York.
When Travolta was 21, he was cast as Vinnie Barbarino, an unruly high school student, in “Welcome Back, Kotter,” and famously played high school student Danny in “Grease.”
Daniel Radcliffe was only 11 when he was cast as Harry Potter, and he has been working ever since.
In an interview with Parade, Radcliffe revealed that he wasn’t that great in school anyway. “I wasn’t very good in school at all,” Radcliffe said. “I was kind of useless. I found the work really, really difficult.”
Robert Downey Jr. dropped out of school when he was 16 to move across the country to live with his mom in New York (his parents were divorced).
Soon after, at age 20, he was added to the cast of “Saturday Night Live,” but was fired after just one season. Obviously, this didn’t affect his prospects too much — “Avengers: Infinity War” just had the biggest opening weekend of all time.
Seth Rogen dropped out to film “Freaks and Geeks,” which is ironically about high school students.
Jude Law left school to appear on a soap opera when he was 17.
Hilary Swank is well-known for her role as a high school teacher in “Freedom Writers,” but she didn’t even get her diploma.
She admitted, “I’m not proud to say I’m a high-school dropout […] but it happened. I think school is really, really important, and we have an education problem in this country and it’s a shame. It’s a shame for any kid to feel hopeless about their future.”
Jim Carrey left school at age 16 to help provide for his family.
At the age of 18, Carrey found his first credit with TV series, “The All-Night Show.”
Drew Barrymore was in rehab at age 13 and had emancipated from her mother at 14 — since she was legally independent, she decided to quit school.
She spoke to the Guardian about her unconventional childhood, stating that her “life was not normal. I was not a kid in school with normal circumstances.”
In her memoir “Wildflower,” Barrymore reflected on her experiences as an emancipated 14-year-old. “Once I was emancipated, I had simply dropped out of school,” she wrote, “I decided to create my own school, to self-educate: I will buy a dictionary and study every word. I will steep myself in all the things I love. I decided right then and there I would not be defeated. I would create my own curriculum. And so I did just that: I read, I cleaned, I worked.”
Patrick Dempsey “dropped out of high school […] to run away with the circus, basically.”
Dempsey shared that once his high school got wind of his college degree, they decided to give him his high school diploma as well. “I graduated high school on Friday and got the doctorate on Saturday. It was a remarkable weekend,” said Dempsey.
Marlon Brando was sent to military school after being an “incorrigible” student — but he was expelled.
When he arrived in New York City at age 18, he slept on the streets until he found work. In a true rags-to-riches story, Brando would eventually become one of the most well-known actors in history.
Nicolas Cage left school after taking a summer acting class when he was 15.
His first acting credit came a year later, in a TV movie called “Best of Times,” in which he was still credited as Nicolas Coppola (his real name). His first credit with his stage name came two years later for his role as Randy in “Valley Girl.”
Kate Winslet revealed on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” that she left school at 16 to go work in a deli.
Marilyn Monroe dropped out when she was 15 and was married by 16.
Biography.com states that Monroe dropped out of school when she was 15, and that by age 16 she was married to her 21-year-old neighbor, James Dougherty.
Eminem had trouble in school — he failed the ninth grade three times.
Avril Lavigne was signed by famed producer LA Reid when she was 15 — and she immediately dropped out of school in Canada to move to the US.
Lavigne released her first album when she was 18, titled “Let Go.”
Jessica Chastain didn’t exactly drop out — she wasn’t able to graduate because she was absent too much.
Source: Business Insider
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