13 Lady Gaga
Back when Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was a student at Convent of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic girls’ school in New York City, she was constantly being bullied and developed a thick skin—and empathy for outsiders—as a result. The singer told Rolling Stone she was “teased for being ugly, having a big nose, being annoying. ‘Your laugh is funny, you’re weird, why do you always sing, why are you so into theater, why do you do your make-up like that?’ I didn’t even want to go to school sometimes.”
14 Malin Ackerman
The actress plays a cool blonde on Showtime’s Billions, but she has said that wasn’t the case in high school. “I wasn’t the popular girl in school and didn’t have any boyfriends in high school because I was a nerd. I was a geek.”
15 Joe Manganiello
The Magic Mike star is the last person we would have pictured as a high school nerd, but Manganiello once shared an old photo of himself on Conan that provided proof that the hunky actor with the ripped body is light years away from the scrawny kid with big glasses he once was. Despite his nerdish appearance while in school, Manganiello did manage to land a spot on the basketball team. Years later he scored the ultimate revenge of the nerd by marrying Sofia Vergara. And for more amazing celebrity gossip, don’t miss the 11 Times A-List Celebrities Became Real Life Heroes.
Diane Clehane is a New York-based journalist and author of Imagining Diana and Diana: The Secrets of Her Style.
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