15 Stars With a Big Heart Who Are Always There for Their Colleagues
Show business is one of the most competitive area where even top professionals have to fight for new projects. It seems that in such an environment, there is simply no room for mutual assistance and support. But celebrities bust these assumptions with their actions.
We at CHEERY just couldn’t walk past these moving stories where stars helped each other in difficult situations.
Salma Hayek gave home to then-unknown Penélope Cruz.
The first time Penélope Cruz visited Los Angeles, Salma Hayek gave her enormous help, even though that had only known each other by the phone. Hayek didn’t only meet Cruz at the airport, but also took her to her home, instead of a hotel. Hayek knew exactly how hard it can be for a person at the beginning of the path in a completely unknown city.
“And I ended up also sleeping in her room because I was scared,” Penélope Cruz remembers, “And you know, that’s the way we met. And on top of that, in the middle of the night, she says I was holding her hand because I was afraid.”
Padma Lakshmi supported Lena Dunham in her fight with endometriosis.
Padma Lakshmi had had the same illness and organized a foundation to help other women. When she found out about Lena Dunham’s problem, she tried to give her as much support as she could and found a good doctor for hysterectomy when Dunham decided to do it.
“I felt that Lena wasn’t getting the care that she really should have when I heard her talking about some of the doctors that she was seeing before,” Padma told. “It’s a very personal thing. You don’t want to push your advice on someone, but I kept saying, ‘I wonder if she should have a second opinion?’ I know you love your doctor, and they sound great, but just for comparison.”
So, Lena Dunham managed to beat the illness, and now she’s considering assisted conception or adoption.
Leonardo DiCaprio recommended Kate Winslet not to lose weight.
After the amazing success of Titanic, Kate Winslet wasn’t only famous, but also got a ton of crtiticism. The media discussed every inch and pound of her body they thought were extra. But one situation that happened during the shooting, helped the actress stay true to her beliefs and become one of the body positivity icons.
“I remember Leo when we were doing Titanic saying to me, ‘You know it’s really important that you are the shape that you are,’” Winslet shared.
DiCaprio thought there were too many girls around thinking they needed to be slim to be successful, beautiful, loved, and respected. This is why Kate Winslet’s example in Titanic was very important for viewers, especially, teenage girls.
Justin Bieber helped Madison Beer become famous.
Madison Beer’s career could have gone very differently, if it hadn’t been for Justin Bieber. At the very start of her part, the young 13-year-old singer recorded a cover of the classic song of Etta James “At Last”. Bieber didn’t only find the video, but also publicly expressed his admiration with Beer’s voice.
After his tweet, Madison Beer became recognized and popular online. And later, she signed a contract with professional label Island Records that promoted Bieber himself.
Denzel Washington paid for Chadwick Boseman’s education.
The star of Black Panther partially owes his success to Denzel Washington. When he was studying at the university, Chadwick Boseman applied for a prestigious summer theater program in Oxford. He was chosen but he couldn’t afford the studies.
When he was already hopeless, he got a letter and found out that Denzel Washington had paid for the program for several students, including him. Boseman wrote a thank-you letter to Washington, and 20 years later, when he was already a successful actor, he publicly thanked Denzel.
Kevin Hart saved homeless Tiffany Haddish.
At the beginning of her career, Tiffany Haddish was in such big financial trouble that she couldn’t afford to rent a place to live in — she had to sleep in her own car. Once, Kevin Hart asked her where she was living, and she said she was sleeping in her car, parked in Beverly Hills.
“I would park my car in Beverly Hills and I would sleep over there, and the police would come every morning and make me move. That was like my wake-up call. I got to know a lot of police officers like that.” the comedian remembers laughing.
Kevin gave her $300, so she could rent a room for at least 1 week. Tiffany rented a motel room, and as Kevin recommended, wrote a list of goals she was going to pursue every day.
Tom Cruise returned Bill Hader back to his family.
The actors were working on a commercial in Los Angeles together when very worrying news about an emergency situation arrived from New York. Bill Hader, whose daughter and wife were in New York, was panicking and trying to call his family. Tom Cruise noticed he was really worried and did everything he could to return Bill to New York not in 2 days as it was planned, but right on that day.
“And at that moment, Tom Cruise, as Les Grossman, in a karate gi, began to direct all my coverage,” Hader told. “All my footage, all my close-ups. Boom! We do three perfect takes. Boom, boom, boom. Everyone’s chest-butting each other, some people are chest-butting themselves, people are going insane. Two days’ worth of work, and he got it done in 45 minutes.”
Later that night, Cruise put Hader on a plane and in the morning, the comedian already knew his family were okay.
Julianne Moore stood up for Alicia Vikander.
During the filming of Seventh Son, one of the senior crew members made a very bad joke about Alicia Vikander. She remembers, not naming the person, “I was really embarrassed, and I would have just laughed it off. But Julianne turned to him and said, ‘If you ever do that again, I’m walking out of here and I’m not coming back.’”
Alicia says that at the moment, Julianne became an impersonation of feminine power, and it still means a lot to her.
Jamie Foxx gave Ed Sheeran his couch.
Ed Sheeran slept on Jamie Foxx’s couch for 6 weeks before he became famous. At the start of his career, he asked his more experienced colleague to listen to his songs. Foxx was so impressed by Sheeran’s songs that he decided to keep him close and even let him sleep on his couch.
Later, Foxx included Sheeran into the show he gave every Monday. Foxx added, “He pops out with his little red hair and a ukulele... And he went out there on that ukulele and got a standing ovation for 12 minutes.”
Taylor Swift made Troye Sivan’s sales spike.
The experienced singer was impressed by Troye Sivan’s second album. The singer expressed her emotions in public by posting links to the album and wrote “Vibes. Mood. Feelings.” A huge spike in popularity happened right after.
Sivan’s global streams on Spotify increased 20% day-over-day, and his records were selling like hotcakes. The singer didn’t know what to say to express his gratitude.
Chloë Grace Moretz introduced Meghan Trainor to her future husband.
Meghan Trainor honestly said that she couldn’t find a partner for a long time. She literally tormented all her friends, asking them to introduce her to someone. Chloë Grace Moretz finally helped by arranging a meeting for Meghan and the star of Spy Kids, Daryl Sabara.
"Chloë Grace Moretz is a friend of mine, and day one of meeting her, I was like, "You know anybody that I could date? Or love? Whatever. And she’s like, “I know the nicest guy in the world, Daryl, and you should meet him.” I was like, “Daryl? Okay.’” the singer remembers.
Soon after that, they got married and last year, they had their first child.
Paul Newman gave part of his salary to Susan Sarandon.
The actress says that when she was working on one of the films (it was probably the 1998 Twilight), she had to deal with gender inequality. She was paid less for her work than her male colleagues. To compensate for the difference, Paul Newman gave her part of the money he earned.
“He stepped forward and said, ’Well I’ll give you part of mine’. So, yeah, he was a gem.” the actress said.
Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas negotiated a huge salary for Jennifer Lopez.
Jennifer Lopez does many things to shatter the glass ceiling separating modern women from their career dreams, equal salaries with men, and equal rights. For example, most films she takes part in are made by female directors.
Maybe, it’s because other women helped her when she needed help. Her old friend, producer Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, worked hard to promote Jennifer Lopez. And in 2001, she negotiated an amazing salary for Lopez. It was $9 million for Marry Me.
Matt Damon saved Ben Affleck from a big career failure.
Ben Affleck thinks that his work in Justice League was the worst in his career. The actor had a hard time recovering after it, and Matt Damon was his biggest help.
“I had a really nadir experience around Justice League for a lot of different reasons.” Ben said. “Not blaming anybody, there’s a lot of things that happened. But really what it was is that I wasn’t happy. I didn’t like being there. I didn’t think it was interesting. And then some really awful things happened. But, that’s when I was like, I’m not going to do that anymore.”
Matt helped Ben overcome the crisis and move on. Together, they wrote The Last Duel, that was critically acclaimed.
Francia Raisa gave Selena Gomez her kidney.
In 2017, Selena Gomez had some health complications, and needed a kidney transplant. Even though the singer didn’t ask for help, her old friend, actress Francia Raisa decided to become a donor.
“There aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raisa,” said Gomez. “She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed.”
What impressive things have your colleagues done for you?