You Won't Believe These 15 Celebrities Were Childhood Friends _ Nostalgic US Treasures

So when we befriend somebody as a kid, we never give it a second thought nor do we know what future holds for us. Year after year, our friendships just keep growing into stronger bonds and our friends become our chosen family. And that's not just with us, these celebrity BBF's too have been together for what seems like forever now.

1. Sean Penn & Nicolas Cage

Penn and Cage were friends long before becoming famous. They were both trying to make it big in Hollywood at around the same time, and got to do it together by co-starring in the 1984 drama "Racing with the Moon."


2. Corey Haim & Alyssa Milano

Corey Haim was a teen idol of the '80s, and a close friend of Alyssa Milano's. The two dated from 1987-1990 and remained friends after breaking up.


3. Tobey Maguire & Leonardo DiCapri

You saw them costar in "The Great Gatsby" recently, but Maguire and DiCaprio's friendship goes way back! They went to the same auditions for a while as kids, and DiCaprio remembers really wanting to be Tobey's friend. In fact, Leo embarrassingly recalls yelling at Tobey from across a Hollywood lot, asking for his phone number so they could hang out.


4. Elijah Wood & Macauley Culkin

Wood and Culkin were both child actors at the same time, starring in the 1993 thriller "The Good Son" together. The two became fast friends, and still stay in touch to this day.


5. Chaz Bono & Jennifer Aniston

Bono and Aniston both went to New York's LaGuardia High School together. Aniston recalls hanging out at Chaz's house after school on several occasions. That's right, Jennifer Aniston was a regular in Cher's home!


6. Justin Timberlake & Ryan Gosling

The two superstars both got their start on "The Mickey Mouse Club," and it was there that they became friends. In fact, they were legally brothers for a little bit! Gosling's mom was still working in Canada when her son was offered the television role located in Orlando, Florida. Timberlake's mom stepped in and agreed to be Gosling's legal guardian until his mom could join him in Florida six months later.


7. Kim Kardashian & Nicole Richie

We already knew that Kim and Paris Hilton were tight before she got famous, but apparently Mrs. West was friends with Paris's BFF Nicole Richie first. The two grew up in the same area and ran in the same circles when they were 13.


8. Courtney Love & Drew Barrymore

In her early teens, Barrymore had a very intense party girl phase, which involved her hanging out with Courtney Love a lot. Love recalls that they met smoking in a club's bathroom when she was 19, and despite the large age difference, they became fast friends. Even though Barrymore cleaned up her act, the two remained close, and Love even made Barrymore the godmother of her and Kurt Cobain's daughter, Frances Bean.


9. Matt Bomer & Lee Pace

Matt Bomer and Lee Pace met in the drama club of Klein High School in Spring, Texas. They bonded over Larry Kramer's play "The Normal Heart," which they both reveled in because it was so different from their conservative town. Pace went on to star in the play's revival on Broadway, and Bomer starred in the HBO adaptation of it.


10. Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson

The filmmaker and actor are constant collaborators, but you probably didn't know they're also old friends. They met in a playwriting class at the University of Texas at Austin. They became roommates and worked on the script for their first movie "Bottle Rocket" together. After that, Wilson has been in almost every one of Anderson's films.


11. Maya Rudolph & Gwyneth Paltrow

Rudolph and Paltrow's fathers were close friends since college, so when both of their daughters went to grade school together, it was only natural that the two girls would be close. When Paltrow hosted "Saturday Night Live" after Rudolph had just joined the cast, she dedicated her monologue to her life-long friend.


12. Tyra Banks & Kimora Lee Simmons

These two world famous supermodels have been close friends since back when they were both just getting started. In the early '90s, they were both young models at Chanel, where they met and sparked a friendship. Banks is even the godmother of Simmons's eldest daughter.


13. Brad Pitt & Christina Applegate

Before anyone knew who Brad Pitt was, he was close friends with 16-year-old Christina Applegate, who was just starting to get attention for her role on "Married With Children." According to Applegate, they remained close friends for a while and then decided to start dating when she brought him to the 1989 MTV Awards as her date. Unfortunately for Brad, Applegate left with another guy!


14. Brooke Shields & Matt Dillon

Back in the '80s, Shields and Dillon were almost inseparable, which sparked a lot of romance rumors. Dillon was quick to brush them off though, saying Brooke is simply a very close friend. Dillon actually almost starred opposite Shields in her star-making role in "Blue Lagoon," but wasn't comfortable with the nudity required.


15. Ben Affleck & Matt Damon

No surprises here — we all know that Affleck and Damon are Hollywood's tightest BFFs, and that friendship actually started back in high school when they both attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in Massachusetts. Damon contacted his old buddy Affleck to help him out with a screenplay he was writing for a college course, and that very script later be "Good Will Hunting."