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From wild child...
She credits her desire to act from trips to see films with her mother in Pallisades, New York. The close post-divorce bond with her mum made losing her relatively early in life tough, though she stayed strong.
"I lost my mom. It's a natural thing for a child to lose a parent. I lost my mom too young, but it happened. And I'm happy she's out of pain, because I love her and she's my friend."
...To supermom
Angelina Jolie!
Born into a complicated performing family - her father is Jon Voight and her mother, Marcheline Bertrand also acted - Jolie has become known for both her tricky family history and her career.
Despite spending some of her educational life at Beverly Hills High School, she was teased regularly as a lower-income outsider (her mother preferred to live on a modest wage) and targeted for her unique looks, tall, thin shape and the braces she wore when she was younger. No wonder she took up a passion for knives...
From gawkward...
It's not every girl that can claims a Buddhist scholar for a father and a European socialite/ former model for a mother.
But though this next future actress doesn't completely look comfortable in front of the camera, that might be because she didn't enjoy school life much.
"I was not particularly bright, I wasn't very athletic, I was a little too tall, odd, funny looking, I was just really weird as a kid." One particular aspect of weirdness was her feet - which sprouted to size 11.
Still, they proved to be an inspiration for one of the directors she has worked with.
But who is she?
...To glamour puss
Uma Thurman!
It's not really surprising that a girl who at age 10 was advised to get her nose fixed would want to pretend to be someone else, and she found early success in school plays.
Thurman grew into her looks, of course - she became a model and aspiring actress at 15, moving to New York to pursue her ambitions.
And before all that, she was a rebellious child - though not in the way you might expect. While some kods give their parents nightmares by smoking or clubbing, Uma's passions tended towards wholesome all-american activities like cheerleading (which, hard as it might be to believe, shocked her mum and dad).
From life on the block...
Yes, she looks like she's auditioning for a role in an '80s soap opera, but this aspiring actress grew up in the Castle Hill section of New York.
While neither of her parents were in showbusiness - her dad was a computer technician and her mother taught young children - she was born into a musically-inclined family, something that has stuck with her in later life.
"I was always a singer and a dancer, and I always wanted to be an actress," she says. "For me, it's all just one thing." Yes, she was so focused on performing that she started taking singing and dancing lessons at age five.
And who is she?
...To life on screen
Jennifer Lopez!
Unsurprisingly, given her Puerto Rican background, she attended 12 years of Catholic school, including an all-girl high school.
A happy athelete, Lopez played softball and tennis in high school and was a gymnast.
After graduation, she worked in a law office, but continued to pursue her dancing training, and as she grew into her curvay shape, she got the nickname "La guitarra" (you can figure that one out).
And she ended up leaving home at 18 because her mother pressured her not to aim for fame. Bet she's glad she didn't listen...
From big hair...
Nice 'fro... But this young woman was a beauty even when she was young, and has grown into one of the sexist stars around.
A child of divorce, she was raised exclusively by her mother, and became a good student despite the challenges in her life. Graduating from Bedford High School in Ohio, she worked at a department store, then attended communiy college before a modelling and pageant entries beckoned.
She won the Miss Teen All-American beauty pageant at 17 and took first runner-up the following year at Miss USA.
But who is she?
...to big star
Halle Berry!
Her mixed parentage (her dad is African American former hospital attendant Jerome and her mum is white ex-nurse Judith) didn't always make it easy for the young Halle to fit in to her Cleveland hometown "I was black growing up in an all-white neighborhood, so I felt like I just didn't fit in. Like I wasn't as good as everybody else, or as smart, or whatever."
But she had a lot of help from one particular teacher: "Yvonne Sims, one of the only black teachers at the school, was like an angel. She came along when I felt myself going in a direction that could have been really bad. She took me in and loved me, and through her I knew that I was okay and smart and talented.
"She will always be someone I admire."
From Zack Efron lookalike...
He may have looked like Zac Efron when he was younger, but this actor is a well-established Hollywood star.
Born in Germany, this young smirker was raised in New York. The son of an American soldier and a German bank worker, he was an outgoing personality, despite his childhood stutter.
The problem led to him being labelled Buck-Buck by others at school, but he found his calling - and lost the stutter - performing in school plays.
He went on to become student council president and head of the drama club - neither of which were pointers to his film career...
Who is it?
...To big Brucie
Bruce Willis!
His first career out of school was as a private investigator - ironic, given later roles on TV's Moonlighting and in The Last Boy Scout.
He also worked as a factory driver (though he quit the job when a colleague was killed) and started acting in New York, appearing in, among other things, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.
The man's natural confidence shines through, though he admits it sometimes caused problems: "Before I was famous that confidence got me into trouble.
"Now I'm famous it still does, but the voice I've always listened to and trusted is my own, for good or bad."
