Stars Who Went to School Together: Maya Rudolph and Gwyneth Paltrow, Taraji P. Henson and Anthony Anderson, More

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Stars Who Went to School Together: Maya Rudolph and Gwyneth Paltrow, Taraji P. Henson and Anthony Anderson, More

School daze! Long before they found fame, dozens of unexpected celebs shared classes — and even dorm rooms. Prince William and Eddie Redmayne walked the halls of Eton together in the '90s. "He was a pal at school," the Academy Award winner told the U.K.'s Loaded magazine in 2015 of his friendship with the Prince of Wales, noting that the two played rugby together. That same year, Redmayne admitted to Glamour that he "always felt slightly sorry" for the prince "because everyone wanted to tackle the future king of England. He took all the hits." While William's brother Prince Harry also attended Eton with the duo, it was at St Andrews University that William went on to meet the love of his life: Princess Kate. “I went bright red when I met you and sort of scuttled off, feeling very shy about meeting you,” the Princess of Wales later admitted to her future husband during their 2010 engagement interview. William, for his part, "knew there was something very special about" Kate the moment he met her, he recalled. In addition to the royals, many of the Hollywood elite also crossed paths earlier in life. Cameron Diaz and Snoop Dogg, for example, attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School in California at the same time. While the Charlie's Angels actress told George Lopez in 2011 that she remembered the "Gin and Juice" artist as "tall and skinny," he later recalled to the talk show host that same year that Diaz "ran with ... all my little cheerleading homegirls" at the time. Diaz, for her part, also recalled buying weed from the rapper. Howard University — one of the biggest HBCUs in the country — was once home to four A-listers at once: Anthony Anderson,Taraji P. Henson, Diddy and Marlon Wayans all attended the historically Black college at the same time. The Black-ish star graduated Howard in May 2022, three decades after he left the university due to financial issues. “To quote Biggie, ‘IT WAS ALL A DREAM!'” the Scary Movie 3 star wrote via social media alongside a photo of his diploma. “Words can’t begin to describe the emotional roller coaster [sic] I’m on right now. It’s literally been 30 years in the making. This spring I was finally able to complete the work to graduate from Howard University with a BFA degree from the Chadwick A Boseman College of Fine Arts! Yesterday was a full circle moment. It’s never too late! Things happen when they’re supposed to happen!” His classmate Henson was the commencement speaker. Scroll down to see these and more famous stars who went to school together — including multiple pairs who ended up starring alongside each other in future projects:

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Stars Who Went to School Together: Maya Rudolph and Gwyneth Paltrow, Taraji P. Henson and Anthony Anderson, More

School daze! Long before they found fame, dozens of unexpected celebs shared classes — and even dorm rooms. Prince William and Eddie Redmayne walked the halls of Eton together in the '90s. "He was a pal at school," the Academy Award winner told the U.K.'s Loaded magazine in 2015 of his friendship with the Prince of Wales, noting that the two played rugby together. That same year, Redmayne admitted to Glamour that he "always felt slightly sorry" for the prince "because everyone wanted to tackle the future king of England. He took all the hits." While William's brother Prince Harry also attended Eton with the duo, it was at St Andrews University that William went on to meet the love of his life: Princess Kate. “I went bright red when I met you and sort of scuttled off, feeling very shy about meeting you,” the Princess of Wales later admitted to her future husband during their 2010 engagement interview. William, for his part, "knew there was something very special about" Kate the moment he met her, he recalled. In addition to the royals, many of the Hollywood elite also crossed paths earlier in life. Cameron Diaz and Snoop Dogg, for example, attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School in California at the same time. While the Charlie's Angels actress told George Lopez in 2011 that she remembered the "Gin and Juice" artist as "tall and skinny," he later recalled to the talk show host that same year that Diaz "ran with ... all my little cheerleading homegirls" at the time. Diaz, for her part, also recalled buying weed from the rapper. Howard University — one of the biggest HBCUs in the country — was once home to four A-listers at once: Anthony Anderson,Taraji P. Henson, Diddy and Marlon Wayans all attended the historically Black college at the same time. The Black-ish star graduated Howard in May 2022, three decades after he left the university due to financial issues. “To quote Biggie, ‘IT WAS ALL A DREAM!'” the Scary Movie 3 star wrote via social media alongside a photo of his diploma. “Words can’t begin to describe the emotional roller coaster [sic] I’m on right now. It’s literally been 30 years in the making. This spring I was finally able to complete the work to graduate from Howard University with a BFA degree from the Chadwick A Boseman College of Fine Arts! Yesterday was a full circle moment. It’s never too late! Things happen when they’re supposed to happen!” His classmate Henson was the commencement speaker. Scroll down to see these and more famous stars who went to school together — including multiple pairs who ended up starring alongside each other in future projects:

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Maya Rudolph and Gwyneth Paltrow

The Saturday Night Live alum and Goop founder’s fathers went to Tulane University together and once they were both living in L.A., their daughters quickly became friends. The women attended St. Augustine by the Sea in Santa Monica, California, which was where they cemented their relationship. 

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Timothée Chalamet and Ansel Elgort

The two New York natives went to LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in the city before breaking into the acting world around the same time. The Call Me by Your Name actor and Baby Driver star, who were both nominated for a Golden Globe in 2018, played basketball in high school together and had a lot of the same teachers. 

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Beanie Feldstein and Ben Platt

The Booksmart star and Pitch Perfect actor met at a mutual friend’s Bat Mitzvah as kids before reconnecting on the first day of ninth grade at L.A.’s Harvard-Westlake School. A little over a decade later, both actors had their own shows on Broadway, Feldstein with Hello, Dolly! and Platt with Dear Evan Hansen. The two have also been each other’s plus-ones to numerous award shows.

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Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts

The longtime friends became classmates at North Sydney Girls High School in Australia and instantly hit it off. Kidman revealed during an appearance on CBS’ The Early Show in 2007 that Watts dated her sister’s boyfriend in school and they modeled together as teens before acting alongside one another.

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Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

The childhood friends attended the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and shared a drama teacher while in high school. After leaving Boston, the two went on to star alongside one another in multiple films and cowrote Good Will Hunting and The Last Duel.

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B.J. Novak and John Krasinski

Before starring on The Office together, the actors both attended Newton South High School in Massachusetts. They were also linked as kids when they were on the same little league baseball team.

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Cameron Diaz and Snoop Dogg

The Bad Teacher actress walked the same high school halls as the rapper while attending Long Beach Polytechnic High School in California. Snoop revealed that he might’ve sold the actress “some of that white-girl weed” while appearing on Lopez Tonight in 2011.

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Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke

Before sharing the screen in Black Panther and Us, the two actors attended Yale together. In fact, Nyong’o gave Duke his orientation tour. Even more coincidentally, the duo saw The Avengers together during their time at the university.

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Camila Mendes and Cole Sprouse

Mendes told Office magazine in 2017 she remembers seeing her future Riverdale costar while they were both at New York University. “He was a weirdo!” she laughed. “He had really long hair down to his butt cheeks.”

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Kristen Bell and Matthew Morrison

The Good Place star told Us Weekly in 2010 that she “actually went to college [at NYU] with Matty Morrison” and even dated the Glee alum “very briefly.”

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Stanley Tucci and Ving Rhames

The Silence star and the Mission: Impossible mainstay studied together at SUNY Purchase, and Tucci even gave Rhames his “Ving” nickname.

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Taraji P. Henson and Anthony Anderson

The two Hustle & Flow costars matriculated at Howard University at the same time, along with Sean Combs and Marlon Wayans.

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Rachel Lindsay and Kevin Durant

The former Bachelorette dated the NBA star while they were both attending the University of Texas at Austin, a source exclusively told Us in 2017.

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Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson

Speaking of UT Austin alums, this actor-and-director team roomed together at the university before collaborating on The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel and other films.

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Tommy Lee Jones and Al Gore

The Men in Black star and the former vice president lived together for four years after they first met at Harvard University. “What did we do? We shot pool and watched Star Trek, when maybe we should have been studying for exams,” Jones said in a 2000 speech.

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Eddie Redmayne and Prince William

The Fantastic Beasts actor told Glamour in 2015 that he was on the Eton College rugby team with the Duke of Cambridge. “He’s a wonderful man,” he added. “I always felt slightly sorry for him because everyone wanted to tackle the future king of England. He took all the hits.”

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Prince William and Kate Middleton

The future king met his queen (then Middleton) at the University of St Andrews in 2001. The couple started dating in 2003, got engaged in 2010 and tied the knot the following year.