Friendship, mutual support, saving money—many actors opt to live together for any number of reasons. Here are 10 famous actors who dished on what it was like when they used to be roommates.

Jamie Dornan and Eddie Redmayne 

In an Actors on Actors interview, Jamie Dornan and Eddie Redmayne opened up about their close friendship over the years. Dornan revealed, “We’ve known each other forever and have been best friends for fifteen-plus years. We lived together in LA.” 

It was 2009 and both actors say neither was working “at all” despite frequent auditioning. Many times, the two worked on lines together, and they were occasionally up for the same roles. The Fifty Shades and Fantastic Beast leads recollect a “highlight” from those days—that is, painting pottery pieces at a venue such as Color Me Mine where they jotted down the names of their fellow actor buddies onto a clay pot. 

“Everyone has done pretty good on [the pot] when you consider. We’ve got two superheroes on there, you’ve got an Academy Award—it’s kind of insane!” Dornan remarks. Looking back at their past struggles with fondness, Redmayne says, “You got to try everything and fail hard, but your mates were there to pick you up afterwards.”

Holly Hunter and Frances McDormand

Before Frances McDormand and Holly Hunter became award-winning actresses, they roomed together in New York City. 

“My boyfriend and Fran’s boyfriend were best friends,” The Big Sick actress told Vulture. “I met mine doing a play at the Repertory Theater of St. Louis, and then I came back to New York. He said, ‘Hey, my best friend is going to Yale, let’s visit.’ And his girlfriend was Fran.” 

Later on, the two thespians ended up breaking up with their boyfriends, and they became both roommates and close friends. In fact, Hunter recalls McDormand is “fantastic” to live with. “We had a blast. We stayed up there for a couple years, and then she did ‘Blood Simple.’ After that, [writer-director] Joel Coen sort of moved in with us, and they eventually got married. It was a great chapter.”

Brad Pitt and Jason Priestly

Once upon a time, Brad Pitt and Jason Priestley used to be roommates in North Hollywood and often competed for the same roles. Jason Priestley’s memoir Jason Priestley: A Memoir shared how the two guys used to have contests to see which of them could go the longest without shaving or showering. 

“We lived on Ramen noodles and generic beer—the kind that came in white cans labeled ‘beer’—and Marlboro Light cigarettes. We were broke,” Priestly penned. Actually, there were eight roommates total packed into the two-bedroom apartment. 

“You have your little corner where you keep your clothes folded up in a little bedroll,” Pitt recalls. “I became quite accustomed to McDonald’s and Shakey’s Pizza buffet. I didn’t mind. The city was a wide-open experience.” As Pitt’s film career took off, Priestly hunkered down in LA to star in Beverly Hills, 90210. 

Looking back, Priestly says, “Those were really fun days, and I think, ya know, those friendships that we all formed and those times we all had are times that I look back on fondly.”

Connie Britton and Lauren Graham

Before being cast in the hit shows Gilmore Girls and Nashville, Lauren Graham and Connie Britton attended the same acting class in New York. 

“We became friends, and then we both decided to make the big move and give Los Angeles a shot,” Britton told Vulture. When their mutual friend was going through a divorce, the actresses moved into her empty house. 

Britton recalls, “You know, it’s that time when everything’s a possibility, and we were just trying to live our dream.” The two reportedly had no furniture and lived off of Rice Krispie treats.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Winona Ryder

Back in the ‘90s when Gwyneth Paltrow and Winona Ryder’s careers were catching on fire, they lived together in a Los Angeles apartment. Paltrow was dating Ben Affleck and Ryder was an item with Matt Damon, and the two gals were reportedly “inseparable.” Contrary to what’s been published about the two actresses drifting apart after Paltrow supposedly stole her Oscar-winning role from Ryder (for Shakespeare in Love), Paltrow now insists, “That’s an urban myth,” swearing it’s absolutely untrue.

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