Famous and so over it
There is naturally a lot of focus on the negative aspects of bullying on the future of the
victim. While there is no doubt bullying can ruin the future of many children’s lives, there
are also stories which show it doesn’t have to. It is hard to believe it now, but all of these
famous people had to deal with bullying when they were young. Despite this, all of them
managed to forge a successful career.
Sandra Bullock
Consistently named in the FHM sexiest top 100 women, Sandra
Bullock was the daughter of a German opera singer and split
her time between small-town America and Germany. The
differences in fashion between the two continents meant that
Sandra was often bullied for her drab and baggy clothes. Having
a pronounced lisp offered extra material for the bullies. However,
she persisted with her dream of becoming an actress and says
that even now she has achieved her level of fame and success,
she can remember the first and last names of every child that bullied her, although her
success has become her own revenge on them.
Robert Pattinson
Acting was a passion for Robert from an early age an in his early
days, he decided he wanted it to become his career. And so he
decided to adopt the persona of an actor in his day to day life,
which made him a flamboyant personality at his school. Bullies
seized on this difference and he was often violently attacked.
When he landed the role of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter,
he fulfilled his dream of becoming an actor and left the bullies
behind.
Miley Cyrus
Although having a famous father and an acting career by the age
of 11, young Miley also suffered with bad acne in her teenage
years. This lead to a group of girls bullying her at school. On one
occasions they locked her in a toilet where she was trapped for
some time. She was also challenged to a fight by one of them
which was only stopped by a teacher stepping in. Miley says it
made her feel depressed for some time. However, she overcame
the bullies by focusing on her acting work and later her music
career.
Jackie Chan
Although you wouldn’t want to pick a fight with him later in
life, Jackie Chan was a small boy at school and was not good at
standing up for himself. Other kids found him an easy target and
he was bullied for a while. As often happens, Jackie also admits
he dealt with it by becoming a bully himself for a while. However,
when he saw a new boy being bullied, Jackie stepped in and stood
up for him. Martial arts also taught him confidence and how to
resort to non-violent measures first. It also gave him quite a good
career too!
Lady Gaga
Not a conventionally pretty girl, the young Lady Gaga (Stefani
Joanne Angelina Germanotta) was bullied for having a long
nose. It is possible she was quite a different personality to
the other kids as well! As soon a she became famous, she set
up a charity which aimed to inspire youths and give kids the
confidence to be who they are despite bullying. The Born This
Way foundation was created in 2011 and remains a strong force
against bullying today.
Christian Bale
Success came to Christian early when he started in the classic
Spielberg film Empire of the Sun. However, kids at his local
school were jealous of the attention the film gained him and he
was badly bullied. Christian almost gave up on the idea of being
an actor. He was offered a series of notable roles though and in
2005 he fulfilled many actor’s dream and played Batman.
Taylor Swift
Taylor was one of the popular girls for a while, but as she
interest in country music grew, she was eventually dropped by
them leaving her friendless. She described sitting alone at lunch
times and being avoided by other children. When a fan wrote
to her about her own issues with bullying, she was amazed to
receive a long and personal reply from Taylor which urged the
girl to simply be herself at her new school and not try to fit in.
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