Revenge of the Nerds! Celebrities Who Went From Geek To Chic – See The 7 Wedgie Worthy Transformations
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Aug. 28 2015, Published 7:06 a.m. ET
Wedgie alert! Some of the biggest names in showbiz had to outgrow some awkward high school years...
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"I was proud of it," said the 43 year old Alias star about her days as a band geek. But Jennifer Garner's memories of the day she approached her high school crush are less fond, saying: "He called me liver lips!"
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"In school, I was about a foot shorter than anyone else," remembered Leonardo Dicaprio. "I was entirely an unpopular student." His work as a child actor saved him from the geek genes he inherited from his dad, who specialized in comic-book art.
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The future Ghost star dropped out of high school at 16 after being ridiculed for her crossed eyes. Just four years later, Demi Moore was starring on General Hospital!
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"I'd rather be smart than a movie star," said brainy Natalie Portman, who skipped the premiere of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace to study for her final exams. It paid off – she got into Harvard!
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Before High School Musical, Zac Efron, 27, was doing his own musical theater work and this didn't bring him the same kind of attention. "In actual school I was singing and dancing. It just wasn't cool … I was very nerdy because of it…" said Efron about his high school days.
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Maggie Gyllenhaal, 37, went through her own awkward phase while attending Harvard-Westlake prep school in Los Angeles before her steamy break-out role in Secretary in 2002.
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Before he was an Oscar nominated actor, Jeremy Renner, 44, sported a combination buzz cut and mullet that even an Avenger couldn't save him from.