We have seen Hollywood A-listers don the characters and faces of many fictional characters but what really intrigues us is to not look at their on-screen personas but a look back at who they were before they joined the glitzy world of Hollywood.
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Today we are doing just that by giving you an inside look at celebrities who were once cheerleaders in school. These pictures reveal the authentic people behind the polished exteriors we have come to expect from Hollywood heavyweights.
Kendall Jenner
Part of America’s most infamous families, it is no surprise that Kendall Jenner is starting off this list. The reality star turned model is known for her beauty, lean body and enviable height, all three aspects make her a natural fit to become a cheerleader.
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While this preppy persona is far different from Kendall’s current-day edgy style and designer campaigns. Since leaving high school Jenner has kept herself busy, working for Chanel, Alexander Wang, Diane von Fürstenberg, Donna Karan, Vera Wang, Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs, Oscar de la Renta and Balmain.
Reese Witherspoon
Cheerleading seems to effortlessly fit into Reese Witherspoon’s warm southern charm and no one was surprised when she posted a throwback photo during her cheer days with the caption: “#TBT to my days as a proud General #cheernation #firstsquad #lilgeneral”.
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Witherspoon has spent decades wooed audiences with her incredible talents on screen. From the iconic role in Legally Blonde to her producing and starring in some of the best TV series in recent years, it’s safe to say that she is one multi-talented woman!
Cameron Diaz
Before her big break in the mid-‘90s, while attending high school at Long Beach Polytechnic, Camera Diaz cheered during half-time football games and participated in the dance-drill team.
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After putting her pom-poms down, she stole audiences here in her first big role in 1996’s The Mask with Jim Carey. She went on to star in other blockbusters, from 2000’s Charlie Angels alongside Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu to voicing Princess Fiona in the Shrek film series and starred in Bad Teacher and Annie, the list goes on!
Sandra Bullock
Before you impressed millions with her charming and versatile acting range, Sandra Bullock stunned her Washington-Lee High School classmates with her dance moves. Of course, you probably guessed that already since she made it on our list!
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From her intense drama film Gravity to hilarious action-comedy Ms Congeniality, and entertaining rom-com The Proposal, Bullock has hip-hip-hooraying her way around Hollywood, delivering stellar performances.
Halle Berry
Before her acting days, she made regular appearances on the field as a cheerleader. The native Ohioan proudly cheered for Bedford High School and just looking at the picture, we can assume that everyone was wowed by her warm smile.
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Nowadays, she is known as a Hollywood heavyweight who has a full trophy shelf. Staring in Catwoman, Gothika and Monster’s Ball, Berry has made appearances in multiple X-Men films and more recently in Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
Megan Fox
Fox used to be a cheerleader for her local Floridian high school, Morningside Academy and judging my her Hollywood image, it seems like the perfect fit for the actresses to be and judging from the picture, it seems that Fox was just as popular in High School as she is in Hollywood.
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Megan caught everyone’s attention in The Transformers movie series in the mid-2000s and Jennifer’s Body in 2009. Recently, the actress has been publically fighting her typecasted overly sexualised image, receiving much praise.
Fergie
While Fergie has been a part of Hollywood since she was a child, it was only in her late 20s did she make her break-through. During her climb to stardom, she joined her cheerleader team in high school.
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Her group The Black-Eyed Peas became only popular when they received their third studio album, Elephunk. The band has sold over 80 million records. in 2006, Fergie left the group and worked on her first solo album which was universally loved.
Madonna
Long before she became The Queen of Pop, Madonna was dazzling the world with her dancing skills and wondrous vocal cords through her cheering team. Here we see nearly unrecognizable Madonna who has yet to find her provocative style.
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Madonna as a preppy and smiley teenager is far removed from her rebellious and revolutionized role in the music industry. Fun Fact: Not only was she an honoured cheerleader for her High School, Rochester Adams but she was also a straight-A student.
Eva Longoria
Once you pry your eyes away from Eva Longoria’s tragic make-up look you will notice the desperate housewives star was once a cheerleader. She seemed to have taken it pretty seriously since she cheered for her High School as well as throughout College.
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Before her breakthrough role in, Eva Longoria starred in the TV drama romance, The Young and the Restless from 2001-2003. In recent years, Longoria has focused on improving the rights given to Latina actresses around Hollywood and her philanthropy work.
Lindsay Lohan
No one will ever forget, Lindsay Lohan’s full filmography of teen roles and her own personal life was much akin to her on-screen personas. “In high school, I was a floater,” Lohan remembered. “I mean, I played basketball, and I played soccer, and I did tennis, and I also did cheerleading. So, it was like I kind of did everything,
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She continued ” I made a point to get along with everyone, so I didn’t have to deal with the drama in one specific clique,”. It looks like Lohan used the same philosophy during her career since she was known as a triple threat, she could dance, sing and act.
Denise Richards
Looks like Denise is another superstar who practised her dance skills in front of her High School before she joined Hollywood. We are sure this also helped her land the role in the 2019 cheer film, The Secret Life of Cheerleaders.
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Her big breakthrough role was in the 1997’s Starship Troopers. After that, Richards had a slew of hit films, most notable 1998’s Wild Things, and 1999’s The World is Not Enough. Lately, she’s made a comeback and transitioned from film to TV, appearing in The Bold and The Beautiful and Paper Empire.
Paul Rudd
While we don’t know much about his cheerleading career, from this picture we can clearly see that Rudd still had used the same energetic acting spirit he is now known for in Hollywood, during her cheerleading days. Also, being the only guy on the list, Paul Rudd should receive major kudos.
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The charming actor won our hearts over in the ‘90s with rom-coms like Clueless and moved on to hilarious films like I Love You Man and most recently joined the Marvel cinematic universe, playing Ant-Man.
Chrissy Teigen
Before she got into the business of shooting down trolls on Twitter, Teigen was busy supporting her High School by cheering for them, though she claims she wasn’t very good! “Truly no idea how I made this team. The best part is they claimed there was no JV/varsity, but one squad got to cheer for basketball and football, and the other (mine) got volleyball and wrestling,” Teigen shared with HuffPost.
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The charismatic Chrissy Teigen rose to fame for her work as a model and soon moved on to becoming a TV host for shows like Lip Sync Battle. In recent years, she has worked in films like Double Dutchess: Seeing Double (2017), Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018), and Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019).
Jessica Simpson
Another one of America’s favourite ‘90s girl-pop singer on our list is the bubbly Jessica Simpson. Before her days as a reality tv-star, the cheerful pre-teen was part of her school choir, as well as, a cheerleader at her local Texas school, Richardson North Junior High School.
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The pop princess always wanted to join Hollywood and used singing to kick-start her career when she was just a young 16-year-old. In fact, she actually dropped out of high school and received her GED.
Olivia Wilde
While Olivia Wilde loves to play intense and dramatic roles on screen, she actually is quite a goofy person in reality. She expressed her light-hearted side by dancing in her High School Step Dance Squad. While it wasn’t technically called cheerleading, those outfits suggest otherwise!
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In the mid-2000s, the actress received rave reviews for her work in the show, House. After that Wilde has worked in indie films, preferring to work behind the camera. She just had her directorial debut with Booksmart, a film about teenagers in High School.
Mandy Moore
“I loved cheerleading. I was not the most physically adept cheerleader, but I was very vocal … I was passionate and I was loud,” Moore confessed to talk-show host James Corden. Moore is one of the few actresses who openly talks about her Cheerleading days.
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Moor won our teens hearts everywhere with her 1999 album “So Real”. Later, she transitioned to acting. Things came full circle when she was cast as the popular and mean cheerleader in The Princess Diaries starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews.
Meryl Streep
We all know and love the poised and effervescent Meryl Streep of today but before she became a Hollywood icon, the actress was busy ruling over her High School. Not only was she on the cheer team but she was also voted prom queen!
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From 1982’s Sophie’s Choice, through 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada, to 2018’s musical Mama Mia 2, Over the years, the majestic Meryl Streep has blown us all away time and time again with her remarkable and diverse roles in the film industry.
Blake Lively
When Blake posted a throwback picture of herself cheerleading in high school with the caption: “I’ve always been impressively athletic…”, we couldn’t stop giggling at Lively’s sense of humour which never fails to impress.
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Lively will forever be known as Serena Van Der Woodsen for her breakthrough role in Gossip Girl. She is one of the few actresses who have gracefully moved from teen star to adult actresses recently taking on a plethora of complex roles and receiving rave reviews for her work.
Jennifer Lawrence
This one also might be a little tough to imagine, but did you know that the same actress who fell at the Oscars was once a cheerleader back in her high school days? Seems like quite a stretch but of course, we have the pictures for proof.
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The Hunger Game star has progressed into a full-fledged Hollywood A-list, with her films grossing $6 Billion worldwide. She was also the highest-paid actress in the world in 2015 and 2016.
Dakota Fanning
The youngest and last on our list, seeing Dakota in High School is no surprise but it looks like she has learned a thing or two from her already full career and not only joined the cheerleading squat but also was voted homecoming queen.
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Now in her last 20s, to us, she will always be the sweet girl from 2001’s I Am Sam, 2003’s Uptown Girls, and 2005’s War of the Worlds. Currently, she is working on a dark drama, The Alienist which is a huge departure from all her other cheerful and warm roles.