Top 20 Movie Co-Stars Who Are Best Friends in Real Life

Not only were Platt and Astin in the first two, successful, “Pitch Perfect” films together; they’re together in life, too - as bros -with Astin referring to Platt as a “roomie for life” on Instagram. They may have played college roommates, but their kinship is for real. For instance, Platt was present at Astin’s wedding. Meanwhile, Astin and his then-wife, fellow “Pitch Perfect” co-star Anna Camp - who’s also real life BFFs with one of her costars, Brittany Snow - visited Platt while he was performing on Broadway in “Dear Evan Hansen” in 2016. They may not be performing onscreen at the moment, but you can bet that Ben Platt and Skylar Astin kept their onscreen friendship offscreen as well.

Pinket Smith met her real world BFF back in Baltimore when she was 15 and snuck into a club to see an up-and-coming, 17 year old Latifah perform. She was blown away. The two would later star in the 1996 hit, “Set If Off” and while they wouldn’t work together again for another 21 years, they maintained a tight friendship in between projects. Latifah told People that she and Jada can “hold whole conversations without really saying anything, but still saying a lot.” That’s a deep connection that friends could only probably have after 30 odd years of closeness. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait another 21 years in between films to see these two women together again!

These two co-stars met on the set of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and weren’t immediate BFFs. But spending time together on press tours for their MCU films seems to have changed that. And now, with several more films under their respective belts, as well as the Disney + series, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”, it’s easy to spot the closeness between Falcon and Bucky Barnes. In an attempt to get Sebastian out of New York during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Mackie even tried convincing Stan to join him in New Orleans. No one knows what the MCU holds for their characters yet, but off-camera, their bromance shows no sign of slowing.

Nick Frost met buddy and collaborator Simon Pegg when Frost was a waiter at a restaurant in London. The two became friends and eventual roommates before going on to work together in projects like the box office hit, “Shaun of the Dead”. Since their breakout, the two have continued to stay together both on and off-screen, such as in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy and the sci-fi comedy, “Paul.” Like any close relationship, these two funny men have had their share of drama and fights. Simon Pegg has stated that while they may quarrel, they always end up back together again - just like in any family. And this family not only plays (and fights) together; they clearly know how to work together, too - through thick and thin.

Deemed the new Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart (who we’ll get to later), these two actors share more than just the former’s characters. Though they first worked together on the “Band of Brothers” miniseries, their bromance as we know it began with the world of the “X:Men”. The two mutant besties even have a combined nickname: McFassy. Watch any interview the two have given and you’ll see the great chemistry that translates off screen, what with McAvoy easily cracking Fassbender up with every chance he gets. Here’s hoping James and Michael also continue their bond well past their current ages and into their 80s and beyond.

The kinship of our next duo of BFFs can be described as “brothers from ‘nother mothers,” which McConaughey himself has called them on Instagram. McConaughey beat out Harrelson for his breakout role in “A Time to Kill” only to end up playing his brother in “EdTV” a few years later. Maybe it was their alleged shared love of recreational activities, but the duo have always seemed tight well beyond just that. Matthew has even publicly admitted that he’s gone to the Woodman with personal problems in the past. Whether it’s in the lesser known “Surfer, Dude” or HBO’s “True Detective” these two cool characters are alright, alright, alright.

These two ladies have appeared in a few films together and initially met on a short film back in 2007. But according to Fanning, that first introduction wasn’t special enough to call it their real first meeting. It wasn’t until the two were on “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” set that their bond truly formed in what Dakota calls their “chosen moment of meeting”. It was while she introduced friend Kristen Stewart at Elle’s Women in Hollywood Awards ceremony in 2016 that the two publicly professed their love and respect for one another. Fanning confessed Stewart’s been there to hold her hair back, help her through heartbreak, while Stewart responded to it all with, “Oh my God, dude I love you so much.” That’s BFF love.

After working together in “A Wrinkle in Time”, Kaling and Witherspoon have since become fast friends. Kaling, a parent herself, doesn’t hold back when she gushes about how blown away she is by Reese’s mom abilities. Reese, in turn, has gotten her pal, Mindy involved in “Legally Blonde 3” with Kaling co-writing the screenplay. These two Hollywood powerhouses send gifts to one another and have even been known to hang out together at family-friendly places, like Disneyland. It’s clear that Reese and Mindy know how to be more than just colleagues; they know how to be friends too.

Who doesn’t know that these two dudes are friends for life?! Whether it’s their onscreen chemistry in the cult classic, “Pineapple Express” or the political controversy from what was almost not a movie with “The Interview”, Rogen and Franco are hardcore bros offscreen as well. Initially meeting on the short lived TV show, “Freaks & Geeks”, the two even “fell in love” with each other enough to do a shot for shot remake of then-couple, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s romantic video, “Bound 2”. Whether it’s in movies, on TV, in music videos or just out in the wild, Franco and Rogen are besties for sure.

Constantly at each other’s throats, Kevin Hart and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson “attack” in such hysterically warm ways that you can’t help but feel the love between them. But if the sarcasm doesn’t show you how close they are, just listen to The Rock when he says Hart’s “definitely one of my best friends” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The two have teamed up on multiple occasions, with hilarious Hart especially playing well off of The Rock’s ‘straight man’. Whether it’s Dwayne honoring Kevin with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, jokingly competing for attention on Instagram, or starring together in a “Jumanji” film, their partnership works wonders onscreen and off. Plain and simple: they’re a lot of fun to watch.

Friends since 2001, Cruz and Hayek still have each other’s backs today. Cruz starred in 2006’s Bandidas with Hayek and, more importantly, was there when Hayek got married in 2009. They’ve openly praised one another’s work and, when both were on a precarious flight together, Cruz reportedly remarked that she would’ve been okay if this was her last flight as she was with her best friend. Dark but endearing. Cruz and Hayek are close enough to have cute, food based nicknames for each other as well as a bond that both maintain is like a firm sisterhood, and have even called each other their heroes.

Though they first met in the late ‘80s, these two only started getting close when Barrymore approached Diaz about co-starring in 2000’s “Charlie’s Angels” - and the pair have been good pals ever since. Drew and Cameron have been there for each other’s marriages and beyond. And these two maintain that they’re more like family than just friends as evidenced in their social media posts. Barrymore has even gone so far as to say that Diaz would be the first person she calls should she ever wind up in jail. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, but let’s hope there’s no slowing down for these real-life angels in both work and in play.

These two friends were already acquainted before their shared time in these Disney Channel movies. In fact, Tisdale and Hudgens met before their breakout film roles, way back when, at a commercial audition. Having someone else share such a unique experience in the world of stardom surely helps with forming bonds for life - and these BFFs have shared everything from getting tattoos, to being at each other’s weddings, and revamping each other’s homes. Things may have really started with Disney, but this friendship has extended well beyond that.

These guys not only share good looks and high profile movie star status, but also a true friendship that goes beyond the silver screen. While this bromance reportedly began during working hours on 2001’s “Ocean’s Eleven,” the duo maintains a friendship during off hours as well, with the notorious pranksters lovingly struggling to get one up on the other. These pranks have involved everything from the Chippendale dancers to the police and even a goat, or maybe... a sheep. They’ve had some rocky moments in their relationship, like when Pitt divorced Jennifer Aniston, which was allegedly much to Clooney’s chagrin. But they’re back to being friends now, with Brad saying he expected roses from George for his 2020 SAG award win.

They met while filming “Thor” back in 2009 and have shared a friendship ever since. Having both of them come into fame at about the same time, they found that they had a lot more in common than just their onscreen characters did. Hemsworth has even called Hiddleston an honorary Hemsworth, saying that he’s adopted him as a brother. Meanwhile, Tom publicly thanked Chris when the former won an MTV award for best villain. They not only go to one another’s red carpet premieres, but also lovingly entertain each other at what could be stuffy events if you didn’t have a friend keeping you company.

These two not only have great chemistry on-screen but they clearly have it offscreen as well, as they have hit it off since their shared time on “SNL." Since then, they’ve starred in “Mean Girls,” “Baby Mama” and “Sisters” together and have shown how well they play off each other at the three Golden Globes ceremonies they co-hosted. Having met in Chicago while the two were studying improv comedy, they became fast friends when they shared a love of quietly bashing their instructor to one another. Heck,, these two funny ladies have even supposedly planned to marry their kids off to one another. So there’s that too.

These two knew each other well before they starred in “The Great Gatsby” together. They actually met as child actors all the way back in the 1980s, having shared time together at auditions in L.A. Both mostly raised by single mothers, the two guys bonded almost immediately - and while they sometimes auditioned for the same roles, these friends didn’t share any bitterness. As both their fame levels increased, Tobey and Leo were known around town for keeping fast and hard company, perhaps not unlike something you might see on “Entourage.” But as they’ve matured, and toned down their public profiles, both DiCaprio and Maguire remain close.

Sir Ian and Sir Patrick have both had long careers and even appeared together in a 1977 stage play, but didn’t keep in contact. In fact, it wasn’t until slightly more recently, in 2000’s “X-Men” that the two became BFFs. Their friendship is so tight that Sir Ian even married Sir Patrick to his wife in 2013. Also in the 2010s, McKellan and Stewart have been seen appearing together onstage in productions like “No Man’s Land” and of course, via their hysterical social media posts. Just because the 2020s see them both in their 80s doesn’t mean these two knights can’t still laugh at themselves.

These women all starred together in 2005’s “The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants” and its 2008 sequel, but their friendship didn’t stop there. Today, these four women are still just as tight as their onscreen counterparts, coming together frequently for huge moments in their respective lives. They’ve been there for each other’s pregnancies, weddings, you name it. They even get their kids together for playdates. And what’s more, there are rumors that these BFFs might be coming together onscreen for a third installment of the film series that kicked off this true friendship sometime in the future.

Who doesn’t know about this classic Hollywood bromance that extends to even before the pair’s breakouts in 1997’s Good Will Hunting and that garnered them both Oscars? The two first met as kids in Massachusetts when their moms apparently introduced them, and then things soon got real for the pair when Affleck got Damon out of a losing fight. They went to high school together and eventually embarked on Hollywood careers together. In the 2010s, Matt continued to be there for Ben through his public struggles with addiction and it’s clear that this friendship shows no signs of slowing down.