20 celebrities who dropped out of school to pursue their dreams

Comedian Tracy Morgan dropped out of high school, which he says allowed him to succeed. Morgan has stated that if he’d graduated high school, he would’ve had a backup plan. Without the diploma, he only had the option to make comedy his career. 

Kristen Stewart stopped attending high school when her acting career became too much to manage. She graduated high school in the Twilight series, though, which is far more iconic. 

Jennifer Lawrence dropped out of high school to pursue her dreams of becoming an actress, and now she has an Oscar. Oddly enough, she’s not the only Oscar winner in history with that particular asterisk. 

Jennifer Lawrence’s BFF Emma Stone didn’t graduate high school either. She took what she learned in school (PowerPoint) and used it to convince her parents to let her drop out of school to pursue acting. See what we mean about Oscar winners who didn’t graduate high school?

Ryan Gosling dropped out of school, too, but unlike most other celebrities, he had already achieved quite a bit in his acting career. Gosling already had quite a few credits from his childhood career, and he was filming Young Hercules when he made the decision.

Rihanna doesn’t have a high school diploma, but she does have a billion dollars and multiple Grammys. Dropping out of school was a gamble, but it certainly paid off in the end for the Barbados native. 

Mark Wahlberg didn’t need to finish high school. He was Marky Mark and had the Funky Bunch. The actor does value education, though, and he eventually went back and earned his GED. 

Leonardo DiCaprio has acted out just about every human experience, but one he didn’t get in real life was earning his high school diploma. Like others, though, he eventually went back and earned his GED. 

There’s a reason Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are such good friends. They’ve got a lot they can connect on. Winslet didn’t finish school, either. And look at them now.  They’ve both got Oscars. 

Gisele Bündchen was simply too beautiful to finish high school. Seriously. She dropped out when she was 14 after being discovered in Brazil. Now, she’s one of the most legendary models in history. 

Oscar winner Jessica Chastain dropped out of high school, claiming she was a poor student and wasn’t focused on her studies in the slightest. Chastain skipped too many classes and wasn’t eligible for a high school diploma. 

Johnny Depp dropped out of high school in pursuit of a music career. Obviously, things took a little different path for the artist, but it all worked out. Depp has never let his passion for music go, and he still performs with his band, so he’s gotten the best of both worlds. 

It’s much easier to drop out of school when you have something lined up. In Jude Law’s case, he was cast on a television show at age 16, and his parents agreed to let him drop out of high school and move for his new job. 

Robert Downey Jr. also left high school in pursuit of an entertainment career. Although it took him some time, he eventually found massive success. What’s even more unbelievable is that his high school classmates were Rob Lowe, Sean Penn, and Emilio Estevez. 

Seth Rogen dropped out of high school, but he rejects the stereotype that dropouts are lazy. He maintains that he left high school to work hard in pursuit of something great, and he says others should be unafraid to drop out if they don’t need schooling for their intended career. 

Lil Wayne achieved success at a very young age, and his mother made him drop out for his own safety. The rap icon’s mother saw him put a gun in his backpack before going to school one morning, and she told him he would be taking another path instead. 

Multiple rap icons have dropped out of school. Jay-Z didn’t graduate high school either, but he finds education incredibly valuable and supports other kids financially in their pursuit of degrees. 

Daniel Radcliffe’s life took an insane turn when he was cast as Harry Potter, and because of it, he never graduated high school. Though he doesn’t have the shared experience of earning a diploma, he has a unique experience no one can take away from him. 

Cameron Diaz dropped out of high school to become a model. While she has done plenty of modeling throughout her career, acting was her true calling. 

Yep, artists are still dropping out of school to pursue their dreams. Jenna Ortega is a more recent actor who had to quit school to achieve her acting goals. She sort of experienced school while portraying Wednesday, though.