Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence dropped out of middle school at the age of 14 because she struggled with it. She then decided to pursue an acting career and, in her words, she is now “self-educated.”
Harry Styles
Harry had to drop out of high school when he was 16 as a result of auditioning for The X Factor and being part of the band One Direction.
Gisele Bündchen
This Brazilian model dropped out of high school when she was 14 to pursue her modeling career. Despite this, Gisele can still speak 5 languages.
Nicole Kidman
Kidman dropped out of school to pursue her acting career. She started to work on stage and then broke into movies at the age of 16.
Rihanna
Rihanna dropped out of high school at the age of 16 and moved to America when she was 17 to sign a music deal with the record label Def Jam.
Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. was never the best student. His father gave him an ultimatum to either go to school every day or find a job. He dropped out at the age of 15.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp was 15 when he dropped out of high school. His dream was to become a popular rock musician.
Simon Cowell
Simon left school when he was 16 to work as an intern for EMI Music Publishing. It was the beginning of a promising career.
Jay-Z
Jay-Z dropped out of high school to start focusing on his job at the time, dealing illegal substances. That job helped him build the business skills to become the successful entrepreneur he is today.
Keanu Reeves
According to a Daily Mail interview, Keanu dropped out of school at the age of 17 because he never fit in. He had conflicts with the staff and the principal and him “didn’t see eye to eye.”
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg dropped out of school at the age of 16, as a result of a very difficult childhood, involving dead-end jobs, several marriages, and drug addiction.
Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise dropped out of high school to become an actor in New York. Before that, when he was a kid, he wanted to be a priest.
Quentin Tarantino
Tarantino wanted to pursue a filmmaking career and, for that, he dropped out of high school when he was 15. He had an IQ of 160.
Daniel Radcliffe
The Harry Potter star decided to take a break from school when he was 17 to focus on his acting career. He has not returned to school since.
Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling dropped out of high school when he was 17. He had previously participated in The All New Mickey Mouse Club and the acting bug was always pulling at him, so at 17 he decided to pursue acting full-time.
John Travolta
Travolta dropped out of school at the age of 16 to move to New York and pursue acting and modeling careers full-time.
Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey left school when he was 16 to work as a janitor to help support his family. He used to work nights, along with his family, cleaning an Ontario warehouse.
Avril Lavigne
Avril dropped out of high school as a result of landing a record deal before she was even 17. It was then that she started to make music professionally.
Drew Barrymore
She became a star when she was only 7, after landing her starring role in the movie E.T. As a result of the fame that came with it, Drew was too busy to ever finish school.
Katy Perry
Katy dropped out of school at the age of 15 with the dream of becoming a singer. She also left because school wasn’t easy for her, as her parents were always moving from church to church. In a Yahoo interview, she said “I was being pulled out of school even in the middle of school and sometimes being home-schooled. Sometimes we were sent to these really half-Christian, half-education, I-don’t-know-what-they-were schools.”