Some stars out there were born poor, they went from rags to a great deal of riches.
But other stars emerged from an even more challenging childhood in order to become successful singers, actors or actresses.
These stars were raised in cults. Yes, actual cults! Did you have any idea whatsoever?!?
1. Joaquin Phoenix
Until he was four years old, Phoenix was raised in the California-based religious group Children of God. After abandoning the cult, his parents adopted the last name “Phoenix” to symbolize a new beginning for the family.
2. Glenn Close
The veteran star’s parents joined the Moral Re-Armament (MRA) cult, an extreme conservative group, when Close was 7 years old. They remained there for 15 years, living in several communal centers. Reports say the cult’s practices and beliefs were centered on four absolutes: absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness and absolute love. Close actually credits the group for helping her acting career because she grew up having to act like she agreed with everything the cult taught.
3. Winona Ryder
At the age of seven, Winona Ryder and her family moved to the Rainbow commune in California. They resided there for three years with seven other families and had no electricity on their 300-acre property.
4. David Arquette
The actor was born in the Skymont Subud commune in Virginia. He lived there (along with the rest of his family) until the late 1970s. This nonsectarian spiritual “social experiment” was meant to be a type of utopia… yet there were no bathrooms, no electricity, and no running water.
5. Michelle Pfeiffer
At 20 years old, Michelle Pfeiffer got involved with a couple who believed in breatharianism, which is the ability to live without food or water because sunlight will provide all the nourishment one needs. It took the meeting of her first husband, Peter Horton, for Pfeiffer to realize she was actually in a cult.
6. Rose McGowan
Born in Italy, the actress grew up in a chapter of Children of God that was actually run by her dad. As a kid, she traveled to many other communes in Europe. The group encouraged members to have intercourse at a young age, but McGowan and her family got out before she had to engage in any sexual activity.