What celebrities looked like in high school

Brad Pitt was one of the popular kids and was voted best dressed

According to Brad Pitt, Biography of a Superstar, Pitt received good grades while playing tennis, golf and being a part of the debate team. Pitt also acted in school plays and musicals. Despite being in the movie Moneyball, Pitt wasn't a baseball player, but he did play a few other sports.

Natalie Portman was a straight-A student and has some serious science cred

Portman told Marie Claire in 2009 she wasn't one of the kids who went to high school parties. Instead, while at Syosset High School on Long Island, Portman competed in the Intel Science Talent Search, which is considered one of the most demanding research competitions for high school students. The Oscar-winning actress made it to the semifinals.

At the same time, Portman was balancing an early acting career. At 11, she had already starred in her first film Léon: the Professional. She wore a dress from the Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace premiere to her prom. Her life was anything but typical.

Leonardo DiCaprio dropped out of high school

DiCaprio left John Marshall High School in Los Feliz, California after his junior year. He got his GED later in life.

Julia Roberts was in her school band and played the clarinet

Roberts told Access Hollywood she definitely wasn't one of the popular kids.

“[I was] just mediocre, just getting through the hallways with my girlfriend Paige," said Roberts in 2011. "We weren’t losers, but we weren’t popular, we were just coasting."

Robert Downey Jr. also dropped out of high school

According to Born to Be an Actor, Robert Downey Jr. had poor grades and school attendance coupled with drug and alcohol use. When he was told at the end of 11th grade he'd have to attend summer school to graduate, Downey Jr. decided to drop out to pursue an acting career in New York.

Jennifer Lopez went to an all girls Catholic high school

According to Jennifer Lopez: The Great Hispanic Heritage, Lopez said she wasn't the most popular girl.

"I had my friends, but I was comfortable with myself. There's always those most popular girls and I wasn't one of those," said Lopez.

While in high school, she landed a part in her first movie, 1987's indie My Little Girl where she played a teen who was being tutored.

Tom Hanks was not popular in high school

Hanks told Rolling Stone he was a "geek" and "spaz" as a kid. "I was horribly, painfully, terribly shy. At the same time, I was the guy who'd yell out funny captions during filmstrips. But I didn't get into trouble. I was always a real good kid and pretty responsible."

According to Matt Green's The Amazing Life of Tom Hanks, he was in high school performances of South Pacific and Twelfth Night and won his high school's best acting award in 1974.

Meryl Streep was the homecoming queen when she was 17

Streep went to Bernards High School in Somerset County, New Jersey, where she was a cheerleader, and participated in plays like Oklahoma! and The Music Man. She also did gymnastics among a long list of extracurriculars, but in no way would she have considered herself the popular girl.

According to Michael Schulman's Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep, Streep said while young, kids would "chase me up into a tree and hit my legs with sticks until they bled" and thought she was "ugly".

Will Smith got his Fresh Prince moniker in high school

Smith started rapping at a young age. When he was 16, he met Jeff Townes and the duo started rapping together under the names DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. His first album came out when he was a senior.

Oprah Winfrey was voted most popular

Winfrey attended several different high schools growing up. She graduated from East High School in Nashville, Tennessee where she was in the Honor Society, National Forensic League, and was in the student government.

On an episode of her talk show, Oprah told her audience that she was voted most popular during the first year the school was desegregated with 80% white students.

(BUSINESS INSIDER)