Hollywood stars and their famous best friends

August 02, 2017

Sometimes in order to live a life in the spotlight you've got to have friends who understand.</p>
<p>Whether they're opposites who attract, party pals who paint the town red or regular collaborators, we've rounded up some of Hollywood's best buddies.</p>

LEONARDO DICAPRIO AND KATE WINSLET

It's been 20 years since Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet met on the set of Titanic, and, while their onscreen relationship as Jack and Rose ended tragically, their real-life friendship has more than lived to tell the tale.

Photographs of the pair sharing tender moments during awards seasons set hearts aflutter, and when Kate was asked about winning the 2016 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her role in biopic Steve Jobs, her answer was incredibly sweet: "To be honest with you, it was because I've been so focused on Leo and him winning everything and being so excited for him."

So, when Leo did finally scoop an Oscar – his first ever for acting, after five previous nominations – for his powerful leading role in revenge drama The Revenant, it wasn’t only his mom whose heart was bursting with pride, with Kate visibly moved to tears.

Leo summed up their friendship when speaking to Oprah Winfrey in 2004. "In a lot of ways, Kate and I have really grown up in this industry together; we've been a support mechanism for each other for such a long period of time. We've been there for each other and helped guide each other."

Photo: © Getty Images

GEORGE CLOONEY AND RANDE GERBER

They have been friends for more than 20 years – or as Rande once put it, "probably half my life". They're so close that they wanted to build a house together, but Rande's wife, supermodel Cindy Crawford, said that as much as she loved George, separate pads might be better. The handsome boy duo settled for neighbouring holiday homes in Cabo San Lucas, on the southern tip of Mexico's Baja peninsula, where they have spent many happy times together over the years.

Their friendship, and vacations, sound like something out of a film. "We have breakfast at my house, lunch as his, dinner at ours," Rande has said of their lazy days at their adjacent homes. "We're like one big family."

They met during a night out at a New York bar owned by Rande, and over the years have developed a love of tequila, so being the kind of guys they are – one a Hollywood A-lister, the other a shrewd entrepreneur – they decided to create their own.

Naturally, the tequila blend they created together, with friend Mike Meldman, is named Casamigos, or House of Friends, after their Mexican compound.

Photo: © Getty Images

GIGI HADID AND KENDALL JENNER

They're young, beautiful and famous, and these potential rivals are in fact model best friends. They're also distant relatives through marriage – Caitlyn Jenner was once married to Linda Thompson, who later married David Foster, Gigi's former stepdad.

Gigi and Kendall make the perfect pair on and off the runway. They were elevated to Angels side-by-side, donning wings for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2015, and have since starred alongside each other in some of the world's top designers' shows.

When asked what traits she looks for in a friend, Gigi told InStyle it comes down to "someone that's just always there for you. It's really hard in our industry to make time and so you realize the people who are really making an effort, too. You know that everyone's so busy all the time, so when they pick up your calls whenever you call or if they text back and say, 'Hey! I'm on set, but I'll call you in five minutes,' and they do, that means they're a good friend."

Photo: © Instagram

TAYLOR SWIFT AND ED SHEERAN

It's no secret that Taylor Swift has a whole #GirlSquad, but there's something pretty special about her relationship with fellow singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.

Ed says it himself, telling Billboard, "It's quite a weird thing for the No. 1 and No. 2 biggest-selling artists in the world to be close friends. I don't think that happens a lot."

But, rather than being an obstacle for one another, these two powerhouses have joined forces, collaborating on Everything Has Changed in 2012, with Ed opening for Taylor's The Red Tour in the US throughout 2013.

The feeling is mutual. When it was Ed who took home the GRAMMY in the song of the year category in 2016 for Thinking Out Loud, beating Taylor's Blank Space, the Shake It Off singer was clearly over the moon.

Photo: © Instagram

BEN AFFLECK AND MATT DAMON

They met at ten years old when they were neighbours living two blocks apart in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They attended the same high school, both appeared as extras in the 1989 film Field of Dreams, and, in 1997, they made their leap to fame hand-in-hand, when they won an original screenplay Oscar for Good Will Hunting, in which they also starred.

And the pair has remained friends through the years, on and off the silver screen. As well as regularly stepping out on the red carpet to support each other's work, they have continued to collaborate, co-producing the docu-series Project Greenlight.

Matt has spoken about his dear friend's transformation over the years, from a time when critically dismissed films and relationship drama with his then-fiancée, Jennifer Lopez, brought him the wrong kind of fame. "Through his work, he climbed from the bottom of the mountain all the way back up to the top and past where either of us had ever been," Matt told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015.

Photo: © Getty Images

VICTORIA BECKHAM AND EVA LONGORIA

One is a US actress with Mexican roots, the other is a British pop star-turned-fashion-designer, and their paths crossed in LA. Victoria and Eva struck up a friendship when the former Spice Girl was living Stateside ten years ago, and they haven't looked back since.

The Beckhams may have relocated to the other side of the Pond in 2012, but distance hasn't come between the two stars. They regularly enjoy whirlwind visits, with Eva jetting to London especially for the opening of one of Victoria's stores, and later to Morocco for her husband David's 40th birthday celebrations.

Former Desperate Housewives star Eva has called her bosom buddy "the most beautiful woman inside and out," and said she's the "funniest person alive". It wasn't only her professional credentials that made Victoria the obvious choice to design Eva's wedding gown in 2016, it was her ability to know exactly how her best friend wanted to feel on her wedding day.

"I just wanted something sweet and simple and elegant — and no better person to do it than Victoria," recalled the bride following her spring nuptials.

Photo: © Getty Images

QUEEN MAXIMA OF THE NETHERLANDS AND QUEEN MATHILDE OF BELGIUM

Born two years apart, both university-educated, and both Queens, Maxima and Mathilde have plenty in common. The pair – who pride themselves on being hands-on mums – were both working women with flourishing careers when they met their Princes.

Argentine-born Maxima was an executive at Germany's Deutsche Bank in New York when she started dating then-Prince Willem-Alexander. Mathilde, meanwhile, was employed as a speech therapist when she met her future husband, Philippe, during a game of tennis.

And their lives continued on a parallel when they became Queens just months apart – Maxima became Queen Consort of the Netherlands in April 2013, while Mathilde ascended the throne following the abdication of her husband Philippe’s father, King Albert II, in July the same year.

The friends, who are both talented linguists – Maxima speaks Dutch, English and Spanish while Mathilde speaks Dutch, French, English and Italian – are also united by their shared sense of style. Regarded as being among Europe's most elegant royal consorts, they constantly win plaudits for their sartorially savvy wardrobe full of bright colours and pretty patterns – sometimes even matching.

Maxima gave a special nod to their royal friendship ten years ago by asking Mathilde to be godmother to her second-born daughter, Princess Alexia.

Photo: © Getty Images

PENELOPE CRUZ AND SALMA HAYEK

Latin beauties Penelope and Salma met on the Hollywood circuit early in their acting careers and cemented their friendship when they teamed up as a bank-robbing duo in Western comedy Bandidas in 2006 – a time when, Penelope has revealed, the pair often fell asleep in the same bed and Salma even let her pal cut her hair once, by candlelight. "That one really trusts me," Penelope said of the scissor session.

The pair, whose first language is Spanish – Penelope is from Spain while Salma is Mexican-American – have been bosom buddies since.

Despite living on opposite sides of the Atlantic, the brunette stars are often spotted out together, and of course Penelope attended Salma's luxe Venetian wedding to business mogul François-Henri Pinault in 2009.

"It is great to see somebody who you think deserves it get everything she has ever dreamed of," Salma told Vogue, referring to Penelope's happiness as a mother, wife and successful actress. "It's magical. It gives you hope."

STELLA MCCARTNEY AND GWYNETH PALTROW

Gwyneth says British talent Stella is "like a sister", and has often stepped out to support her "favourite" designer, sitting front row at her shows.

The Hollywood actress showed her full and unwavering admiration for her good friend through a dedicated letter posted on her lifestyle website Goop back in 2013, when the pair teamed up to create a capsule collection for Goop, featuring pieces designed by Stella and curated by health guru Gwyneth, called Stella McCartney x Goop.

Describing her as "someone who really sees you. Who is as honest with you as they are loving," Gwyneth continued: "Who shares a similar world view, who has similar values. Who is a bit of a life raft when you live in a country that you lovingly adopt, but is not your own. Who also happens to be hilarious and a bit naughty and is constantly trying to get the balance of everything right, just like you are."

The admiration is reciprocated. Speaking of collaborating with her actress pal and fellow mum, Stella said: “Her spirit and inner beauty as well as outer beauty are a big inspiration for me. I draw from that every day.”

JENNIFER ANISTON AND COURTENEY COX

They were Friends as Rachel and Monica for ten years, but their real-life friendship since the series finale aired in 2004 has been going even longer. They're so close that Jennifer is godmother to Courteney's daughter Coco, while Courteney, served as maid of honour at Jen’s intimate 2015 wedding to Justin Theroux.

It hasn't been all smooth sailing over the years, though. Jennifer went through a painful divorce from Brad Pitt back in 2005, and a string of romances followed until she met her Mr Right. But there was one person she could count on "through thick and thin" – Courteney.

"She's extremely fair, ridiculously loyal and fiercely loving," Jennifer told More in 2014. "I've slept in her guest bedroom a lot... all I can say is she's been there for me through thick and thin." We’re sure it goes both ways, and that Jen provided a shoulder of comfort for her comrade when Courteney's 14-year marriage to David Arquette came to an end in 2010.

DREW BARRYMORE AND CAMERON DIAZ

Drew was just 14 years old when she met Cameron, then 16 and a model, at the Los Angeles coffee house where she worked. Years later and by then an actress, it was Drew's idea to get Cameron involved in a film project, and the pair soon became Charlie's Angels.

Remembering making the phone call, Drew said on The Katie Couric Show, "I called her up and said: 'I have this amazing idea. I know exactly how I wanna do it. It's Charlie's Angels. Come play with me!' And she said yes! And then we just went on some of the best years of our lives."

The blond beauties often speak about their loving, sisterly relationship. Drew looks on Cameron as "a big sister", and Cameron behaved like one when she brought a radio interview to a close after the host of Australia's Kyle & Jackie O show made a reference to her friend’s teen years, when she battled with substance abuse.