Successful celebrities who never finished high school

Whether it be due to poor grades, bullying, or simply to pursue a dream, many of our favorite Hollywood stars did not finish high school. While education is important, these celebs prove that having a diploma doesn't always determine success.

Click through to find out which stars were high school dropouts.

Emma Stone

Stone had to leave high school when she was presented with an opportunity to star in her breakout film 'Superbad.'

Nicolas Cage

At the age of 16, Cage dropped out of Beverly Hills High School to pursue acting.

Al Pacino

The legendary actor and filmmaker struggled in high school with poor grades and eventually dropped out to follow his dreams of stardom.

Katy Perry

The chart-topping pop princess dropped out of Santa Barbara Don Pueblos High School at the age of 15 to follow her dreams of becoming a singer.

Tom Cruise

Cruise originally went to school in hopes of becoming a priest. However, when he caught a case of the showbiz bug he dropped out of high school and moved to New York to pursue his acting career.

Jessica Chastain

The 'Zero Dark Thirty' actress had too many absences to graduate high school because she would skip class to read Shakespeare in her car.

Robert Downey Jr.

The 'Iron Man' actor made his film debut as a child star and eventually dropped out of high school at 16. He moved to New York to continue his acting career.

Jay-Z

Growing up in one of the projects of Brooklyn, the rapper dropped out of high school and started drug dealing.

John Travolta

Travolta dropped out of high school and moved to Los Angeles to become an actor.

Christina Aguilera

After being relentlessly bullied by children at her high school in Pennsylvania, Aguilera dropped out in the ninth grade and was homeschooled by her mother.

Demi Moore

At the age of 16, Moore dropped out of high school to become an actress.

Drake

Similarly, the Canadian musician dropped out of high school to star in 'Degrassi: The Next Generation,' a teen drama about high school students.

Chris Rock

When Rock was a teenager, he attended an all-white school where he was ruthlessly bullied. He subsequently dropped out in the 10th grade and got his GED.

Kristen Stewart

The 'Twilight' actress was struggling in school and failing several classes before she dropped out at the age of 13. She was homeschooled instead and received her GED.

Whoopi Goldberg

Goldberg has openly said that she dropped out of high school because it was too challenging. It wasn't until later in life that she found out that she was actually dyslexic.

Mark Wahlberg

After getting involved with substances at a young age, Wahlberg eventually dropped out of high school.

Charlize Theron

The actress was bullied in school by mean girls who would make fun of her. She eventually dropped out of high school.

Eminem

The rap legend failed out of the ninth grade three times before dropping out of Lincoln High School at the age of 17.

Cher

The iconic singer and actress struggled to keep good grades in school due to severe dyslexia. She eventually dropped out of California's Fresno High School at the age of 16.

Pink

Pink had a troubled adolescence consumed with petty theft and substance abuse. She overdosed at the age of 15, dropped out of school, and earned her GED.

Lindsay Lohan

Lohan's career took off early on with her roles in 'The Parent Trap' and 'Herbie Fully Loaded.' She dropped out of high school and eventually received her degree through homeschooling.

Steven Tyler

Though Tyler never earned his high school diploma, he did become one of the most iconic rock stars of his time.

Michael J. Fox

The 'Back to the Future' actor dropped out of high school despite protests from his teacher who said Fox would be "making a big mistake," according to USA Today.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

The former California governor and actor left school to become a bodybuilder.

David Bowie

This rock star quit school to pursue his glam rock music dreams.

Ryan Gosling

This Canadian actor was once suspended from school for throwing knives at kids on the playground! He was bullied as a child and was homeschooled for a bit. Eventually he dropped out of school at 17 to focus on acting.

Avril Lavigne

Once she signed a record deal as a teenager, she left school to work on her debut album 'Let Go.'

Nicole Kidman

Kidman left school at the age of 16 to follow her acting dreams.

Jude Law

The actor chose to leave school at 17 to star in the soap opera 'Families.'

Gisele Bündchen

The Brazilian supermodel started modeling at just 14 and she subsequently left school to focus on modeling full-time.

Ozzy Osbourne

The musician suffered from several learning disabilities, which made school difficult for him as a kid. He eventually left at 15 to work odd jobs.

Kelly Osbourne

Like father like daughter. Osbourne also dropped out of school in pursuit of a career in entertainment.

Keanu Reeves

The Canadian actor was expelled at the age of 16 from his high school. He and the principal apparently did not see eye to eye.

Catherine Zeta-Jones

This actress dropped out of high school and moved to London when she was 15 to pursue her acting career.

Kate Winslet

Winslet left school at 16 and began working at a deli in order to save money to catch the train to go on auditions.

Russell Crowe

Ironically, Crowe dropped out of high school at 16 and began working as an actor to save money in order to go back to school: he wanted to attend the National Institute for Dramatic Art in Australia. But acting was going so well that in the end he decided not to attend after a colleague told him it'd be a waste of time.

Colin Farrell

Farrell quit school and has had an extremely successful career since, having starred in films like 'Minority Report,' 'Phone Booth,' 'The Recruit,' and 'Daredevil.'

Elton John

The icon left school at the age of 17 to chase his music aspirations.

Harry Styles

Styles chose his band One Direction over education.

Naomi Watts

The actress was definitely too cool for school, having failed to graduate high school and ended up working a string of odd jobs before her big break.

Pierce Brosnan

At the mere age of 16, Brosnan quit high school. However he did go on to study at Drama Centre London instead.

Daniel Radcliffe

After the release of the first 'Harry Potter' film, keeping up with school became a challenge for the actor. He decided to finish his schooling with on-set tutors.

Rihanna

In an interview with GQ, the singer said that her intention was to finish and graduate from high school, but she became too busy.

Orlando Bloom

Bloom said goodbye to his classmates at 16 and went on to do acting.

Ringo Starr

This former Beatle dropped out of school due to major life-threatening illnesses he suffered from as a child, which prevented him from attending classes.

Boy George

He was kicked out of school at 15 years old and he started working odd jobs, including a runner at printing firm and working on a fruit farm.