You’ve heard of a rags-to-riches story, right?
How about multiple stories of those who were born with very little, but who then used their drive, their talents and, yes, their good looks to make like Scrooge McDuck.
These celebrities may not be swimming through a room of actual gold. But they are no longer struggling to make ends meet, either.
Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber was born to a single, teenage mother. If Usher did not find Bieber’s impressive videos on YouTube, who knows where he would be right now.
Leighton Meester
(Getty) Leighton Meester starred on a show about very rich young people… but the actress born in a federal prison to her mother Connie, who was serving a 10-year sentence for drug smuggling. The beauty has credited her experience with making her “very non-judgmental and open-minded.”
Selena Gomez
(Getty) In an interview with Elle magazine, Selena thought back to how she grew up poor, saying, “I can remember about seven times when our car got stuck on the highway because we’d run out of gas money.”
Scarlett Johansson
Speaking on her youth, A-lister Scarlett Johansson told The Daily Mail one time: “It’s nice to have money. I didn’t grow up with it so it’s nice to have it.”
Shia LeBeouf
Shia LeBeouf is weird. He also does not come from money. Here’s what the actor once told Parade magazine: “My dad and my mom were both artists who never found an audience for their artwork. And so I lived in poverty. Now that I’m not poor, I know that is what it was. Like Hemingway said, you can’t write anything if you’ve never been shot at or been gorged by a bull, you know? So I look back at that stuff and I’m grateful. It’s like scars. You become proud of them.”
Nicki Minaj
(Getty) “I never want to go back to being poor.” So Nicki Minaj has said about her childhood. She grew up in Trinidad and then New York.
Leonardo DiCaprio
(Getty) Leonardo DiCaprio grew up in Los Angeles, but not the nice part of Los Angeles. He says he was exposed to drugs and violence as a youth.
Mariah Carey
(Getty) During an interview on Live with Kelly and Michael, the superstar said her past financial struggles are the main reason she struggles with not spoiling her twins Monroe and Moroccan. She wants them to grow up happy, but also to appreciate their family history.
Demi Moore
Demi Moore grw up with less. She hails from New Mexico, where she lives in a trailer park as a child.
Kelly Clarkson
(Getty) Kelly Clarkson told Redbook she grew up “poor and without a lot of family stability.” But she says this helped her become a strong, independent woman.
Ed Sheeran
In the book A Visual Journey, Ed Sheeran revealed that he slept outside Buckingham Palace in the past. He was even homeless for two years. Whoa!