Celebrities with Fun, Surprising and Extremely Random Pre-Fame Connections

Mar. 15, 2025

Patti LaBelle and Sir Elton John.Photo:Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Matt Damononce took an acting class withSupreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, but that is hardly the wildest thing on this list of celebrities with random connections.FromMartin Luther King Jr.andCoretta Scott Kingpaying forJulia Roberts' hospital bill the day she was born toSnoop Doggcoaching a youngC.J. Stroudbefore he was the second overall draft pick for the Houston Texans, toPatti LaBellecooking forElton Johnwhen he was still an up-and-comer, it seems the universe has a funny way of bringing things full circle.Below, see some of the celebrities whose paths crossed before they were famous.

Matt Damononce took an acting class withSupreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, but that is hardly the wildest thing on this list of celebrities with random connections.

FromMartin Luther King Jr.andCoretta Scott Kingpaying forJulia Roberts' hospital bill the day she was born toSnoop Doggcoaching a youngC.J. Stroudbefore he was the second overall draft pick for the Houston Texans, toPatti LaBellecooking forElton Johnwhen he was still an up-and-comer, it seems the universe has a funny way of bringing things full circle.

Below, see some of the celebrities whose paths crossed before they were famous.

01of 11Julia Roberts and Martin Luther King Jr.Julia Roberts; Martin Luther King Jr. with wife Coretta Scott King.Steve Granitz/FilmMagic; J Harris/AP/ShutterstockWhen it comes to surprising connections, perhaps none are as trippy as this one: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, paid for the bill the dayJulia Robertswas born; her parents, Walter and Betty Roberts, “couldn’t pay for the hospital bill.““My parents had a theater school in Atlanta called the Actors and Writers Workshop, and one day Coretta Scott King called my mother and asked if her kids could be part of the school because they were having a hard time finding a place that would accept her kids,” Roberts said the origin of her parents to the Kingsduring an interview with Gayle King.“Andmy mom is like, ‘Sure come on over.‘And so they just all became friends, and they helped us out of a jam.”

01of 11

Julia Roberts and Martin Luther King Jr.

Julia Roberts; Martin Luther King Jr. with wife Coretta Scott King.Steve Granitz/FilmMagic; J Harris/AP/Shutterstock

When it comes to surprising connections, perhaps none are as trippy as this one: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, paid for the bill the dayJulia Robertswas born; her parents, Walter and Betty Roberts, “couldn’t pay for the hospital bill.”

“My parents had a theater school in Atlanta called the Actors and Writers Workshop, and one day Coretta Scott King called my mother and asked if her kids could be part of the school because they were having a hard time finding a place that would accept her kids,” Roberts said the origin of her parents to the Kingsduring an interview with Gayle King.

“Andmy mom is like, ‘Sure come on over.‘And so they just all became friends, and they helped us out of a jam.”

02of 11Patti LaBelle and Sir Elton JohnKevin Mazur/WireImageBefore either of them became the legends we know them to be today, Patti LaBelle andElton Johnused to break bread together.While visitingJulia Louis-Dreyfus’ podcastWiser Than Meon Dec. 3, LaBelle opened up about her decades-long friendship with Elton John and how she often ended up cooking for him before he hit it big.“Elton John was my piano player back in the day,” LaBelle shared. “And so his band would come to my flat after the shows and we would play cards for money. And they lost every time.”“So I won all the pounds and sent them home with Tupperware with food every night we played because they couldn’t afford food,” she continued. At the time, John played with his band Bluesology, and he was still using his birth name, Reginald Dwight.

02of 11

Patti LaBelle and Sir Elton John

Before either of them became the legends we know them to be today, Patti LaBelle andElton Johnused to break bread together.

While visitingJulia Louis-Dreyfus’ podcastWiser Than Meon Dec. 3, LaBelle opened up about her decades-long friendship with Elton John and how she often ended up cooking for him before he hit it big.

“Elton John was my piano player back in the day,” LaBelle shared. “And so his band would come to my flat after the shows and we would play cards for money. And they lost every time.”

“So I won all the pounds and sent them home with Tupperware with food every night we played because they couldn’t afford food,” she continued. At the time, John played with his band Bluesology, and he was still using his birth name, Reginald Dwight.

03of 11Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and Matt DamonJustice Ketanji Brown Jackson and Matt Damon.Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via Getty; Cindy Ord/GettyBefore she was a Supreme Court Justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson ventured into the dramatic arts and had a brief run-in with Matt Damon.During an interview withCBS Sunday Morningon Sept. 1, Brown Jackson — who attended Harvard at the same time as theGood Will Huntingactor — confirmed that they ran some lines together at one point, as part of rehearsals for a production ofWaiting for Godot.“He’s not going to remember this, of course,” she said. “The reason why I remember it is because he was already kind of well-known around campus and off campus, so it was kind of exciting to be his scene partner for a particular class."“At the end, the professor said, ‘Ketanji, you were very good. Matt, we’ll talk,’” she told CBS’Norah O’Donnell. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, I was better than Matt Damon in a scene.’”

03of 11

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and Matt Damon

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and Matt Damon.Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via Getty; Cindy Ord/Getty

Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via Getty; Cindy Ord/Getty

Before she was a Supreme Court Justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson ventured into the dramatic arts and had a brief run-in with Matt Damon.

During an interview withCBS Sunday Morningon Sept. 1, Brown Jackson — who attended Harvard at the same time as theGood Will Huntingactor — confirmed that they ran some lines together at one point, as part of rehearsals for a production ofWaiting for Godot.

“He’s not going to remember this, of course,” she said. “The reason why I remember it is because he was already kind of well-known around campus and off campus, so it was kind of exciting to be his scene partner for a particular class.”

“At the end, the professor said, ‘Ketanji, you were very good. Matt, we’ll talk,’” she told CBS’Norah O’Donnell. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, I was better than Matt Damon in a scene.’”

04of 11Denzel Washington and Chadwick BosemanDenzel Washington; Chadwick Boseman.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images; Emma McIntyre/Getty ImagesWhileChadwick Bosemanwas still studying at Howard University, he had the opportunity to participate in a summer exchange program at the British American Drama Academy at Oxford but unfortunately didn’t have the money to attend at the time.One of his teachers at the time happened to bePhylicia Rashadand so she tapped some of her famous friends to help sponsor Boseman and his classmates. Boseman’s benefactor wound up being none other than Denzel Washington.“The funny thing is, he showed up at the New York premiere ofBlack Pantherand I had never told anyone about that,” Boseman explained while on theGraham Norton Show.“He comes in the back and he thinks he’s sneaking in … and I’m like, ‘It’s great to meet you. Big fan of your work. Just wanted to tell you thank you for paying for me to go Oxford,'” Boseman explained before revealing he got a very Denzel answer in return.“He was like, ‘Oh, you owe me money!'”

04of 11

Denzel Washington and Chadwick Boseman

Denzel Washington; Chadwick Boseman.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images; Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

WhileChadwick Bosemanwas still studying at Howard University, he had the opportunity to participate in a summer exchange program at the British American Drama Academy at Oxford but unfortunately didn’t have the money to attend at the time.

One of his teachers at the time happened to bePhylicia Rashadand so she tapped some of her famous friends to help sponsor Boseman and his classmates. Boseman’s benefactor wound up being none other than Denzel Washington.

“The funny thing is, he showed up at the New York premiere ofBlack Pantherand I had never told anyone about that,” Boseman explained while on theGraham Norton Show.

“He comes in the back and he thinks he’s sneaking in … and I’m like, ‘It’s great to meet you. Big fan of your work. Just wanted to tell you thank you for paying for me to go Oxford,'” Boseman explained before revealing he got a very Denzel answer in return.

“He was like, ‘Oh, you owe me money!'”

05of 11

Rebel Wilson and Nicole Kidman

Rebel Wilson; Nicole Kidman.Robert Okine/Getty; Kevin Winter/Getty

Robert Okine/Getty; Kevin Winter/Getty

Like Boseman,Rebel Wilsonalso got a leg up from a fellow countrywoman when she was studying to become an actor.

“We’ve spoke about it since,” Wilson told the outlet. “I really did thank her, and I donated the money back to the college two years ago, so they can use it for all their current projects and new actors.”

06of 11Omari Hardwick and Denzel WashingtonOmari Hardwick; Denzel Washington.Santiago Felipe/Getty; Samir Hussein/WireImageOmari Hardwickis so close to Denzel Washington and his wife Pauletta, he considers them his second set of parents.While appearing onLive with Kelly and Ryanin 2022, Hardwick opened up about how he came to know the Washingtons.“I was trying to make ends meet at one point and I was substitute teaching and coaching at Campbell Hall and there were two kids who really took to me and I took to them as well. One was Navarone [Garibaldi], Priscilla Presley’s son, and the other was a one John David Washington,” he explained, revealing that he didn’t realize who John David’s parents were at the time.“One day Pauletta picked him up and she kind of picked me up too,” he admitted. “I was no longer as homeless as I prior was when I was teaching and coaching them. I absolutely was allowed to sort of figure [out] my 20s, on into my 30s in that home. They both have been very important to me.”

06of 11

Omari Hardwick and Denzel Washington

Omari Hardwick; Denzel Washington.Santiago Felipe/Getty; Samir Hussein/WireImage

Santiago Felipe/Getty; Samir Hussein/WireImage

Omari Hardwickis so close to Denzel Washington and his wife Pauletta, he considers them his second set of parents.

While appearing onLive with Kelly and Ryanin 2022, Hardwick opened up about how he came to know the Washingtons.

“I was trying to make ends meet at one point and I was substitute teaching and coaching at Campbell Hall and there were two kids who really took to me and I took to them as well. One was Navarone [Garibaldi], Priscilla Presley’s son, and the other was a one John David Washington,” he explained, revealing that he didn’t realize who John David’s parents were at the time.

“One day Pauletta picked him up and she kind of picked me up too,” he admitted. “I was no longer as homeless as I prior was when I was teaching and coaching them. I absolutely was allowed to sort of figure [out] my 20s, on into my 30s in that home. They both have been very important to me.”

07of 11Michael B. Jordan and Chadwick BosemanChadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan.Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via GettyMichael B. JordanandChadwick Bosemanplayed polar opposites inBlack Panther,but years prior, the two buddiesplayed the same roleonAll My Children.In 2003, Boseman, then 26, was hired to play the role of Reggie Porter on the ABC soap opera, but was allegedly fired after speaking to producers about his concerns that the character, a teen gang member, was a racial stereotype.“When I got it, I was like, ‘This is not part of my manifesto. This is not part of what I want to do,'” Boseman said in the 2019 issue ofTheWrap’s Oscar magazine. “I had to voice my opinions and put my stamp on it,” Boseman he later added.He admitted that though the producers took “some” of his suggestions, they also fired him, and replaced him with Jordan, who was 16 at the time.“It’s wild to hear you say that,” Jordan said in the same interview. “I’m younger than Chad, and I was coming intoAll My Childrenfresh offThe Wire— wide open, still learning. I was playing this role not knowing that a lot of the things I was going through were because of what he’d already done for me.”Boseman sadly died of colon cancer on Aug. 28, 2020. He was 43.

07of 11

Michael B. Jordan and Chadwick Boseman

Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan.Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty

Michael B. JordanandChadwick Bosemanplayed polar opposites inBlack Panther,but years prior, the two buddiesplayed the same roleonAll My Children.

In 2003, Boseman, then 26, was hired to play the role of Reggie Porter on the ABC soap opera, but was allegedly fired after speaking to producers about his concerns that the character, a teen gang member, was a racial stereotype.

“When I got it, I was like, ‘This is not part of my manifesto. This is not part of what I want to do,'” Boseman said in the 2019 issue ofTheWrap’s Oscar magazine. “I had to voice my opinions and put my stamp on it,” Boseman he later added.

He admitted that though the producers took “some” of his suggestions, they also fired him, and replaced him with Jordan, who was 16 at the time.

“It’s wild to hear you say that,” Jordan said in the same interview. “I’m younger than Chad, and I was coming intoAll My Childrenfresh offThe Wire— wide open, still learning. I was playing this role not knowing that a lot of the things I was going through were because of what he’d already done for me.”

Boseman sadly died of colon cancer on Aug. 28, 2020. He was 43.

08of 11

Susan Lucci and Andy Cohen

Susan Lucci with Andy Cohen.Andy Cohen/Instagram

Andy Cohen/Instagram

Andy CohenandSusan Lucci’s decades-long friendship started with a simple letter theWatch What Happens Livehost wrote to the soap legend back in the ’80s. Cohenreflected on their friendshipafter having met up with Lucci for a lunch date in Oct. 2023.

“We’ve run into each other over the years and had a wonderful reunion today (and I finally got to return the favor of picking up the tab!) #EricaKaneForever,” Cohen concluded.

09of 11Dolly Parton and Keanu ReevesHarry Langdon/Getty; David Fisher/ShutterstockDolly Partonhas known Keanu Reevessince he was a wee tot. The actor’s mother, Patricia Taylor, was a costume designer and one of her clients was Parton.“She did a lot of sewing for me, she did a lot of my clothes,” Parton revealed while onThe Drew Barrymore Showlast November.“But I remember Keanu when he was just little,” she continued. “And she would bring him over to my house when we were fitting or when I would go to the shop where she worked.”Years later, Parton told Barrymore, Reeves came to see her when she was “doing a show somewhere."“He said, ‘Do you remember me? I’m the little boy that used to sit at your feet when my mom was [working],” she recalled. “Of course, I knew he had become a star but it didn’t connect to me that that was who that was.”Barrymore then revealed to the “Jolene” singer Reeves’ once admitted he wore herPlayboyBunny costume.“Did he? Aw, that’s sweet,” Parton said. “He’s great. He’s the sweetest guy.”

09of 11

Dolly Parton and Keanu Reeves

Harry Langdon/Getty; David Fisher/Shutterstock

Dolly Partonhas known Keanu Reevessince he was a wee tot. The actor’s mother, Patricia Taylor, was a costume designer and one of her clients was Parton.

“She did a lot of sewing for me, she did a lot of my clothes,” Parton revealed while onThe Drew Barrymore Showlast November.

“But I remember Keanu when he was just little,” she continued. “And she would bring him over to my house when we were fitting or when I would go to the shop where she worked.”

Years later, Parton told Barrymore, Reeves came to see her when she was “doing a show somewhere.”

“He said, ‘Do you remember me? I’m the little boy that used to sit at your feet when my mom was [working],” she recalled. “Of course, I knew he had become a star but it didn’t connect to me that that was who that was.”

Barrymore then revealed to the “Jolene” singer Reeves’ once admitted he wore herPlayboyBunny costume.

“Did he? Aw, that’s sweet,” Parton said. “He’s great. He’s the sweetest guy.”

10of 11Snoop Dogg and C.J. StroudSnoop Dogg; CJ Stroud.GettyLong before he was one of the hottest quarterbacks in the NFL, C.J. Stroud honed his football skills as part of theSnoop Youth Football League, the nonprofit organization that Snoop Dogg founded in 2005 to give inner-city kids the chance to play football.“I played for his league,” Stroudtold PEOPLE earlier this year. “He was one of the coaches that was running the league and he was part of the team that I was on.““I was probably like sixth, seventh, eighth grade — around middle school,” Stroud explained.Stroud continued: “He used to invite us to his house and things like that. That goes a long way. It just seemed like it is more than where you come from. There’s a lot more to life and he showed us that… So definitely really appreciative and grateful for Coach Snoop and everything that he’s done.“He added, “I’m still in contact with him and he’s been a blessing on my life for sure.“For his part, Snoop said hefeels like a “proud father"to the NFL star.“He’s so positive,” the rap legend said of Stroud. “That’s what I like about him is that he’s pushing a different narrative than a lot of these other guys in the league. He’s pushing a real narrative of spirit love and just being a voice of positivity.”

10of 11

Snoop Dogg and C.J. Stroud

Snoop Dogg; CJ Stroud.Getty

Getty

Long before he was one of the hottest quarterbacks in the NFL, C.J. Stroud honed his football skills as part of theSnoop Youth Football League, the nonprofit organization that Snoop Dogg founded in 2005 to give inner-city kids the chance to play football.

“I played for his league,” Stroudtold PEOPLE earlier this year. “He was one of the coaches that was running the league and he was part of the team that I was on.”

“I was probably like sixth, seventh, eighth grade — around middle school,” Stroud explained.

Stroud continued: “He used to invite us to his house and things like that. That goes a long way. It just seemed like it is more than where you come from. There’s a lot more to life and he showed us that… So definitely really appreciative and grateful for Coach Snoop and everything that he’s done.”

He added, “I’m still in contact with him and he’s been a blessing on my life for sure.”

For his part, Snoop said hefeels like a “proud father"to the NFL star.

“He’s so positive,” the rap legend said of Stroud. “That’s what I like about him is that he’s pushing a different narrative than a lot of these other guys in the league. He’s pushing a real narrative of spirit love and just being a voice of positivity.”

11of 11Elizabeth Taylor and David SchwimmerElizabeth Taylor and David Schwimmer.Silver Screen Collection/Getty; Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via GettyDavid Schwimmer’s family jewelry collection has one very cool piece in it — a necklaceElizabeth Taylorgifted to his mom.“She wanted to be an actress, but her father kind of forbid it because of all the promiscuity and things,” Schwimmer said of his mom, high-powered entertainment attorney Arlene Coleman-Schwimmer, while on theOrigins with Cush Jumbopodcast.“So she became a lawyer … Yeah. She ended up representing Elizabeth Taylor, her childhood idol Elizabeth Taylor,” Schwimmer said. “Because she did such a good job for [her], Elizabeth gave her one of her own personalnecklacesas a kind of bonus gift to my mom.”

11of 11

Elizabeth Taylor and David Schwimmer

Elizabeth Taylor and David Schwimmer.Silver Screen Collection/Getty; Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty

Silver Screen Collection/Getty; Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty

David Schwimmer’s family jewelry collection has one very cool piece in it — a necklaceElizabeth Taylorgifted to his mom.

“She wanted to be an actress, but her father kind of forbid it because of all the promiscuity and things,” Schwimmer said of his mom, high-powered entertainment attorney Arlene Coleman-Schwimmer, while on theOrigins with Cush Jumbopodcast.

“So she became a lawyer … Yeah. She ended up representing Elizabeth Taylor, her childhood idol Elizabeth Taylor,” Schwimmer said. “Because she did such a good job for [her], Elizabeth gave her one of her own personalnecklacesas a kind of bonus gift to my mom.”

source: people.com