Here's what 60 celebrities looked like in high school

Kirsten Acuna,Gabbi ShawApr 21, 2020, 00:57 IST

Reese Witherspoon graduated in the '90s.Splash News, Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

If you think the biggest actors and actresses were only in drama club and musicals growing up, think again. They were cheerleaders, prom kings, and homecoming queens, sang in choir, and governed their student bodies.
If you've ever wondered what kind of students your favorite celebrities were, we rounded up what some of the biggest names in Hollywood were up to during their formative years.
Melissa McCarthy went through a goth phase in her final two years of school.
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High school is a wild time in everyone's lives, including your favorite celebrities, from Ted Danson to Jennifer Lopez.

Classmates.com and Ancestry.com provided Insider with many high school yearbook photos and some of their superlatives.

Some of what we learned about these A-listers was unexpected: "The Martian" star Jessica Chastain dropped out of high school, and Bill Murray paid his way through Catholic school.

Keep reading to see what your favorite celebrities were like and what they were doing in high school.

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Madonna was a straight-A student.

This is Madonna at Rochester Adams high school during her sophomore year. Courtesy Ancestry.com, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Jake Gyllenhaal was in a boy band and said he was made fun of for his love of theater.

Gyllenhaal attended Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, California. Courtesy Ancestry.com, Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Brie Larson graduated from school at 15.

Larson shared the throwback of her younger self on Instagram. Splash News, Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

Alec Baldwin played on the football team.

The Baldwin brothers attended Berner High School in Massapequa, New York. Splash News, Theo Wargo/Getty Images for NBC

Farrah Fawcett was voted most beautiful three times in a row.

Fawcett attended W.B. Ray High School in Texas. Splash News, Ronald Zak/AP

Chadwick Boseman was on the basketball team in high school before he became interested in acting.

Chadwick Boseman attended T.L. Hanna High School in South Carolina and graduated in 1995. Splash News/Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Lady Gaga always had dreams of making it big.

Here she is at a winter dance in 2003 when she was 17. Splash News/Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Paul Rudd still looks really young compared to his high school yearbook photos.

Rudd graduated from Shawnee Mission West high school in Kansas in 1987. Splash News/Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for HarperCollins Publishers

Kesha was writing her own music back in high school.

Here she is in the school's 2004/2005 yearbook. Splash News/Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Country Music Hall Of Fame

Macklemore started rapping in high school with a name he came up with for an art project.

Macklemore attended two different high schools in Seattle. Courtesy of Classmates.com, Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Robin Williams was voted least likely to succeed and most humorous.

Robin Williams attended Detroit Country Day School in Birmingham, Michigan. Courtesy Classmates.com, Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Bill Murray worked jobs as a teen to pay for his Catholic school tuition.

Bill Murray's senior photo at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois. Courtesy Classmates.com, Dominique Charriau/Getty Images

Elizabeth Banks had brown wavy locks in high school.

Elizabeth Banks in 1992 at Pittsfield High School in western Massachusetts. Splash News, Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images

Her "Fences" co-star Denzel Washington went to a private all-boys high school that he said changed his life.

Washington attended Oakland Military Academy in New Windsor, New York. He also went to Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Florida. Courtesy Classmates.com, Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

Viola Davis gained an interest in acting at high school.

Here's Davis as a freshman at Central Falls High in Rhode Island. Courtesy Classmates.com, Ben Gabbe/Getty Images

Robert Downey Jr. also dropped out of high school.

Robert Downey Jr.'s yearbook photo from Santa Monica High School. Courtesy Classmates.com, Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Jessica Chastain dropped out of high school.

Chastain went to El Camino Fundamental High School in Sacramento, California. Courtesy Classmates.com, Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images

Jamie Foxx originally wanted to be a football player.

Foxx's freshman year photo at Terrell High School in Texas. Courtesy Classmates.com, Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images

Renée Zellweger participated in a lot of school activities.

Zellweger was voted "Dream Date" in her senior year at Katy High School in Katy, Texas. Splash News/Jason Merritt/Getty Images for ELLE

Melissa McCarthy went from preppy to goth in high school.

McCarthy went to school at St. Francis Academy in Joliet, Illinois. Courtesy Classmates.com, Getty Images

Jack Nicholson was a bit of a troublemaker.

Jack Nicholson in 1954 at Manasquan High School in New Jersey. Splash News, Valerie Macon/Getty Images

Ellen DeGeneres wasn't fond of school.

DeGeneres graduated from Atlanta High School in Texas. Courtesy Classmates.com, Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Natalie Portman was a straight-A student and has some serious science cred.

Portman was also on the winter track team in high school. Splash News, Getty Images

Nicolas Cage said he was a straight-A student until he moved in with his famous uncle, director Francis Coppola.

Nicolas Cage in his freshman yearbook photo. Courtesy Classmates.com, Getty Images/David Livingston

Emma Stone dropped out of high school after one semester.

Emma Stone's freshman year photo at Catholic High School Xavier College Preparatory School in Phoenix, Arizona. Splash News, Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

His classmate Cameron Diaz was a cheerleader.

Cameron Diaz is seen in 1988 at Long Beach Poly High School in Long Beach, California. Courtesy Ancestry.com, Kimberly White/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize

Snoop Dogg played some football in high school.

Classmate Cameron Diaz described Snoop Dogg as tall and skinny. Courtesy Classmates.com, Steve Jennings/Getty Images

Meryl Streep was the homecoming queen when she was 17.

Streep in a cheerleading photo. Courtesy Classmates.com, Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Leonardo DiCaprio dropped out of high school.

DiCaprio looks super young in his high school photo. Splash News, Mark Davis/Getty Images

Alex Rodriguez played football — and was really good at it.

Alex Rodriguez graduated from Westminster Christian Academy. Courtesy Ancestry.com, Andrew Toth/Getty Images for TAO Group

Jennifer Lopez went to an all-girls Catholic high school.

Jennifer Lopez's senior photo at Preston High School in the Bronx, New York. Courtesy Classmates.com, Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Tom Hanks was not popular in high school.

Tom Hanks went to Skyline High School in California. Courtesy Classmates.com, Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Sandra Bullock was a cheerleader in high school.

Bullock attended Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia. Courtesy Ancestry.com, Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

Julia Roberts was in her school band and played the clarinet.

Julia Roberts went to Campbell High School in Smyrna, Georgia. Courtesy Classmates.com, Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Matt Damon attended high school with his good friend, Affleck.

Damon in his senior portrait at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Courtesy Ancestry.com, Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Ben Affleck had nearly perfect SAT scores.

Ben Affleck as a senior in high school. Splash News, Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Oprah Winfrey was voted most popular.

Oprah, in high school, in 1971. Courtesy Classmates.com, Christopher Polk/Getty Images

His buddy Brad Pitt was one of the popular kids and was voted best dressed.

Brad Pitt's senior photo at Kickapoo High School in Missouri. Courtesy Classmates.com, Jason Kempin/Getty Images

George Clooney was on the varsity baseball and basketball teams.

Clooney went to Augusta High School in Augusta, Kentucky. Courtesy Classmates.com, Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Amy Adams didn't really enjoy school, but she was always working.

Amy Adams in 1992 at Douglas County High School in Castle Rock, Colorado. Splash News/Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Bruce Willis' classmates said acting helped improve his stutter.

Bruce Willis's senior photos at Penns Grove High School in Carneys Point, New Jersey. early photos: Courtesy Classmates.com, Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images

Her husband Ryan Reynolds, on the other hand, didn't make it through drama class.

Ryan Reynolds in ninth grade at Prince of Wales Secondary School in Vancouver, BC, in 1991. Splash News, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Blake Lively was quite the busy bee in high school.

Blake Lively attended Burbank High School in California. Courtesy Classmates.com, Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Will Smith got his "Fresh Prince" moniker in high school.

Smith's senior photo from Overbrook High School in Philadelphia. Courtesy Classmates.com, Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Her pal Amy Poehler played basketball, softball, and soccer.

Amy Poehler in 1989 at Burlington High School in Massachusetts. Splash News, Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images

Tina Fey worked on the school newspaper.

Tina Fey went to Upper Darby High School in Pennsylvania. Courtesy Classmates.com, Getty Images / David Livingston

Comedian Will Ferrell was voted best personality.

Ferrell wasn't prom king, but he was voted senior king for their winter ball. Courtesy Classmates.com, Getty Images/Michael Loccisano

Reese Witherspoon went to an all-girls high school in Nashville, Tennessee.

Witherspoon's 1994 senior photo from Harpeth Hall School. Splash News, Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Halle Berry was prom queen in high school, but it didn't come easily.

Halle Berry's senior photo at Bedford High School in Ohio. Courtesy Classmates.com, Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Matthew McConaughey was voted the most handsome in his class.

McConaughey was named People's Sexiest Man Alive in 2005. Courtesy Classmates.com, Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Anna Faris said she didn't date until senior year of high school.

Anna Faris' senior year portrait at Edmonds-Woodway High School in Washington. Classmates.com, Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Chris Pratt was voted class clown in high school.

Chris Pratt in his senior photo. Courtesy Classmates.com, Joel Ryan/Invision/AP

Bob Odenkirk's friends used to call him "Bobnoxious" in high school.

Bob Odenkirk is best known for his role in "Better Call Saul" and "Breaking Bad." Ancestry.com, Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

"Queer Eye" star Karamo Brown attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of the Parkland school shooting.

Karamo Brown graduated in 1999. Ancestry.com, Santiago Felipe/Getty Images

Stephen Colbert barely graduated high school after experiencing the tragic death of his father and two of his brothers at age 10.

Stephen Colbert is a self-professed "Lord of the Rings" fanatic. Ancestry.com, Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images

Julia Louis-Dreyfus did theater in high school.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus grew up in Washington, DC. Ancestry.com, John Shearer/Getty Images

Gwen Stefani has always been interested in music.

Gwen Stefani at prom. Gwen Stefani/Instagram and Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

Jerry Seinfeld graduated from Massapequa High School in Long Island, New York, in the '70s, while rocking a very '70s hairdo.

Jerry Seinfeld still lives on Long Island. Ancestry.com, Manny Carabel/Getty Images

Ted Danson played basketball at his Connecticut boarding school, and called himself a "frustrated athlete."

Ted Danson starred on "The Good Place." Ancestry.com, Justin Lubin/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Patricia Arquette rocked a dramatic haircut in high school.

Patricia Arquette comes from a famous family. Ancestry.com, Kevin Winter/Getty Images

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