12 pairs of costars that you'd be surprised to learn were actually classmates

Publish date: 2024-06-20
Updated 2020-09-16T15:37:00Z

 

Ansel Elgort and Timothée Chalamet were on the same high school basketball team and starred in the 2014 movie "Men, Women & Children."

Ansel Elgort and Timothée Chalamet in March 2018. James Devaney/Getty Images

The two actors, who are a few months apart in age, attended New York City's LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.

In a 2017 Instagram post, Elgort said that he and the "Call Me by Your Name" star "played on the same basketball team, we had the same drama teacher Mr. Shifman, we had the same science teacher Mr. Singh," and got nominated for Golden Globe awards in the same year: Elgort for his role in "Baby Driver" and Chalamet for his part in "CMBYN."

Elgort also told MTV that "no one disliked Timmy" in high school. 

"Riverdale" costars Camila Mendes and Cole Sprouse attended New York University together.

Camila Mendes and Cole Sprouse in December 2018. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for GQ

Mendes, who became a breakout star for her role as Veronica Lodge on the hit CW show, said that she used to see him and twin brother Dylan Sprouse on campus.

She also told Office magazine that she met Cole "on certain occasions" but he doesn't remember at all. 

"I saw him around and there was a time when we had class in the same building so I would always see him outside," she said. "He was a weirdo! He had really long hair down to his butt cheeks. He was really shy too. I would see him at parties sometimes and I always kind of randomly talked to his brother, but I never got a chance to talk to him because he was more to himself."

"Black Panther" and "Us" actor Winston Duke met costar Lupita Nyong'o at Yale.

Winston Duke and Lupita Nyong'o in March 2019. Mike Marsland/Mike Marsland/WireImage

Even before Winston was a student at Yale, Nyong'o was assigned to show him around the campus. They remained friends throughout college as part of the school's drama program and even went to see the first "Avengers" movie together, long before landing their Marvel roles as M'Baku and Nakia. 

"He was extremely tall, and he has quite the presence — but he was also very internal and pensive," Nyong'o told The Hollywood Reporter.

She added: "He was on edge because he was auditioning to get into the school, but he also had a very clear idea of who he wanted to be in the world."

After appearing in 2018's "Black Panther," Duke and Nyong'o teamed up again the following year for Jordan Peele's psychological thriller "Us."

"Human Capital" costars Alex Wolff and Maya Hawke went to preschool together.

Maya Hawke and Alex Wolff in September 2019. Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage

The two actors, who are less than a year apart in age, both grew up in New York City. 

During a podcast called "The Big Ticket With Marc Malkin," Wolff said that he and Hawke both dressed up as Power Rangers for Halloween one year. 

"The Hills" costars Whitney Port and Spencer Pratt went to California's Crossroads School together.

Whitney Port and Spencer Pratt star on "The Hills: New Beginnings." Evan Agostini/Invision/AP and Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP

When asked by Insider if there's one thing fans would be shocked to learn about "The Hills: New Beginnings," Port said: "I think one of the most surprising things is that Spencer and I actually go way back and went to middle school and high school together!" 

Beanie Feldstein and Ben Platt, who starred in the 2017 film "The Female Brain," have been best friends since high school.

Beanie Feldstein and Ben Platt in July 2019. Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

The two stars were both born in 1993 and attended Los Angeles' Harvard-Westlake School. They told Vanity Fair that they met at a Bat Mitzvah and reconnected on their first day of high school.

"I have been basking in the glow of Beanie Feldstein since I was 14 years old," Platt said of the actress in a tribute for Variety. "We became instant best friends on the first day of freshman year, our shared seventh-period lunch setting us on a predestined path of lifelong love."

Platt and Feldstein will also star in a film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical "Merrily We Roll Along," which will be filmed over the course of 20 years. 

"I think what Ben and I have is beyond friendship, honestly," Feldstein told Broadway.com. "It's like a soulmate connection. We're like twins separated at birth or something."

"Top Gun" stars Kelly McGillis and Val Kilmer attended NYC's Juilliard School.

Kelly McGillis and Val Kilmer starred in the 1986 movie "Top Gun." GARCIA/URLI/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images and Kelly Jordan/Globe Photos/Mediapunch /IPX

McGillis starred as Charlie and Kilmer portrayed "Iceman" in the 1986 movie. 

"I know Val from Juilliard," McGillis told Yahoo! Movies. "He was a year ahead of me."

Childhood friends Matt Damon and Ben Affleck collaborated on plenty of movies together over the years.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in November 1997. Yukio Gion/AP

Damon and Affleck met as kids and attended the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in Massachusetts. They went on to play extras in the 1989 movie "Field of Dreams" and appear in movies like "Glory Daze" and "Chasing Amy."

The pair also cowrote the script for "Good Will Hunting," which earned them an Oscar for best original screenplay. In the movie, they starred as friends Will and Chuckie. 

Damon and Affleck also costarred in the 1999 movie "Dogma." Next, they'll write the screenplay for a film called "The Last Duel," which they're also starring in. 

"Black Panther" stars Danai Gurira and Sterling K. Brown went to the same grad school.

Danai Gurira and Sterling K. Brown in March 2019. Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

During an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," Gurira said that the "This Is Us" star is like "my big brother."

Gurira also said that she started attending NYU's Tisch School of the Arts shortly after Brown graduated, but he frequently visited the campus. They also almost ended up being roommates in Brooklyn, too. 

Susan Kelechi Watson and Sterling K. Brown met at NYU long before playing a couple on NBC's "This Is Us."

Susan Kelechi Watson and Sterling K. Brown in April 2018. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

"We didn't really know each other that well," Watson told Entertainment Weekly. "I remember… so little." 

The actress went on to say that she mainly recalled seeing Brown "outside of school, ironically" in theater productions. 

Similarly, Brown saw Watson in rehearsals for plays and praised her "incredibly beautiful and nuanced work."

He added: "I remember Sue before she even got to school was dating a guy in the class above my class. And so I'm all, 'Who's this little cute girl who Dre is going out with?' They're like, 'Yeah, that's Susan Kelechi Watson.' I was like, 'Oh. She's cool.'"

B.J. Novak and John Krasinski's friendship predates their time on the hit show "The Office."

B.J. Novak and John Krasinski in January 2006. Michael Buckner/Getty Images

The two actors attended Newton South High School in Massachusetts together and graduated in 1997. Prior to that, they were on the same little league baseball team.

"John Krasinski and I have known each other our whole lives in the weirdest, most coincidental way," Novak told Ellen DeGeneres in 2014.

"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" costars Andy Samberg and Chelsea Peretti went to elementary school together.

Chelsea Peretti and Andy Samberg on season one of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." Tyler Golden/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

Samberg and Peretti portray childhood friends Jake Peralta and Gina Linetti on "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," and the actors share a similar backstory in real life.

The pair lived two blocks away from each other and went to the same elementary school.

"We weren't good friends, but we also weren't not friends, if that makes sense," Samberg told Esquire.

Peretti also told Conan O'Brien that she had a "huge crush" on Samberg when she was a child.

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