High school has been a turning point for celebrities across Hollywood.
Many stars have chosen to forgo their high school education to pursue their careers. Some of them have even gone on to get their GED after making it big.
Seth Rogen dropped out of high school after landing a part in Freaks and Geeks, but the comedian said it came as a “very expected conclusion” to the “long downward spiral” that was his education.
“It was not surprising to anyone, I don’t think. And nor did anyone, even my parents — no one really tried to convince me to stay or even get a GED,” he told Georgia Public Broadcasting in May 2021. “No one in my life was like, ‘This is going to ruin your life if you drop out of high school.’ “
Rogen added, “It was very clear by then that I was highly motivated to do other things, just not, you know, academic things.”
Here are 21 celebrities who dropped out of high school.
01 of 21
Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey attends the “Sonic The Hedgehog 3” UK Premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square on December 10, 2024
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Jim Carrey dropped out of high school on his 16th birthday to enter the workforce and help his family, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
02 of 21
Mary J. Blidge
Mary J. Blige attends the “Mary J Blige’s My Life” New York Premiere
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Mary J. Blige told The Big Issue that her “rebelliousness really messed up my education,” causing her to drop out of high school in 11th grade.
“I definitely regret it,” she said. “I really wish that I had finished getting my education. Then again, I look at it and ask myself if I would be this person if I had finished school. Would I be this Mary J Blige today?”
03 of 21
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp attends the UK Premiere of “Jeanne Du Barry” at The Curzon Mayfair on April 15, 2024
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According to Fox News, Johnny Depp dropped out of high school in 1979 to move to Los Angeles and join a band called The Kids.
04 of 21
Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. poses in the press room during the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
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Robert Downey Jr. attended Santa Monica High School for two years. He dropped out at the age of 16 in 1982 to pursue a full-time acting career.
While he was a student there, his classmates included Rob Lowe, Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez and Sean Penn.
05 of 21
Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Dempsey visits SiriusXM Studios on January 28, 2026
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Patrick Dempsey dropped out of high school at 17 years old.
“I wish I’d stayed in school,” he told the Indianapolis Monthly in 2012. “I was 17 when I dropped out, and I never finished high school.”
06 of 21
Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank attends the Liongate’s “Ordinary Angels” New York Premiere
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Hilary Swank, a high school dropout, told Today in 2007 that it’s something she’s “not proud” of.
“I’m not proud that that’s something that happened, but it happened,” she said. “I think school is really, really important and we have an education problem in this country and it’s a shame. It’s a shame for any kid to feel hopeless about their future.”
07 of 21
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan at the 17th Annual Stand Up For Heroes
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Tracy Morgan dropped out of high school to pursue his acting career.
“I’m glad I dropped out of high school, man,” he told the Huffington Post in 2010. “I wouldn’t be where I’m at. I would have had a net.”
He continued, “I’m glad I didn’t have anything to fall back on, man, because that made me go for my dreams that much harder.”
08 of 21
Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet attends the History Talks 2024 Red Carpet at David Geffen Theater
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Kate Winslet shared during a 2017 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that, like many of her peers, she left high school to pursue acting.
“I had finished my school exams, and you see, contrary to what people think about me — people often think I must have all these diplomas and things and rubber stamps next to my name and crests and training and all this kind of pedigree,” she said.
Winslet continued, “I left school at 16 and I went to work in a delicatessen to save money to get the train to London to go on auditions.”
09 of 21
John Travolta
John Travolta attends the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures 4th Annual Gala in Partnership with Rolex at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on October 19, 2024
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John Travolta left high school to pursue his career.
“Not too many of my friends identified with what I was doing,” he told The Phoenixin 1978. “I participated in football and basketball, and did what they were doing, but not many kids understood my going to acting studios at night.”
10 of 21
Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen during an interview on Wednesday, August 6, 2025
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The comedian “dropped out of high school and went and worked on a TV show.”
“We were writing a script all throughout high school,” he told CNN in 2013. “I probably worked harder than most people who were just doing high school stuff, honestly.”
He continued, “I did stand-up comedy all throughout high school. I think, honestly, if you have a career in mind that isn’t academically oriented, then high school is probably not going to lead you to what you want to be.”
11 of 21
Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves attends the “From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina” world premiere
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Keanu Reeves told the Daily Mail in 2008 that his high school was “difficult” and he was ultimately expelled at the age of 16.
“The principal and I didn’t see eye to eye. I was one of those ‘Why?’ kids – I asked too many questions about everything. I couldn’t stop even if it got me into trouble,” he said.
12 of 21
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg attends “The Family Plan 2” World Premiere
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Despite dropping out of high school in ninth grade, Mark Wahlberg was able to complete his high school education in 2013.
“For almost a year, I’ve been taking classes and studying any chance I could get — on the set, traveling for work and at home,” he wrote in an essay for the Huffington Post.
Wahlberg continued, “It has been both humbling and challenging, but I’m happy to report that I am officially a high school graduate, having received my diploma this summer.”
13 of 21
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino attends Fortnite Now Playing, celebrating “The Lost Chapter” on November 19, 2025
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Director Quentin Tarantino revealed in a 2012 episode of The Howard Stern Show that he left school in the ninth grade.
“It would’ve been great to have a college experience … The whole social and learning aspect of it,” he said.
14 of 21
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro poses in the Winners’ Gallery during the 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
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Robert De Niro dropped out of high school to pursue acting, per NDTV. He later received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from Bates College.
“In many ways, leaving school when I did it was an advantage,” he said at the time. “I saved nearly $6,000 by not having to pay tuition and expenses for four years of education.”
15 of 21
Al Pacino
: Al Pacino attends a conversation with Al Pacino at The 92nd Street Y, New York on April 19, 2023
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According to CBS News, Al Pacino dropped out of high school at 16 to pursue work in the New York theater scene.
At the time, he took on jobs like messenger, janitor, switchboard operator and usher (which he was fired from twice!).
16 of 21
Drake
Drake attends the “Top Boy” UK Premiere at Hackney Picturehouse on September 04, 2019
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After dropping out of high school, Drake went on to complete his education and graduate in 2012.
Sharing the news at the time on X, Drake wrote, “97% on my final exam. 88% in the course. One of the greatest feelings in my entire life. As of tonight I have graduated high school!”
17 of 21
Katy Perry
: Katy Perry attends the 2024 Baby2Baby Gala
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Katy Perry left high school at 15 to pursue music but later earned her GED, ABC News reported.
18 of 21
Gisele Bündchen
Gisele Bündchen at a December 2025 Vivara event
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According to The Independent, Gisele Bündchen left high school to pursue a modeling career.
19 of 21
Jessica Chastain
Jessica Chastain attends the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
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Jessica Chastain revealed in a 2015 interview that she dropped out of high school and “was not a hard worker.”
“I was a terrible student,” she told Entertainment Weekly, per ET Online. “Eventually I got my adult diploma, but I did not graduate. And it wasn’t that I just dropped out and never went back — at the end of the year I had too many absences to graduate.”
20 of 21
Chris Rock
Chris Rock attends the Kevin Hart & Chris Rock: Headliners Only NY Premiere at The Paris Theatre on December 08, 2023
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Chris Rock dropped out of high school in the 10th grade and went on to earn his GED, per Oprah.com.
Before he made it big as a comedian, Rock was a busboy at Red Lobster and a hospital orderly while attending community college.
21 of 21
Jeremy Allen White
Jeremy Allen White attends the New York Film Festival Spotlight Gala in 2025
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Jeremy Allen White revealed in a 2025 episode of Live with Kelly and Markthat he never completed high school.
“I wasn’t a good student because I didn’t go to school enough. And so I didn’t get all my credits and so I never graduated from high school,” White said. “I never got my diploma, ’cause I didn’t have enough credits.”
His former drama teacher would go on to attend the New York Film Festival premiere of Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere and present him with a high school diploma.
Read the original article on People