What are the odds two people destined for fame and fortune would wind up as roommates
during their formative years?
Not bad, judging by these folks, who were splitting rent long before making their mark.
Here are some of the most surprising stars to get their start under the same roof.
Al Gore & Tommy Lee Jones
One "invented the internet" and the other looks like he's never used a computer, but
somehow former Vice President Al Gore and Oscar winning-actor Tommy Lee Jones used to
share a bedroom.
That's right, back in their days as Harvard students, the two were bunkmates and best
friends.
According to the New York Times, they even put on a musical revue together, for one night
only, with the famously wooden Gore playing the part of stand-up comedian … which makes
sense, considering how willingly he's poked fun at himself over the years ...
"A whale is in trouble.
I have to go!"
Jason Priestley & Brad Pitt
If '90s-era heartthrobs are your thing, chances are you crushed on actors Jason Priestley
or Brad Pitt at some point.
Priestley dominated the Teen Beat scene early, earning a poster on every young girl's wall
with Beverly Hills 90210, but Pitt went on to become a six-pack packing megastar.
For the most part, their time as roommates in the late '80s was pretty standard, just
a couple of broke actors trying to find their places in the world.
Sadly, making it big may have doomed Brad and Jason's relationship, with Priestley telling
HuffPost Live,
"Our careers went in such different directions that we sort of lost touch with each other."
Lindsay Lohan & Raven-Symoné
If you ask Raven-Symoné, Lindsay Lohan was the best roommate she ever had.
Why?
Well, as she recalled to Us Weekly,
"She paid rent, and she was there probably three times."
According to an interview the former Cosby Show kid did with BlogXilla , she met the
future Mean Girl while doing a fashion shoot, and admired her for not looking like all the
other stick-thin Hollywood types.
In the end, the two shared an apartment for 14 months, but Raven says that Lohan was basically
never there.
"She became real busy with work, and she never really moved in.
[…] Pretty cool roommate.
Great shoes!
She left all her shoes in the house."
Connie Britton & Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Your favorite TV mom and your favorite real-life junior Democratic Senator from New York once
were roommates in China, during a semester abroad.
Connie Britton and Kirsten Gillibrand have remained close friends even today.
Britton described her former roommate to HuffPost Live as "awesome" and "fearless."
The New York Democrat threw the praise right back her way, saying of Britton's time on
Friday Night Lights,
"Every script she'd get, she'd push back on it, push back on it and make this character
into this amazing mom who really made a difference in her community."
Holly Hunter & Frances McDormand
As actress Holly Hunter recalled to Vulture, she and fellow award-winning thespian Frances
McDormand met through their boyfriends.
The whole gang got together and met for the first time while McDormand's boyfriend was
attending Yale, and then ended up getting apartments next to each other in the Bronx.
When both relationships ended, Frances and Holly just moved in with each other.
Hunter says Fran is "fabulous," saying of their time together,
"We had a blast.
We stayed up there for a couple years, and then she did Blood Simple.
After that, Joel Coen sort of moved in with us and they eventually got married.
It was a great chapter."
A great chapter that would prove a setup to an even greater one, with Hunter going on
to star in The Coen brothers' Raising Arizona, and McDormand winning an Oscar for her role
in Fargo.
Michael Douglas & Danny DeVito
Actors Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito met in 1966 and became roommates two years later,
sharing an apartment on West 89th Street in New York City.
DeVito told the New York Daily News that Douglas did the laundry, while Douglas revealed that
DeVito was a quote, "great roommate" during their time together as young actors.
And they always managed to stay out of each other's way in one very important area.
As Douglas recalled:
"It was a magical time.
You put a sock on the door."
"Oh yeah, I see that.
I remember that now."
The two veteran actors are close to this day, with Douglas telling The Talks,
"People are goofy about the movie business, so you end up counting on friends you knew
before you were successful.
It is harder to make new friends because you are a little more cautious."
Stanley Tucci & Ving Rhames
These two intensely talented actors lived together while attending SUNY Purchase in
the early '80s.
While their time as roommates may have been brief, the relationship between Stanley Tucci
and Ving Rhames would leave its mark.
Rhames left after just one year together, moving his studies to Juilliard, but the two
would reunite down the road when Rhames presented his old pal with the award for best actor
in a miniseries at the 1999 Golden Globes.
"We went to college together and he gave me the name "Ving."
My real name is Irving…
Stanley Tucci."
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