Fans Had No Idea These Stars Were Roomies

Their Glee characters Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray may have been at loggerheads. But thankfully Lea Michele and Dianna Agron were much friendlier away from William McKinley High. The two actresses even shared an apartment together during their time filming the musical phenomenon. In an interview with New York Magazine Michele said, “We have these smackdowns at work and come home and are like, 'Wasn’t it so funny when we were fighting today? Let’s make cookies!' It works out.”

Eddie Redmayne and Jamie Dornan were able to commiserate with each other over failed auditions during their rise to fame. The pair lived together in Los Angeles several years before the Fantastic Beasts and Fifty Shades of Grey franchises came calling. Dornan told TV chat show Live! with Kelly and Michael that when they first arrived in the city, he received 25 scripts compared to his roommate’s three. But far from bragging, the Northern Irishman admitted this meant he ultimately experienced more rejection. 

Jeff Garlin didn’t appear to be the most relaxing of roommates back in his youth. Recalling the time he shared a Chicago pad with the Curb Your Enthusiasm star, Conan O’Brien told his chat show viewers, “[He would] make me do impressions and skits for him for his amusement, and for some reason, I did. He has that power. I didn’t say no. I just was like, this guy is yelling at me to perform, I better do it.”

Nashville star Connie Britton and Gilmore Girls actress Lauren Graham may now be fixtures of the small screen. But back when they were rooming together, the pair were complete unknowns who had to scrimp every cent they could. Graham explained to Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen, “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.”

As well as appearing in two of the most acclaimed comedies of the last decade, Ilana Glazer and Rachel Bloom were also once housemates. The Broad City star and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend lead decided to get a place together after finishing college. And they opted for an apartment in Brooklyn to call home.

In 2009 director Judd Apatow cast Adam Sandler in his comedy drama about the stand-up circuit, Funny People. This wasn’t the first time that the pair’s paths had crossed, either. They lived together in Los Angeles before they found fame, with Sandler later moving out to New York. But the funnyman carried on giving Apatow rent money because he was convinced he’d be handed his marching orders any second and would have to return.

Owen Wilson is renowned for his long-running working relationship with director Wes Anderson. Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Darjeeling Limited and Rushmore are just a few of the cult favorites on which the pair have collaborated. But you might not know that Wilson and Anderson were also University of Texas roomies before they became the toast of the indie circuit.

Chace Crawford and Ed Westwick became teenage pin-ups at the same time after they landed roles in Gossip Girl. And while shooting the soapy drama the pair decided to get a New York bachelor pad together, too. Crawford explained to website Interview, “We got along and figured it would be a smart move financially. And really, it was also just kind of out of laziness.”

Here’s one pair of celeb roommates you probably wouldn’t have expected. Stanley Tucci also appeared to have quite the effect on Ving Rhames when the pair shared a place at New York’s Purchase College. Apparently, the former inspired the latter to change his Christian name of Irving to his more familiar moniker.

Turns out there was one major advantage for Penn Badgley when he decided to room up with Milo Ventimiglia while filming Gossip Girl. The actor, who was a decade younger than his fellow actor housemate, told Bullett magazine, “I used to borrow his ID to get into bars. I’ve still got it somewhere.”

After meeting in Italy during their early modeling years, Ali Larter and Amy Smart eventually decided to become roomies back home. The pair must have enjoyed their time together in their Los Angeles apartment: in 2011 Smart asked Larter to take on the role of bridesmaid at her wedding.

In 2020 Michael Douglas took to Instagram to upload a throwback snap of himself and Danny DeVito captioned, “Best friend and ex-roomie.” Yes, the pair shared a place in New York together before becoming Hollywood fixtures. And according to Douglas, his Romancing the Stone co-star had a very tidy nature.

If there was an award for the late ‘80s hottest celebrity roommates, it would surely have gone to Brad Pitt and Jason Priestley. Before finding fame on Thelma and Louise and Beverly Hills, 90210, respectively, the pin-ups shared a Hollywood pad. It doesn’t appear to have been the most hygienic of arrangements, though. In fact, Priestley noted in his 2014 memoir, “Just for fun, we used to have competitions over who could go the longest without showering and shaving. Brad always won.”

Emma Stone is known for being one of Hollywood’s good eggs. And the Academy Award-winner proved that once more while filming Cameron Crowe drama Aloha in Hawaii. When she learned that co-star Bradley Cooper’s lease was about to expire, Stone generously invited the actor to crash at her place.

Tommy Lee Jones may be considered one of Hollywood’s grumpiest men. But The Fugitive star has nothing but nice things to say about his unlikely former roommate. Lee Jones lived with former Presidential candidate Al Gore when the pair were studying at Harvard University. And in 2000 he vouched for his old pal’s character at the Democratic National Convention, describing him as “good, caring, loving.”

Jonah Hill doesn’t seem to be the most ideal housemate, Well, that’s according to Justin Long, who shared a pad with the Superbad star for several years. During a Watch What Happens Live interview, the actor revealed, “Jonah would recycle everything. We started getting in little fights – he left the bathroom door open, didn’t clean up after himself. Little things like that.”

Lindsay Lohan and Raven-Symoné didn’t really get much chance to bond about being former child stars when they briefly shared a place. The latter told magazine Us Weekly that the Mean Girls actress essentially used their pad as a glorified wardrobe. Symoné said, “She paid rent, and she was there probably three times.”

Before the likes of Mamma Mia! and the late-night chat show circuit made them household names, Dominic Cooper and James Corden shared a London flat. But as they recalled on the latter’s eponymous CBS hit, it wasn’t exactly a glamorous situation. Cooper said, “We only had one piece of cutlery, which was a spatula. And I remember a really depressing evening where he caught me – he came home and I was just eating baked beans with the spatula.”

Shelley Winters certainly got to know Marilyn Monroe when the silver screen icons roomed together in the post-war era. The former is quoted as saying, “We made a list of men we wanted to sleep with... I never got to ask her before she died how much of her list she had achieved, but on her list was Albert Einstein, and after her death, I noticed that there was a silver-framed autographed picture of him on her white piano.”

Frances McDormand and Holly Hunter only became friends due to their boyfriends at the time. But their platonic relationship ended up lasting much longer than their respective romantic ones. The pair, both of whom now have Oscars to their name, even ended up rooming together. And they later lived with Sam Raimi and the Coen brothers, too, in what must surely be one of the starriest set of housemates ever!

Back when they were members of the hottest Hollywood group in town, aka the Brat Pack, Robert Downey Jr. and Kiefer Sutherland also shared an apartment. In 2016 the former recalled to Howard Stern how the latter had been a tower of strength during his turbulent relationship with Sarah Jessica Parker. The pair also shared the screen together in 1988 war drama 1969.

“Closer than brothers” was how Dana Reeve described her late husband Christopher’s relationship with Robin Williams. The pair first struck up a connection while rooming together at New York City’s Juilliard School of Drama in the early 1970s. And they remained close until the Superman star’s untimely death three decades later. 

Shoe designer Brian Atwood and comedic actress Melissa McCarthy lived together in New York, having previously been students at the same Colorado high school. Although the pair had no money during their early stint in Hell’s Kitchen, they always had fun. Atwood recalled to website Popsugar, “I gave her a free subway map for her 21st birthday. It was just a special time.”

Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman are widely regarded as two of the finest actors of their generation. But you probably don’t know that they shared an apartment in the Big Apple before establishing themselves on the big screen. Hoffman also counted another Hollywood legend, Robert Duvall, as a roommate after parting ways with his future Runaway Jury co-star.

Bridgit Mendler may now be a married woman. But before walking down the aisle in 2019 with Griffin Cleverly, the actress buddied up with her co-star Samantha Boscarino. And the pair, who shared the screen on both Disney Channel sitcom Good Luck Charlie and teen movie The Clique, appeared to enjoy living together. The tween idols celebrated a year of cohabiting with an anniversary cake. 

Twilight fans in Vancouver were no doubt excited on learning that Kristen Stewart and Nikki Reed had decided to move in together while shooting sequel New Moon in the city. But it was unlikely that many caught a glimpse of the two young actresses. The pair rarely ventured outside their temporary home. Instead of dining in nearby restaurants, Stewart and Reed often relied on the pasta-cooking skills of another co-star, Peter Facinelli.

From The Grifters to Say Anything…, Jeremy Piven and John Cusack worked together on several films during their early careers. They also shared a place in Chicago before making it big. Sadly, their relationship appears to have soured over the years. In a 2007 interview with magazine Best Life, Piven claimed that Cusack had grown jealous of his Emmy-winning success.

Remember when Ariana Grande was best-known as a supporting character in a Nickelodeon sitcom? The multi-talented singer even lived with one of her co-stars on Victorious before conquering the charts. In 2013 Grande told magazine Teen Vogue, “I lived with Liz [Gillies] for a while. She lived in my mom’s house with me. It was so much fun!”

Ewan McGregor and Jude Law were famously part of the 1990s Primrose Hill set which also included Kate Moss, Liam Gallagher and Jonny Lee Miller. And the two hot young things remained just as close when they both ventured across the other side of the Atlantic. McGregor and Law, who also co-founded the Natural Nylon production company, shared a place in Hollywood as they attempted to make it big in America.

Former US Hot 100 regular Paula Abdul and songwriter Kara DioGuardi worked together on the judging panel of American Idol’s eighth season. But the pair were already familiar with one another before they helped to realize or crush wannabe singers’ dreams. DioGuardi had once essentially used Abdul’s home as a hotel over a period of 12 months. And it was here where the latter discovered that her houseguest was a sleepwalker!

Sienna Miller and Poppy Delevingne must surely be among the most glamorous celebrity house-sharers of recent times. The Vogue magazine regulars lived together in the Big Apple in 2008 as the latter attempted to forge a career in acting. And Miller has nothing but good things to say about her one-time roomie. The Layer Cake star told magazine Harper’s Bazaar, “She [Delevingne] doesn’t take herself too seriously, which isn’t as common as you’d think.”

So apparently it is possible to outweird David Lynch. The Twin Peaks creator once roomed with Peter Wolf while studying at Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts. But Lynch was reportedly left unsettled by the future J. Geils Band singer’s behavior. And when Wolf began defaulting on paying rent, the cult director used this as an opportunity to boot him out. 

Miles Heizer and Mae Whitman obviously couldn’t get enough of each other back in the early 2010s. As well as playing brother and sister on NBC drama Parenthood, the young actors also decided to room together at the same time. But it seems as though they weren’t popular with all of their neighbors. Whitman once tweeted Heizer about a party going on nearby to which they hadn’t been invited.

According to reports, two of the most famous young actresses of the 1990s once called each other roomies before things went sour. Yes, Gwyneth Paltrow and Winona Ryder apparently lived under the same roof back in their heyday. But rumor has it that the pair fell out after the former ‘stole’ her Oscar-winning role in Shakespeare in Love right from under the latter’s nose.

If you ever wondered why the typically scathing Jon Stewart kept quiet about Anthony Weiner’s career nosedive, then wonder no more. The Daily Show’s former host often slept in the next room from the disgraced politician. That’s right: Weiner would often stay over at his girlfriend’s Delaware summer house, where Stewart was also living at the time.

You wouldn’t expect Jax Taylor and Channing Tatum to have much in common. Well, apart from their bulging muscles. But the pair used to be roomies before finding fame. While appearing on Watch What Happens Live in 2013, the Vanderpump Rules star revealed that he’d shared a place with Tatum in the Big Apple during his early modeling years.

They were two of the biggest movie heartthrobs of the 1980s. But did you know that Rob Lowe and Tom Cruise once shared a place together before their posters adorned nearly every teenage girl’s bedroom wall? Yes, while shooting The Outsiders at the start of the decade, the pair and several of their co-stars all lived in the same bachelor pad. 

Long before they reached the top of the Billboard and box-office charts, respectively, Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling were roomies. In fact, the pair were aged just 11 when they ended up living together while filming The Mickey Mouse Club. The future La La Land star resided with the future Mr. Sexyback as his Canadian-based mom couldn’t get the time off work to join him in Los Angeles. Timberlake’s mother was even appointed as the former’s legal guardian, too.

Laura Dern didn’t waste any time in trying to carve out an acting career of her own. The Jurassic Park actress went to court to sever all ties with her famous mother and father after finishing high school. And at the age of just 17 she moved out of the family home to become roommates with another future big name: self-help guru and Democratic presidential runner Marianne Williamson!

Jacob Batalon got more than just a career boost when he bagged the part of Ned in comic book adventure Spider-Man: Homecoming. The actor also found a new BFF in the shape of its leading man. Batalon even ended up sharing a place with young Marvel Universe regular Tom Holland.