We've all heard about struggling actors trying to make it in Hollywood, barely scraping by
while living in tiny apartments — but that's not every actor's story.
Let's find out which celebs had tons of money from the moment they were born.
Darren Criss
A true triple threat, Darren Criss' breakout role on Glee was the perfect part for him.
From an early age, Criss learned to play musical instruments and took an interest in theater,
all of which was supported by his parents.
"I'm very thankful and blessed to say I didn't have a rough childhood I wasn't born on the
streets of Agrabah."
Criss' father was a wealthy banker who started and ran his own bank in Hawaii, but he also
served as a director of the San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Performances, the Stern
Grove Festival, and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.
It's pretty clear this had an influence on Criss, who not only went on to star in the
hit musical TV series, but also landed the lead role of the Broadway smash Hedwig and
the Angry Inch, and wrote an Emmy-nominated original song for Glee.
Jennifer Aniston
Everyone knows Jennifer Aniston was writing her own checks long before she and the rest
of the cast of Friends started making $1 million dollars per episode in 2002.
Her father, John Aniston, has been a working actor since the '50s, most notably as Victor
on the soap opera Days of Our Lives.
"I'm her father."
"Ah!
Daddy!"
Jennifer had a bit of a rough time early on.
Her folks split when she was 9, according to Rolling Stone, at which point she went
to live with her mother and had little contact with her dad for years.
But when her mother penned her 1996 memoir, From Mother and Daughter to Friends, Jennifer
perceived this as "a betrayal."
The actress reconciled with both parents in later years, although her mother reportedly
cut Jennifer out of her will prior to her passing in 2016.
Something tells us Jennifer won't miss that money.
Olivia Wilde
Actress Olivia Wilde's parents are Andrew and Leslie Cockburn, the famed journalist
duo whose Vanity Fair article was turned into the first Dreamworks film, The Peacemaker.
Wilde describes her childhood home as being, quote, "surrounded by artists, journalists,
poets."
She recalls famous guests — like Mick Jagger — gracing her family's dinner table.
The family even spent summers in Ireland when they weren't doing community service projects,
such as going to Fiji and living in a mountain village to build schools.
Even before she became a famous actress in her own right, Wilde basically lived the definition
of a rich bohemian existence, which she summed up by saying she…
"...can't wait to be an old woman because at the rate I'm going I'll have lived a pretty
full life."
Ariana Grande
Actress and singer Ariana Grande has been earning her own sizable paychecks since she
got her big break at just 17-years-old on the Nickelodeon series Victorious, but her
interest in the performing arts was fostered by the support of her very successful parents.
Her mother is the CEO of a successful telephone and alarm system company, and her father owns
his own design firm in Boca Raton, Florida.
Ariana lived in her father's Florida home until she was 13, when she moved to New York
City to live with her mother and pursue roles on Broadway.
When that led to her star-making Nickelodeon gig, her mom packed up and moved to Los Angeles
to support her daughter's burgeoning entertainment career.
That kind of parental flexibility not only takes a tremendous leap of faith, but also
requires a nice cushion of expendable cash to make it all happen.
Emily and Zooey Deschanel
Actresses Emily and Zooey and Deschanel are
the daughters of a Hollywood cinematographer and a Hollywood actress.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, their father said his two girls traveled with him
on location as much as possible during their formative years, but by the time they were...
"...12 or 13, [they] would get up in front of 2,000 people and not feel nervous."
Despite the stars in their daughters' eyes, mom and dad Deschanel made an effort to keep
their kids grounded.
In an interview with Vulture, Zooey revealed that she had a strict allowance and couldn't
drive to the mall until she was 17.
Kate Upton
Before supermodel and actress Kate Upton rose
to fame in the entertainment ranks, another set of Uptons made a name for themselves:
her great-grandfather, Frederick Upton, and his brother, Lou Upton.
"My great-grandfather and his brother are credited for inventing the modern washing
machine."
She admitted that her grandfather made life a lot easier for her — and everyone who
owns a washing machine — but the actress laughed off the idea that she's some kind
of "billionaire heiress," telling Vanity Fair, "I wish!
It's amazing, and it's definitely a part of our family, but my family doesn't have anything
to do with the company anymore."
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