10 celebrities who were homeless before making it big: From Jennifer Lopez to Dwayne Johnson
10 celebs who went from rags to riches: From Daniel Craig to Kelly Clarkson
Hollywood is mostly equated with glitz, glamour, and all the luxuries money can buy. While it is no secret that stars have had to work hard to achieve that kind of a luxurious life, sometimes the struggle becomes more intense and difficult owing to their situation of homelessness. Here are 10 such stars who have struggled with homelessness before making it big in the Hollywood.
1. Chris Pratt
Chris Pratt might now be known as Star Lord, but there was a time when he had only $60 to his name and slept on the beach. In 2022, he appeared on the 'SmartLess' podcast, where he shared his life's story, saying that after graduating from school, he secured a sales job selling coupon books when he was 18. But as he realized it wasn't his calling, he was helped by a friend who gave him a one-way ticket to Maui. 'The Guardians of the Galaxy' star shared, “He paid for my ticket out there and I basically moved there. I had no money, but I showed up and hung out with a bunch of friends and got a job at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company and lived on the beach.” There he met actress Rae Dawn Chong and her director who gave Pratt his Hollywood break in her directorial debut, 'Cursed Part III'. Pratt recalled, "The director and her producing partner were getting ready to film this movie… and I said, ‘I can’t go to LA, I don’t have any money.'" “She [the producer] said, ‘Sweetie, we’ll fly you there.’ That was it, I never went back [to Maui],” added Pratt, per Audacy.
2. Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez currently has a net worth of $450 million, but there was a time when the entertainer had to spend nights at the dance studio. The dedicated actress became homeless after arguing with her mother regarding her career in dance. During an interview with W Magazine in 2013, Lopez shared, “My mom and I butted heads. I didn’t want to go to college – I wanted to try dance full-time." She explained, “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.’ A few months later, I landed a job dancing in Europe. When I got back, I booked ‘In Living Color'. I became a Fly Girl and moved to LA. It all happened in a year," per CNN.
3. Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig spent quite a good number of nights sleeping on park benches and stealing from supermarkets before becoming the James Bond of Hollywood. Craig later found his footing in Hollywood and starred in blockbusters like 'Casino Royale'.
4. Carmen Electra
Carmen Electra became homeless when her then-boyfriend stole her money. But the 'Baywatch' star did not lose her resilience and became even more hungry for success in the show business. She shared with Las Vegas Review-Journal that she rather learned from the experience. Per OK! Magazine, she said, "I love it, because you know what? Maybe that's what gave me the drive to be in this business, and stick it out, and really push myself and make it happen," before adding, "I made a decision to do it on my own ... and to be an independent woman, and I'm proud of that." She continued, "Situations like that really bring you down to earth. I'm so grateful. I'm grateful for everything that I have and everything I've been able to accomplish."
5. Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson has often been vocal about facing poverty and homelessness in his formative years despite coming from a family of wrestlers. The WWE champion received an award at the 2018 LA Family Housing Awards ceremony, where the 'Fast and the Furious' actor shared his experience with homelessness. "What makes this award special to me — not only because it's being presented to me by this beautiful family — is that when I was 14 we were evicted, living in Honolulu, Hawaii," he said before adding, "We were evicted and forced off the island, and we didn't have a place to live. I wound up moving to a little motel outside Nashville, Tennessee. It's a crazy story for another time."
6. Tiffany Haddish
Tiffany Haddish has a heartwarming story of rags to riches in Hollywood. She once shared that she used to live in a car before finding success in Hollywood. At that time, she once met with Kevin Hart, who helped her in achieving her goals. Haddish recalled during an interview that the comedian learned about her situation and gave her $300. She shared, "[Hart] said, 'Find yourself a place for the week. And then write out a list of goals of what you want to do, and start accomplishing those goals.' And then I started attacking those goals."
7. James Cameron
When James Cameron moved to Hollywood in the 1970s with the dreams of making it big in Hollywood, he was homeless and was living out of his car. During that time, he was writing the script for 'Terminator' as well. His tight financial situation made him sell the rights to the scripts for just $1. He, fortunately, retained the rights to direct the film.
8. Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson's life turned around when she won the first 'American Idol'. But before finding success, she had to struggle with homelessness as her house was damaged by a fire and she was living in her car.
9. Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey's family faced homelessness when his father lost his job. The Canadian-American actor's family resorted to a tent at a park in Ontario for eight months. The 'Bruce Almighty' actor revealed that he and his family members took up jobs like those of janitors and security guards.
10. Selma Blair
Selma Blair made a mistake in calculation as she once spent all her savings in a designer dress instead of spending it on housing. Recalling her experience with homelessness, the 'Legally Blonde' actress, shared with E! in 2011, "I was basically homeless, living in the Salvation Army in New York City. I was 21 years old, and I saved all up my money [for the designer dress] that I should have saved up for rent at the Salvation Army."
