The road to fame can be long and very difficult, and nobody knows that better than the celebrities who were once homeless, before making it big and finding financial security.
From stars who didn’t really mind being homeless, like Chris Pratt, to celebrities who ended up that way as children, based on decisions made by their parents, find out which actors and singers managed to find success despite a temporary setback.
Chris Pratt
After dropping out of college, Chris Pratt tried stripping and finally ended up living in a tent on the beaches of Maui. Luckily for him, that’s where he was discovered and set him on a path that included a starring role in “Parks and Recreation” and the lead in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy”.
“It’s a pretty awesome place to be homeless. We just drank and smoked weed and worked minimal hours, just enough to cover gas, food, and fishing supplies,” he told The Independent.
Halle Berry
Moving to Chicago in order to pursue an acting career, Halle Berry also became one of the celebrities who were once homeless, when her mother stopped sending her money. “It taught me how to take care of myself and that I could live through any situation, even if it meant going to a shelter for a small stint, or living within my means, which were meager. I became a person who knows that I will always make my own way,” she told Star Pulse.
Jim Carrey
Forced to live in a VW bus with his entire family after dropping out of high school, Jim Carrey struggled as a teen. Eventually, the family moved in a tent on his sister’s lawn, before getting a home of their own.
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Hilary Swank
One of the celebrities who were once homeless who grew up in a trailer park, Hilary Swank had to live out of a car with her mother when she moved to California. Luckily, they got a break and were offered a place to sleep. “We had a friend who was selling their house. And so they said, ‘You know, there’s no furniture, but you can stay there at night. And then, during the day, you have to leave so we can try and sell it.’ So we got air mattresses. Blew the air mattresses up. Slept on the air mattresses. And left in the morning,” she explained to CBS News.
Daniel Craig
While struggling to support himself as a young actor, Daniel Craig also ended up homeless for a while, sleeping on park benches when he had nowhere else to turn to.
Jennifer Lopez
Moving out at 18, because her mother wanted her to go to college, while she chose to pursue a career as a dancer, JLo also ended up as one of the celebrities who were once homeless. She had to sleep on a couch in a dance studio before getting a job that allowed her to get her own place.
Sylvester Stallone
After getting evicted and sleeping for three weeks in the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City, Sylvester Stallone decided to get his life together by starring in the softcore porn “The Party at Kitty and Stud’s”. “It was either do that movie or rob someone, because I was at the end – the very end – of my rope,” he told Playboy.
Jewel
“I ended up homeless because my boss propositioned me, and when I wouldn’t sleep with him he didn’t give me my paycheck,” Jewel told Showbizspy. After getting evicted from her apartment, she ended up sleeping in her car for a month. Unlike most celebrities who were once homeless, she also had health issues with her kidneys that prevented her from keeping a steady job.
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Sam Worthington
After leaving the college where he studied drama, Sam Worthington was given $400 by his father, along with a one way ticket to the other side of the continent. The actor explained to Ellen that his father told him to “work his way home”. After working as a bricklayer, he was accepted on a scholarship at the Sydney National Institute of Dramatic Art. He also ended up homeless in Los Angeles, living in his car, before getting cast in “Avatar”.
Shania Twain
Few celebrities who were once homeless are now as rich as Shania Twain (estimated net worth $350 million). The Canadian singer has a very difficult childhood, and her mother sought help at a Toronto homeless shelter in order to feed her children.
