14 Awkward Teenage Moments of Cool Celebrities
The next time you think about bullying a dork, just that he may grow up to be the Justin Timberlake (then bully him even harder).
Halsey’s Sacred Wristband
After Brendon Urie looked at her at a Panic! At the Disco show, she wore her wristband until a bully broke it: “I having this wristband from the pit, and Brendon Urie being on the edge of the stage and acknowledging me. So I wore that wristband every day. I even covered it with plastic when I showered so it wouldn’t fall off.”
Ryan Reynolds Came From a Long Line of Delinquents
He was the fourth brother to get kicked out of the same school: “I was a bit of a pariah at school. I have three older brothers, all of whom were kicked out of this very same school, so from the moment I got there, I was a marked man. I was kicked out for stealing a car.”
Gwyneth Paltrow Dressed for the Job She Wanted (Cartoon Henchman)
She said 13 was a rough year for her: “I had braces, and I decided it would be a great idea to shave the back of my head. I think it’s a time in one’s life where you’re trying on different personas and you’re trying to see what kind of a person you’re going to be.”
You Already Knew Mindy Kaling Was a Loud, Horny Nerd
Her take on the uncool high school experience: “Nerds are not always the wallflowers, the quiet ones. We’re ambitious with obnoxious personalities and want to have sex and dreams like all the other kids.”
Jameela Jamil Was a Late Bloomer
Jamil had a rough childhood (she said she was nearly deaf and never once had a birthday party) and made it to 21 before she finally had her first kiss: “The film 40-Year-Old Virgin had just come out, and everyone that I knew gave me a copy of that film. So I had 25 copies. And a friend of mine finally kissed me on a bench outside a bus stop.”
Halle Berry Was an Alpha Nerd
Despite the industrial-strength doses of racism she had to swallow at her all-white high school, she rose through the ranks of multiple nerddoms: She was the editor of the school newspaper, the class president and even the school’s mascot.
Puberty Wasn’t Kind to Tina Fey
She says she endured a “deadly combination of greasy skin and getting your boobs at 10.”
Matthew Lewis Is Just As Confused As You Are
After playing dorky, toothy-smiled loner Neville Longbottom for his entire childhood, he became a sexual icon overnight: “I don't know what to make of this. It was not something I did intentionally. I don’t know, people are very kind, but it came from nowhere. I don’t feel hunky at all. Don’t get me wrong; it’s very kind to hear these things but very awkward.”
Jennifer Lawrence Is Still Pissed at Meredith (As She Should Be!)
Some absolute dork named Meredith pulled an alpha bully move: “This one girl named Meredith handed me a stack of invitations to her birthday party, but I was not invited. She asked me to hand them out. Isn’t that so mean?” Lawrence threw them in the trash.
Pete Davidson’s Birthday Horror Story
Pete says he acted out a lot after his dad died on 9/11, and as a result, “I didn’t have any friends.” The first party he was ever invited to was a classmate’s birthday party, and the classmate eventually revealed that his mom had made him invite Pete out of pity.
Jennifer Garner Was a Particularly Annoying Flavor of Band Geek
As an adult, she once serenaded Reese Witherspoon with a saxophone, which alone should land her in a cell at the Hague. But can you imagine a high school band nerd insisting on calling her sax “Sally the Sexy Saxophone”?
Lizzo Is Proudly Gatekeeping Band Geek-Dom
Anyone can claim to be a band geek if they took a lesson or two in fourth grade. But Lizzo says she really put in the work: “I don’t think you’re a band geek if you’re just in band. I was a band geek, because I took band to the next level. Like, I would voluntarily go to band camp.”
Liam Hemsworth’s Clown Attire
Between his oversized, beat-up clothes and his bright, bushy hair, he sounds like an understudy for a birthday clown: “I used to wear my brothers’ hand-me-downs, which were all too big on me. I used to have an Afro, like Will Ferrell in Semi-Pro. It was bleached blond from the sun. I was tall and awkward. I was not cool.”
Maybe They Should Have Bullied Justin Timberlake Harder
He says his “terrible acne and weird hair” kept him from fitting in when he desperately wanted to: “I would not be here if I would have listened to the kids who told me I was a terrible singer and I was a sissy. Be different.”
