Most Famous Celebrity From Every State

Celebrities are just like us. Well, maybe not anymore.

But before they were rich and famous and recognized everywhere they went, they all had to start somewhere. With dreams of making it big, they worked hard, caught a big break, and became the stars we see today.

These are the most famous celebrity from every state, based on where they were born or grew up.

Born: May 25, 1970 

Birthplace: Montgomery, Alabama

High school: Jefferson Davis High School (Montgomery)

College: Auburn University

Bottom line: Octavia Spencer was born in Montgomery, Alabama, a place she calls the “buckle of the Bible Belt.” She grew up in a large family of seven kids and attended Auburn University in Alabama.

In 1995, she won a small film role opposite Sandra Bullock in “A Time To Kill,” and her star began to rise. Spencer is best known for her roles in critically acclaimed movies “The Help” and “Hidden Figures.”

She is one of only 11 actresses who has won Critic’s Choice, BAFTA, Oscar, Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe awards in the same year.

Born: May 23, 1974

Birthplace: Payson, Utah

High school: Interlochen Center for the Arts (Interlochen, Michigan)

College: None

Bottom line: Singer and songwriter Jewel Kilcher is a native of Homer, Alaska, where she grew up in a log cabin. She started performing at 5 with her musical family and started playing guitar at 16.

Jewel’s 1995 debut album, “Pieces of You” went platinum and established her as a folk music superstar. She later wrote a book of poetry that sold over two million copies, one of the best-selling books of verse ever in America.

Jewel is well-known for yodeling at her concerts and for her crooked teeth.

Born: Nov. 6, 1988

Birthplace: Scottsdale, Arizona

High school: Xavier College Preparatory (one semester, then dropped out to become an actress)

College: None

Bottom line: Emma Stone was born and grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, where her parents owned a golf course. She started acting with the Valley Youth Theatre in Phoenix as a child. Stone’s first role was in “The Wind in the Willows.”

She developed a passion for acting, and, at 15, persuaded her parents to let her move to Los Angeles. In January 2004, she and her mother got an apartment near Hollywood. “I went up for every single show on the Disney Channel and auditioned to play the daughter on every single sitcom,” Stone recalled. “I ended up getting none.”

Stone made her film debut in “Superbad” in 2007, and her acting credits include films “The Favorite,” “The Help” and “Birdman.” She is best known for her role in “La La Land” for which she won an Oscar for Best Actress in 2017.

Born: Aug. 4, 1955

Birthplace: Hot Springs, Arkansas

High school: Malvern High School (Malvern, Arkansas)

College: Henderson State University

Bottom line: Billy Bob Thornton was born in 1955 in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Thornton started out as a musician, playing drums and singing. He moved to Los Angeles with a childhood friend, Tom Epperson, to sell their jointly written scripts to Hollywood. They struggled for years but were finally successful with “One False Move,” in which Thornton also starred.

Thornton achieved even more success with “Sling Blade,” which he wrote, directed and starred in, and won the Oscar for Best Screenplay. Thornton said that he based the story on people, places and events he knew growing up in Arkansas.

He has also appeared in “Monster’s Ball,” “Bandits,” “Love Actually” and “Our Brand is Crisis.”