Famous Roommates You Had No Idea Shared A Home

Monica Gray - June 29, 2023
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Famous Roommates You Had No Idea Shared A Home
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There’s nothing better than having an awesome roommate who you can share food, stories, and experiences with. But we regular folk aren’t the only ones who have roommates. Celebrities share spaces too, and you’ll probably find it surprising to learn that several of these celebrities lived in the same house. Believe it or not, when these stars were making their way to fame and fortune, a lot of them struggled with paying rent and filling their fridge with food. It makes the majority of us feel better about our struggles. Living in a house with Justin Timberlake, Adam Sandler, Robin Williams, and Lauren Graham was probably a lot of fun. These roommates were the strangest pairs that seemed to come out of thin air, and beautiful friendships came out of some of these pairings.

Nicki Swift

Winona Ryder And Gwyneth Paltrow

In the 1990s, Ryder and Paltrow lived together, but unfortunately, this did not give them a deeper friendship. Their setup was short-lived. There’s a chance Paltrow swooped in and stole a role from Ryder, which is why their friendship ended quickly. Before the fallout, the two of them embodied the term Squad Goals and it was something all of us could aspire to have. The two would even waltz around parties and hold hands. When Paltrow started dating Ben Affleck, she introduced Ryder to Matt Damon and the four of them became an inseparable group. But Paltrow supposedly landed a role Ryder was trying to get. Later down the line, in a post for Goop, Paltrow said, “Back in the day, I had a ‘frenemy’ who, as it turned out, was pretty hellbent on taking me down,” she wrote. “I restrained myself from fighting back… But one day I heard that something unfortunate and humiliating had happened to this person. And my reaction was deep relief and happiness,” referring to Ryder’s shoplifting incident (The List).

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Popsugar

Chord Overstreet and Glen Powell

This roommate situation turned out to be a fortuitous twist of fate for Glen Powell, as it not only provided him with a comfortable living arrangement but also played a crucial role in propelling his acting career to new heights. Little did he know that sharing a space with his talented roommate would lead to an extraordinary opportunity. The stars aligned when Glen’s path intersected with that of renowned director Ryan Murphy, who happened to be in the process of casting for his highly anticipated television series, Scream Queens. From the moment Glen walked into the audition room and delivered his lines as Chad Radwell, the character he was vying for, Ryan Murphy was utterly captivated. With an enthusiastic gleam in his eyes, Ryan couldn’t help but exclaim, “As soon as he read, you were like, ‘Oh, my god. Where have you been all my life?'” This chance encounter would prove to be the catalyst for Glen’s breakthrough in the entertainment industry, opening doors to a world of exciting opportunities and launching him into the spotlight. (Popsugar).

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Daily Mail

Amy Smart And Ali Larter

Who said a model can’t be an actress? When Amy Smart and Ali Larter posed for famous photographers in Italy, it changed their lives. They moved to Los Angeles and lived in the same house while trying to make their way to fame and get their careers under their belts. In an interview with Toronto’s Calgary Sun, Ali Larter said, “[We] became instant friends,” and eventually, she became one of Amy’s bridesmaids during her wedding in 2010 (Daily Mail).

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The List

Conan O’Brien And Jeff Garlin

Long before late-night television hosts became a thing alongside Larry David, Garlin and O’Brien lived together in Chicago. Garlin loved his pudding pops more than anything in the world. O’Brien once recalled, “I’d be fast asleep, it would be 3 in the morning, he would kick my door open, kick my door open and say ‘It’s pudding pop time.'” Even years later, in 2020, the two of them seemed to be as close as they were years ago when they were roommates. Let’s hope these two live together again since their sitcoms would probably be out of this world (The List).

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Vanity Fair

Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman And Robert Duvall

As these three actors made their way to fame in the 1950s and 1960s, they all lived together in the same house. There’s no better way to find inspiration than to live with other people chasing the same dream as you. As long as it doesn’t lead to competition. They worked basic jobs like coat check at theaters and typing for the Yellow Pages. But their efforts were worth it in the end. They’d lend each other money, wingman for each other, and shared a list of rejections until, one by one, each one of them made it to the top. They eventually turned out to be Acadamy Award winning superstars. When Hoffman arrived to NYC, he had $50 in his pocket. Hackman and invited him to sleep on their floor while he made some cash (Vanity Fair).

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Hollywood Reporter

Adam Sandler And Judd Apatow

Everyone’s career started someplace, even Adam Sandler’s. Before he was a comedian, he and Judd Apatow were doing stand-up shows in the Valley. The two lived together in an apartment. During an interview, Apatow recalled their lives during standup. He said, ​”Back then, life was just doing stand-up or writing jokes. You would sleep until noon everyday and kind of stumble out. You would have to be at work at 8:30 at night. Work was sometimes 15 minutes.” Sandler slept on a mattress, oftentimes without sheets. Their biggest fights involved who was better looking. They roomed together until Sandler moved out after landing a job at SNL, and even though he promised to come back, he never did (Hollywood Reporter).

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Brightside

Michelle Williams And Ryan Gosling

In Blue Valentine, Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling portrayed two characters on the verge of a romantic collapse. But the directors wanted them to dive into their roles, so they asked them to live together. The two had so much fun sharing a space, that they lived together for an entire month. In an interview, Michelle said, “He’s so hard to hate. He does the dishes, and he takes care of the kids!” They’re stil good friends today, and it seems like living together strengthened their bond (Brightside).

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US Magazine

Jude Law And Ewan McGregor

The bond between roommates can often transcend mere cohabitation, blossoming into a powerful synergy that fuels shared ambitions and creative endeavors. Such was the case for two aspiring actors, Jude Law and Ewan McGregor, whose dreams intertwined and flourished during their time living together. As kindred spirits, they found solace in their shared passion for the performing arts and frequently engaged in deep conversations about their artistic visions and aspirations. Recognizing the potential of their combined talents, Jude and Ewan decided to embark on a remarkable collaborative journey, giving birth to a theatre production company known as Natural Nylon in 1997. (US Magazine).

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Nicki Swift

Dianna Agron And Lea Michele

Being best friends on Glee wasn’t enough for these celebrities. They eventually lived together in an apartment while shooting in the hit show. Because the two were so close, fans believed they were dating. When asked about the rumors in an interview, Agron said, “It’s funny but flattering — Lea is beautiful. Since when can’t you hug your friends?” No one is sure what happened, but they’re not as close now as they used to be (Nicki Swift).

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The List

Justin Timberlake And Ryan Gosling

In the early days, as these two stars made their way to fame, they lived together. This live-in era occurred during the All-New Mickey Mouse Club, which also included Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears. Timberlake revealed he and Gosling weren’t the most polite boys in the world, and they used to do terrible things while on set. Timberlake said, “We were probably a little closer than the rest of the kids that were on the show just because we had to share a bathroom.” They’re not as close as they used to be when they were kids, and their reunions usually take place at the Oscars (The List).

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Popsugar

Milo Ventimiglia and Penn Badgley

Despite their ten year age gap, the two had a successful experience when they lived together in an apartment. This was during their time filming The Bedford Diaries. They lived together when Badgley was 18 and Ventimiglia was 28. In an interview Badgley said, “I used to borrow his ID to get into bars. I’ve still got it somewhere.” Even if the two aren’t as close as they used to be, at least he has an expired ID of Ventimiglia’s to keep as a souvenir (The List).

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Vulture

Laura Dern And Marianne Williamson

While Dern attended UCLA and Williamson was in the middle of creating Project Angel Food, the two lived together. Even though there was a 14-year age gap, the two made it work. Williamson needed a roommate, and Dern appeared. In an interview, Dern said, “She needed a roommate at the time I had just moved out and started my acting career and we ended up roommates. Poor her because she was an adult who knew how to function and have a home and I was a teenager just figuring my way out, so I was very blessed.” Their experience living together was not without incident. Dern left the rice cooker on and almost burned down the house. The two even survived Hurricane Iniki (Hollywood Reporter).

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Interview Magazine

Owen Wilson And Wes Anderson

These filmmakers shared walls of inspiration while they attended the University of Texas. The two met in a playwriting class, and the rest is history. Their friendship started when they both discovered their shared love for director John Cassavetes. When their landlord refused to fix a lot of the problems in their apartment, Wilson and Anderson decided to stage a break-in so their landlord would do something about their inoperable windows. The police didn’t believe them, so the two of them stopped paying rent. This infuriated their landlord, and in a 1999 interview, Anderson said, “We ended up moving in the middle of the night, and he hunted us down with a private investigator. I went to meet [the landlord], and I proposed doing this project.” But this breakin eventually became the biggest inspiration for Anderson’s first feature film, Bottle Rocket (Interview Magazine).

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Biography

Robin Williams And Christopher Reeve

They always say opposites attract! That’s exactly what happened with these two celebrities, who studied acting together at Juilliard in New York. Eventually, they became friends and then lived together. Williams said, “We were totally opposite — me coming from the West Coast and a junior college, and him from the hard-core Ivy League. He used to be the ‘studly studly of all studlies’, and I was the little fool ferret boy.” They were the only two students in the advanced program, which was the start of their success. Before Reeve died in 2004, he wrote in his autobiography, “Robin was able to share his real feelings with me, and I always did the same with him. This has remained true for twenty-five years.” The two stars stood by each other’s side and died ten years apart (Biography).

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Reddit

Justin Long And Jonah Hill

Even though these two starred in comedy movies, it doesn’t mean their roommate times were all fun and games. Hill was a messy roommate who’d leave the bathroom door open and wouldn’t clean up after himself. Besides that, the two would make each other laugh like hyenas. Long once admitted the two would fight like a married couple. And just like with any relationship, the two needed some space from each other (The List).

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GQ

Johnny Depp And Nicholas Cage

During the 1980s, Johnny Depp and Nicolas Cage found themselves sharing a humble abode, far removed from the glitz and glamour that awaited them in the years to come. In those days, Depp harbored aspirations of musical stardom, strumming his guitar in pursuit of a breakthrough. However, fate intervened one fateful evening as they engaged in a friendly game of Monopoly. It was then that Cage, recognizing Depp’s untapped talent, uttered words that would forever alter the course of his friend’s life: “Start acting.” Inspired by this suggestion, Depp took a leap of faith, and the rest, as they say, is history. Thanks to Cage’s invaluable connections, Depp soon found himself in contact with an agent who saw his potential. Before long, he secured a role in the iconic horror film, A Nightmare On Elm Street, marking the first step on his remarkable journey to become a celebrated actor. (Cinema Blend).

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The List

James Corden And Dominic Cooper

The star from Preacher and the Late Late Show host lived together in London before they made their way to fame in the USA. Because this was before their fame and fortune, the two only owned one piece of cutlery and that was a spatula. During one of Corden’s shows, he opened up to the audience by saying, “Dominic and I are very, very old friends. We used to live together. We first met in 2004, we moved into a flat together in 2008. Dominic introduced me to my wife. And we are very, very dear, old friends. We thought we’d play a game to test our friendship and see how well we know each other.” The two then proceeded to play a game involving cords to shock each other. The two remain very good friends today (The Wrap).

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Buzzfeed

Nikki Reed And Kristen Stewart

During the filming of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, the captivating actresses Nikki Reed and Kristen Stewart found themselves sharing a home, creating a haven of familiarity and warmth amidst the whirlwind of their rising fame. Instead of succumbing to the allure of glitzy parties and extravagant soirées, these talented women sought solace in the simplest of pleasures: pasta dinners. A notable member of their cozy household was none other than Peter Facinelli, who not only brought his acting prowess to the screen but also revealed his culinary skills as a “great cook.” Just imagine the scene—a charming abode where the tantalizing aroma of homemade pasta dishes wafted through the air, creating an ambiance of comfort and togetherness. In this unassuming haven, the appeal of glamorous parties dimmed in comparison to the joy of savoring a delicious meal prepared by a renowned personality. Truly, it was a house that resonated with the desires of many, where the company of esteemed individuals and the experience of being treated to pasta by a famous cook surpassed the need for extravagant revelries. (Popsugar).

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ET Online

Matt Damon And Ben Affleck

At some point in life, everyone struggles with paying rent. Damon and Affleck are no strangers to that. They lived under the same roof in Los Angeles, where they worked on Good Will Hunting. Despite their love for each other, it doesn’t mean living together was without mishaps or hardships. Affleck said, “Matt’s a beautiful guy. I love him. He’s my best friend. He’s been great to me my whole life, he’s a brilliant guy. I would not suggest living with him.” Damon never paid a bill and just so happened to block things out. Affleck went on to say, “I think that’s why he’s such a great actor because he can just focus.” Despite his ability to work, Damon was also a pigsty. Affleck said, “In the middle of the living room just surrounded by concentric circles of garbage — pizza boxes. I look down at this sushi thing that’s like a week-and-a-half old and there’s maggots.” Eventually, the two decided it’d be best to live separately (ET Online).

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Cheat Sheet

Ed Westwick And Chace Crawford

These Gossip Girls stars shared an apartment in NYC while filming the show. Because the two were so busy at work, they let their house turn into a bit of a mess. “So initially Ed and I became roommates here in New York because we didn’t know if the show was going to last or not. Ed had never lived away from home, let alone in a different country. We got along and figured it would be a smart move financially. And really, it was also just kind of out of laziness.” The two were so close, they fought, and acted, like brothers. Eventually, they hired someone to take care of their place and keep it clean (Cheat Sheet).

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Daily Mail

Lauren Graham and Connie Britton

There’s a reason the “struggling actor” years exist, and that’s because until you land a job you usually have no money. That’s what happened to Lauren and Connie. In an interview, Lauren Graham admitted, “We lived in an empty house that we weren’t supposed to be living in. We had no furniture and all we ate were Rice Krispies Treats.” That sounds like every person’s college experience. The two are still good friends today, and celebrate each other’s birthday in the most celebratory way possible. Lauren Graham tweeted a birthday message for Connie, and said. “In honor of the babely Connie Britton’s birthday, let’s all party like its 1999!” (Insider)

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The Context Of Things

Brad Pitt and Jason Priestley

If there’s anything boys love doing, it’s competing against each other. But Brad Pitt and Jason Priestley had a different idea in regards to competition, and it was who could forgo showering and shaving the longest. This happened in 1987, before their big breaks on Thelma & Louise and 90210. In his self-titled memoir, Priestley wrote, “We lived on Ramen noodles and generic beer—the kind that came in white cans labeled ‘beer’—and Marlboro Light cigarettes … We were broke.” And in regards to their competition? There was always one winner, as Priestley admitted. He said, “Brad always won. Having to go on an audition meant cleaning up, which is what usually put an end to the streak.” Unfortunately, the two lost their friendship when Pitt started making movies and Priestley stayed at one TV show. Their friend group dissipated at the same time (Interview Magazine).

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Popsugar

Lindsay Lohan And Raven Symone

Despite the success of these two stars, it doesn’t mean they were on the best terms. In a 2010 interview, Raven said, “We clicked because we did the fashion shoot together, she was cool.” Lohan was never around, and even though she paid rent, she was probably only there a total of three times. Raven said, “She had her clothes in the apartment we were supposed to live in together. She had her clothes in the apartment we were supposed to live in together.” Raven had to resist the temptation of wearing Lindsay’s shoes, all of which were scattered around her home, unworn (The List).

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The List

Michael Douglas And Danny DeVito

These two lived together while they attended the same American Academy of Dramatic Arts back in the 1960s. And in 1984, the two shared the silver screen in Romancing the Stone. In an interview, DeVito and Douglas joked about their time together. DeVito said, “Michael did the laundry.” To retaliate, Douglas said, “Did he tell you I was a slob? Danny was sloppy. No, he was a great roommate. It was a magical time. We were getting paid to act.” They even respected each other when they had women over and wanted privacy (The List).

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Popcrush

Mary-Kate Olsen And Ashley Olsen

Even though these two are probably some of the most famous twin actors in the world, it doesn’t mean they didn’t live together. In fact, they even bought an apartment in NYC for $7.43 million back in 2004, in leu of their NYU housing. But a few years later, they decided to sell the apartment for $12 million, though they could only sell it for just under $8 million. The two have since moved on to other million dollar apartments (Observer).

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Popsugar

Tommy Lee Jones And Al Gore

Not only did these two celebrities share a country music band, but the two lived together in Harvard. The two country celebrities made it through some of the toughest college careers of their lives. Tommy shared a little bit about their experience living together. At times, they weren’t the most productive, and Tommy admitted, “I lived with him for four years. What did we do? We shot pool and watched Star Trek, when maybe we should have been studying for exams. I always knew that he had the brains and the heart to change the whole world.” Watching Star Trek sounds like a better alternative than studying for exams (Popsugar).

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Yahoo News

Jamie Dornan, Eddie Redmayne, And Andrew Garfield

Not only did Jamie Dornan and Eddie Redmayne live together, but they also shared an apartment in Los Angeles with Andrew Garfield, the star of Spiderman. Dornan even mentioned the brotherly support the trio gave to each other, and said, “were never competitive with each other” despite being “up for the same stuff a lot of the time. They’re all great guys and really good actors. It’s cool that it kind of all happened for us, in a way.” Instead of competing, they all made their way to fame thanks to the support they had from each other. Eddie recalls one certain memory on living with Jamie, and that’s, “One of the amazing things about living with Jamie, is it’s basically like living with a puppy because he has more energy than any human you’ve ever met.” That’s one way to get up and get going in the morning (EOnline).

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Buzzfeed

John Cusack And Jeremy Piven

The Entourage and Say Anything actors grew up together and lived together while attending the same workshop for acting. But their friendship didn’t last very long, and when Jeremy found success on Entourage. When asked how John was handling his newfound life, he said, “No comment. I mean, you could fill in the blank, I bet. It just says so much about a person if he has space for other people’s success.” Sometimes, friendships don’t make it past their success (Woman’s World).

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NZ Herald

Kiefer Sutherland and Robert Downey Jr.

Back in the 1980’s, Kiefer Sutherland and Robert Downey Jr. shared an apartment for the better part of three years. After starring in a movie together in 1969, the realized they did well as both coworkers and roommates. Downey Jr. said, “He (Sutherland) was probably staying with us for a while, and then I was having some trouble with Sarah Jessica, and he was looking after her. It was all rather incestuous back then. It’s more that thing, like you’re all close friends, and he was probably consoling her a bit.” Sunderland was a shoulder to cry on for both Parker and Downey Jr. (NZ Herald).

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