Hollywood is home to some of the richest people in the world, but not everyone who made it
big in Tinseltown started at the top.
From Sarah Jessica Parker to Leonardo DiCaprio , find out which stars grew up with barely
anything in the bank.
Jim Carrey
In a revealing interview on Inside the Actors Studio, funnyman Jim Carrey opened up about
the financial hardships his family faced early on.
After his father lost his accounting job, Carrey and his family lived in a Volkswagen
camper for about six months.
"That was really the traumatic kick in the guts."
On the bright side, Carrey's father encouraged him to perform at a nightclub in downtown
Toronto, and that experience served as the catalyst for his insanely successful career.
"what a rush!"
Demi Moore
To say that Golden Globe-winning actress Demi Moore had a troubled upbringing would be an
understatement.
According to a 1996 profile in People magazine, her family moved around about 30 times before
she was even a teenager.
Later, after her parents split up, her stepfather committed suicide by breathing carbon monoxide
from his car exhaust.
Moore's relationship with her mother deteriorated, but they reconciled in the late nineties.
Moore told Evening Standard,
"It wasn't always the kind of love I wanted, but that doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't
what I needed."
Celine Dion
As the youngest of 14 siblings, powerhouse vocalist Celine Dion grew up in tight living
quarters in Quebec, Canada.
Although her family struggled financially, Dion told Vanity Fair in 2012 that her parents'
love made up for whatever they lacked in the bank, saying,
"My mum was brilliant enough to put a pillow in a drawer for a baby to sleep in.
We were safe and warm and taken care of.
Three or four of us in the same bed was normal to us."
The Grammy-winner looks back fondly on her humble early life, saying,
"We were given love and affection and support.
What else did we need?"
Leonardo DiCaprio
He may be a multi-millionaire today, but Leonardo DiCaprio wasn't always so fortunate.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, the actor said he grew up "very poor" in a rough neighborhood
in Los Angeles.
"I try to tell my godson, who lives close to that area, what it was like, how
there used to be a major prostitution ring on my street corner, crime and violence everywhere."
DiCaprio was determined to get into acting and forge a better life for himself.
"I was 15, and I said to my mom, 'I want to be an actor.
Please take me to auditions.'
Because I had to get out of that public school system."
"Good for you, little man.
Little man?
Me, the little man?
hahahahaha"
Scarlett Johansson
Now, she's one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood, but when she was a kid, Scarlett
Johansson's family relied on public assistance to get by.
"We were on food stamps; my parents were raising four kids in a low-income household in Manhattan.
So, it was..
It was a lot."
Luckily, The Avengers star was cast in her first movie at age 8, and her life changed
forever.
"I remember looking up and seeing all this lighting equipment above me, and it was like,
'I'm home.'"
Leighton Meester
Gossip Girl alum Leighton Meester was was born while her mother was serving time in
prison for drug-related offenses.
She told Marie Claire,
"I couldn't relate to kid stuff.
'Jimmy doesn't like me!'
Who cares?
I was worried we didn't have gas money or food.
Those were my concerns."
Despite her struggles, Meester eventually made peace with her upbringing in Florida.
"I look back now and I see it in a nice light.
It wasn't uncomplicated.
But I played outside.
I went to the beach.
There were happy, fun times."
Shania Twain
Country singer Shania Twain reportedly grew up dirt poor in an abusive home in Ontario,
Canada.
She was often sent to school hungry because her parents couldn't afford groceries.
"I would lie - why I didn't have lunch.
Because I wanted to protect my parents first of all.I didn't want them to get exposed and
get someone to go knocking on their door"
Twain faced more hardships in 1987 when her parents died suddenly in a car crash.
She temporarily put her music career on hold in order to take care of her younger siblings.
"Then you realize nothing else matters, and your priorities completely change."
Sarah Jessica Parker
Raising eight children put tremendous financial strain on Sarah Jessica Parker's parents.
The Sex and the City star told The New York Times,
”I remember being poor.
There was no great way to hide it.
We didn't have electricity sometimes.
We didn't have Christmases sometimes, or we didn't have birthdays sometimes, or the bill
collectors came, or the phone company would call and say, 'We're shutting your phones
off.'
On what she wants for her own children, Parker said,
"I would like for them to not be aware of money, which means I have been very aware
of my financial situation."
Hilary Swank
Growing up in a trailer park is an experience that actress Hilary Swank has been open about
as she climbed from obscurity to the Academy Awards.
The two-time Oscar winner is grateful for her humble beginnings.
She told the Daily Mail,
"My background is not something I forget.
It helps me to not take what I have for granted.
It's an incredible feeling to know that I can actually buy that pair of shoes, and I
appreciate a sale as much as the next person."
Kelly Clarkson
Growing up in a small town in Texas, international pop superstar Kelly Clarkson struggled financially
for many years.
"We lived, like, pre-paycheck to pre-paycheck.
I definitely had this whole mentality whatever I go through, I just don't want to have to
worry about that.'"
Clarkson continued to struggle after graduating high school and moving to Los Angeles to try
to make it in the music industry.
Her apartment went up in flames and she was forced to live in her car until she returned
to Dallas in 2002.
Fortunately, that same year, she heard about auditions for a new show called American Idol.
The rest, of course, is Grammy-winning history.
"I mean, good God!
That was the sexiest damn thing I've ever seen."
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