These stars all went to school in Santa Monica… can YOU guess who they are from their yearbook photos?

The road of fame and fortune can start from anywhere, but there are some locations that seem to be a good indicator of future success.

It turns out, many of the most famous names in the business all went to high school in Santa Monica, California.

In fact, several of the stars were actually firm friends before going on to make it big in Hollywood.

Two schools in particular have a rather impressive alumni list that would surely inspire any aspiring entertainers who are currently students at either institution.

Santa Monica High School has seen the likes of Marvel star Tessa Thompson, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum Karyn Parsons and wrestling pro Ronda Rousey walk the halls as students.

Crossroads High School, on the other hand, has alumni including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jonah Hill, Kate Hudson, New Girl star Zooey Deschanel and My Wife and Kids actor Daman Wayans Jr.

Thanks to unearthed yearbook photos, fans now have the chance to see what some of their other famous classmates looked like before they hit the big time.

Here, FEMAIL looks back at these households names while they were regular teenagers, but can you guess who they are from their yearbook photos?

Santa Monica High School

This Academy Award-winner was once named Hollywood’s highest-paid actor, with his films grossing over $14 billion worldwide

This actor was born in 1965 in New York City to a filmmaker father and an actress mother.

Due to his father’s film projects, the family lived in New Mexico, London and Connecticut during childhood, before he moved back to New York with his mother after his parents split up.

However, he then moved to California to be with his dad and spent his time schooling at Santa Monica.

He eventually dropped out at 17, moved back to New York and launched an acting career which has seen him become one of the most famous superhero characters in film – and also named Hollywood’s highest-paid actor between 2013 and 2015.

So do you know who it is? The answer is Iron Man star himself, Robert Downey Jr.

Aside from his work within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Robert has starred in his films such as Chaplin, Zodiac, Sherlock Holmes and Oppenheimer – with his films having grossed over $14 billion worldwide.

This actor went on to become one of the coveted members of the Brat Pack thanks to his booming career in the 1980s

Born in 1962, this star was the son of a famous actor – and has a siblings who also works in the entertainment industry.

Originally hailing from Staten Island, New York, his family eventually ended up based in Malibu after his dad landed a lucrative role out West.

While attending Santa Monica High School, he co-wrote and starred in a play about Vietnam veterans called Echoes of an Era and invited his parents to watch it. 

His father later recalled being astonished by his son’s performance, and ‘began to realize, “My God, he’s one of us.”‘

After graduating in 1980, he refused to go to college and instead began his acting career.

It’s The Mighty Ducks star, Emilio Estevez – son of actor Martin Sheen (real name Ramon Estevez).

Famously part of the Brat Pack alongside Robert, Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson, Emilio is famous for roles in projects such as The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire and Repo Man.

He was nominated for a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Awards for his performance in 2006 flick, Bobby. 

This star began acting when he was just a teen and his fellow classmates became jealous of how he balanced school and work

Born in 1964, this actor grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he lost complete hearing in his right ear as a result of undiagnosed mumps. 

He also lived in Ohio before he moved to Malibu with his mother and brother. 

While attending high school in Santa Monica, he was a member of the baseball team and boasted back in 2019 that he was once capable of bench pressing 135 pounds.

The actor is former teen idol, Rob Lowe.

He started acting when he was just a teen, and his fellow student Robert later admitted on Rob’s Literally podcast that he had been jealous of how the actor balanced school and his acting career. 

He explained: ‘I want to say I was jealous, but that’s not deep enough. I didn’t understand how anyone could get where you were, let alone still have attendance in school.

‘It just seemed like there was something so high-functioning going on that there was no point for me to even attempt to understand it.’

Rob became best friends with Emilio after they filmed the 1983 Francis Ford Coppola drama, The Outsiders, together – and he also landed a spot as a member of the Brat Pack.

The star is best known for his roles in projects such as The West Wing, Parks and Recreation, and 9-1-1: Lone Star.

During her time in Santa Monica High School, this star was voted ‘most talented’

This actress was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1964, before her family moved to California when she was 10.

She had her first taste of working in front of the camera when she was just four years old alongside her father, who served as the first Gordon on Sesame Street.

During her time in Santa Monica High School, she was voted ‘most talented’ along with her classmate Rob.

Meanwhile, she was close with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actress Karyn Parsons, telling a fan in 2021: ‘We were high school buddies.’

The star is 21 Jump Street’s Holly Robinson Peete.

Best known for her acting roles in projects such as For Your Love and The Jacksons: An American Dream, she also enjoyed a limited career as a singer too.

Meanwhile, she worked as a co-host for CBS show and The Talk, alongside the likes of Leah Remini and Sharon Osbourne.

This actor spent a lot of his time during high school making short films and he’s now a two-time Academy Award winner

Born in 1960, acting was in the star’s blood thanks to his actress mother and director father.

Raised in Santa Monica throughout his life, he was also a member of the school tennis team and spent time making short films with friends such as Emilio.

Some might be shocked to discover that he planned to go to law school after graduation, but ultimately ditched college to pursue his acting career in New York.

It’s none other than Sean Penn – the son of Eileen Ryan and Leo Penn.

After landing iconic roles in breakout films such Fast Times at Ridgemont High and At Close Range, he has gone on to forge an impressive career.

He is now a two-time Academy Award winner for his powerful performances in film like Mystic River and Milk.

However, he has also made headlines for his stormy private life and political viewpoints.

Despite being a star pitcher and shortstop for the baseball team, this star was expelled from school for poor grades

Born in 1962, this star is also the son of a famous actor – and he has an actor brother also mentioned in this article.  

He was involved in making amateur Super 8 film with Sean, however, his main love in high school was sports.

Rob – who became his friend at 13 – recalled in his autobiography, Stories I Only Tell My Friends: ‘We were both nerds… he wanted to be a baseball player.’

Despite being a star pitcher and shortstop for the baseball team, he was expelled from school for poor grades and attendance weeks before graduation.

Luckily, Hollywood called for the one and only Charlie Sheen – younger brother of Emilio.

He went on to star alongside Patrick Swayze in the teen drama Red Dawn just one year after leaving school. 

Other major film roles would come shortly after, including Platoon and Wall Street.

In 2003, he landed the role of Charlie Harper in CBS comedy sitcom Two and a Half Men, but he famously had a meltdown in 2011 at the height of his fame.

At the time, he declared he was ‘winning,’ drinking ‘tiger blood’ and had ‘Adonis DNA.’ In 2015, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with HIV in May 2011.

This actor played football at Princeton University and dated Brooke Shields before becoming a star

Born in Michigan in 1966, this star inherited the acting bug from his mother, who moved the family to California while he was a child.

However during high school, he excelled at sports and played on the same baseball team as Charlie.

He went on to play football at Princeton University, setting a Princeton season record with 12 interceptions (in just 10 games) during the 1987 season. The star also dated actress Brooke Shields during that time.

After graduating, he joined the NFL team Buffalo Bills, but a knee injury during training camp ended his football career prematurely.

This led the actor to turn to screenwriting, however he soon made his way onto screens.

It’s the one and only Dean Cain. 

After establishing himself as a talent to watch in episodes of Life Goes On and Beverly Hills 90210, he made his name in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

At the height of its popularity, 15 million viewers tuned in each week to see him play Superman.

Since then, Dean was the host of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! and appeared in the sports drama series Hit the Floor.

Crossroads High School for the Arts and Sciences 

This star turned to acting in search of attention following his parents’ divorce

This actor was born and raised in Santa Monica, California. He was the son of satellite engineers Thomas William Black and Judith Love Cohen.

In search of attention following his parents’ divorce, he turned to acting.

Recalling his first commercial, he explained to Newsweek: ‘I knew that if my friends saw me on TV, it would be the answer to all my prayers because… everyone would know I was awesome. 

‘And I was awesome – for three days. Then it wore off. But it gave me the hunger.’ 

After attending Poseidon School in Los Angeles, he eventually transferred to Crossroads, where he excelled in drama.

During his time at the school, Jack became friend with Gwyneth as well as Maya Rudolph. 

It’s the one and only Jack Black.

The star has since made his name with a slew of hit movies such as School of Rock, The Holiday, Tropic Thunder and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. 

However, he might have had his best success lending his vocal talents to animated projects such Kung Fu Panda, as well as being the lead vocalist for Tenacious D.

This actress made her start in Saturday Night Live and has since become a booming star

Born in Gainesville, Florida, in 1972, this star’s mother was a popular singer, while her father was a composer. 

In addition, her godmother was R&B singer Teena Marie – so being a performer wasn’t something foreign to the star.

She actually had a crush on fellow classmate Jack, who she thought was a ‘theater god.’

She explained on The Drew Barrymore Show that he inspired her to get into acting, stating: ‘My drama teacher put us together, and he was my improv coach for an improv competition we did. 

‘And he got me into the improv class, and he took me to my first Groundlings show, which is where I ended up.’ 

It’s none other than Bridesmaids star Maya Rudolph – the daughter of singer Minnie Riperton.

She joined the SNL cast in 2000 and stayed until 2007. During that time, she got work with fellow classmate Gwyneth.

Gwyneth gushed in her opening monologue: ‘I hosted once before, but this week has been really extra special to me because one of my best friends is on the show now, and I’m so proud of her.

‘We’ve known each other since we were seven years old, and she’s super funny and talented, and I’m so glad she’s in the cast.’

Maya is also known for her work in Grown Ups (2010), The Good Place (2018-2020) and Loot, among other things. 

As a teen this star landed a job interning with George Lucas, and he’s now a successful director whose films grossed $7.8 billion worldwide

Born in 1965, this film lover grew up in Los Angeles and quickly developed an appreciation for visuals.

He traces his interest in action films back to an incident during his childhood where he attached firecrackers to a toy train and filmed the fiery results on his mother’s eight mm camera. 

While in high school, he was member of the student council and also editor of the yearbook. 

He landed a job interning with George Lucas – filing the storyboards for Raiders of the Lost Ark, which he thought was going to be terrible. 

His opinion changed after seeing it in the theater, and he was so impressed by the experience that he decided to become a film director himself. 

The answer is Transformers director Michael Bay. 

Known for making big-budget high-concept action films with frequent depictions of explosions, Michael has directed hits such as Bad Boys, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, the first five films in the Transformers films.

His films have grossed over $7.8 billion worldwide, making him one of the most commercially successful directors in history.