Inside the lives of Hollywood’s most private celebs from Dolly Parton and Ryan Gosling to Blake Lively and Sophie Turner
JUST because a person is constantly in the spotlight doesn’t mean they want every last detail of their life spilled across the front page of tabloids.
Here are 22 celebrities who prefer to keep their private life under wraps, from Dolly Parton and Ryan Gosling to Blake Lively and Sophie Turner.
ADELE
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Grammy-winning singer Adele shocked fans when she revealed her pregnancy in 2012 – especially because she was due in only two months.
To this day, she still has fans questioning all aspects of her life.
According to Adele, her lack of openness is not because she despises fame, but because she’s « frightened » by it.
« I think [fame is] really toxic, and I think it’s really easy to be dragged into it, » she revealed to Rolling Stone in 2015.
She said watching the rise and fall of late singer Amy Winehouse is a huge part of why she’s wary of the limelight.
ANNE HATHAWAY
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Anne Hathaway is so private that she admitted to instantly regretting sharing a photo of her son online – despite it being just the back of his head.
« I felt like I had broken some kind of a seal in inviting people into my life, » she told Jezebel in 2017.
« And even though I felt as though I had done it in as protective a way as I could, even though it was a moment I was incredibly proud of, I don’t know that I’ll ever do it again. »
BEYONCE
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Beyonce may be one of the biggest superstars in the world, but that doesn’t mean she feels any pressure to open up about her personal life.
In a 2021 sit-down with Harper’s Bazaar, she explained why it means so much to her to keep herself and her family protected.
« In this business, so much of your life does not belong to you unless you fight for it.
« I’ve fought to protect my sanity and my privacy because the quality of my life depended on it, » she revealed.
« A lot of who I am is reserved for the people I love and trust. »
BLAKE LIVELY AND RYAN REYNOLDS
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Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have no problem picking on each other in public or sharing a sweet selfie from their adventures together, but one thing they like to protect is their children.
They have three children – James, Inez, and Betty – and they keep them hidden from the public as much as possible.
In fact, the biggest detail we know about Lively and Reynolds’ children besides their ages is the fact that Taylor Swift used their names in her 2020 song titled Betty.
James is also credited on her 2017 song Gorgeous, which includes his laugh.
Lively has exemplified how serious she is about protecting her children with her several negative remarks about paparazzi photographing them.
For instance, she called out a fan account in 2021 for sharing a paparazzi shot of her, Reynolds, and their kids out and about together.
« This is so disturbing, » she wrote under the now-deleted photo.
« I’ve personally shared with you that these men stalk and harass my children – and you are still posting.
« You said you would stop; you personally promised me. »
DOLLY PARTON
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The Queen of Nashville Dolly Parton might have a larger-than-life persona, but she likes to keep her personal dealings quiet.
Speaking on Apple Music Country’s The Kelleigh Bannen Show, she opened up about making a decision early on in her life to set boundaries between her personal and public lives.
« I learned early on.
« And I think my mama told me when I was young: ‘Always keep something back for you.
‘You can give what you’ve got to give, but don’t give it all away.
‘Always keep something for you,' » she recalled.
She also explained why it’s so easy to keep her and her husband’s affairs private.
« It’s just natural to me to protect the things and the people I love and to protect my own privacy, » she noted.
EVA MENDES AND RYAN GOSLING
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Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling met on the set of The Place Beyond the Pines in 2011 and have let very little about their relationship slip since.
They even kept both of their pregnancies secret until a few months before Mendes was due.
And in a 2015 interview with Entertainment Tonight Canada, Gosling was very tight-lipped about why he believes she is the one for him.
“She’s Eva Mendes. There’s nothing else I’m looking for, » he coyly stated.
Furthermore, in 2020, Mendes replied to a fan on Instagram wondering why she rarely posts about her husband and children.
« As far as Ryan and I, it just works for us this way to stay private, » she noted.
« I have always had a clear boundary when it comes to my man and my kids.
« I’ll talk about them, of course, with limits, but I won’t post pictures of our daily life, » she continued.
« And since my children are so little and don’t understand what posting their image really means, I don’t have their consent.
« And I won’t post their image until they’re old enough to give consent. »
The following year, she wiped her Instagram completely clean.
JULIA ROBERTS
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Julia Roberts lives a notoriously quiet life with her husband, cinematographer Daniel Moder, and their three children.
She showed how serious she was about maintaining her privacy when she bought a 30-acre property in Taos, New Mexico in the 1990s.
The purchase seemed to pay off: In 2003, she told Oprah Winfrey that she can walk the streets unrecognized.
« Around here, I come and go like it’s nothing, » she noted.
Another driving force behind Roberts’ yearn for privacy is that she desires to give her kids a normal life.
In 2014, she told the Wall Street Journal that her family feels no different in their Malibu home than any other one on their block, which she is « grateful » for.
The late Mike Nichols, who directed Roberts in 2004’s Closer and 2007’s Charlie Wilson’s War, gushed about her ability to give her kids the life she thinks they deserve.
« That’s what Julia has been best at, maintaining their real life, » he said.
« It’s the little things that tell the tale.
« When you visit them, there is nobody working at their house, sweeping their hall.
« There are toys all over, and it’s just Julia and Danny and the kids.
« She always slips away from the center. »
JESSICA ALBA
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Jessica Alba has been in the spotlight for decades, but fans know very little about her personal life.
Surprisingly, she even kept some secrets about her life from her kids.
That’s right – Alba revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2021 that her daughter did not know she was famous until someone showed up to school with a magazine that featured her on the cover.
« She felt so betrayed, » Alba confessed.
JUSTIN TIMBERALKE AND JESSICA BIEL
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Despite being one of the hottest Hollywood couples, Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake are another pair that enjoys maintaining a private persona.
Speaking to Dax Shepard on his Armchair Expert podcast in 2021, Timberlake said he and his wife chose to live in privacy for their two kids.
« I try to be conscious of making sure we can live a life where we’re not weirdly private but we’re conscious of making sure they can be kids for as long as possible, » he explained.
« And not have the weight of somebody else treating them differently because of something that their parents do. »
In fact, they are so concerned about staying private that the public was unaware of Biel’s second pregnancy in 2020 until after she had given birth.
KATE WINSLET
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Titanic star Kate Winslet also keeps the seams tight on her personal life.
So much so, that people may be surprised to learn she’s been married three times – and that’s exactly how she wants it to be.
« No one really knows what has happened in my life, » she told WSJ. Magazine in 2015.
« No one really knows why my first marriage didn’t last; no one knows why my second didn’t.
« And I’m proud of those silences. »
MATT DAMON
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Matt Damon may be open about his bromance with longtime best friend Ben Affleck, but when it comes to his other relationships or personal matters, he likes to keep his lips sealed.
So much so that he has a private Instagram account with less than 100 followers.
« I have 76 followers and I’ve done 40 posts since 2013, » he told GQ in a 2021 interview.
Speaking about his desire to be private on social media, he said he becomes happier with the decision every day.
He added: « I understand wanting to be connected to everybody on Facebook, but my life is so full and I’m connected, really, to everybody I need to be connected to. »
MILA KUNIS AND ASHTON KUTCHER
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Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher have done an incredible job of keeping their lives private, even opting for a super small and intimate wedding in 2015.
However, the couple was adamant about maintaining their privacy even before tying the knot.
In a 2013 interview with Elle, Kutcher opened up about how important he thinks privacy is for not just him, but for their relationship.
« You know, I’ve learned the hard way how valuable privacy is, » he admitted.
« And I’ve learned that there are a lot of things in your life that really benefit from being private.
« And relationships are one of them.
« And I am going to do everything in my power to have this relationship be private. »
NATALIE PORTMAN
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Natalie Portman was one of the hottest stars of the 1990s, but even then it seemed like she wasn’t into the spotlight.
Speaking of her decision to remain a private person and her disinterest in social media in 2016, she said: « It is interesting just generationally that you see that people are much more comfortable, and that’s part of life now for this next generation of actors and just people in the world.
« But for those of us who were living when it didn’t exist, it feels like the last thing you want to do.
« It’s so much unwanted interest in your privacy that you don’t want to invite anymore. »
She added: « And you see the amount of bullying and negativity that goes on that is really, really intense, and I feel lucky that I came of age before all of that came on. »
NICOLE RICHIE
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Nicole Richie may have been the talk of the town in the early 2000s. but she has since shied away from the spotlight and instead focused her energy on building her career as a fashion designer and her life as a mother and wife.
SANDRA BULLOCK
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You may see Sandra Bullock’s name across the biggest box office titles, but she likes to keep everything else aside from her work very private.
It may be the reason she thinks partner Bryan Randall is the love of her life.
In 2021, she told Jada Pinkett-Smith on Red Table Talk that he effortlessly blended into her life as she was in the midst of adopting a second child.
« My life was already on the track and here’s this beautiful human being who doesn’t want anything to do with my life, but the right human being to be there, » she said.
ROBERT PATTINSON
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Robert Pattinson went from playing a supporting role in Harry Potter to becoming the lead heartthrob in the super successful Twilight saga.
This caused him to be thrust into the spotlight, and he isn’t shy about admitting how much he hated it.
« I had people sitting outside my house every single day, and it drove me crazy, » he told NME in 2015.
« I didn’t go into a supermarket for about six years. »
Then, in 2017, he told GQ that he used to hide in the trunks of cars to throw off paparazzi and even change his clothes after they’d find him.
He also said he tries to give as little information as possible away in interviews.
« If I could stay silent, I would, » he claimed.
SOPHIE TURNER AND JOE JONAS
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Sophie Turner does a great job of keeping her life private despite the fact that she’s a sought-after actress married to an A-list musician.
In a 2018 interview with Glamour, she talked about her preference for privacy.
« I appreciate the private moments more than the public ones; I don’t go out as much as I used to, » she revealed.
« I’m a hermit. As an actor, it’s important to be able to dissolve into a character, to maintain some sort of anonymity and it’s hard if you’re dating a Jonas brother.
« Well, I think [the paparazzi] follow Joe – I’m just the tag-along! »
She has also made it very clear she does not like the paparazzi’s attention – especially when it comes to her growing family.
« It’s f**king creepy that grown old men taking pictures of a baby without their permission, » she said in 2021 Instagram Story following that situation happened to her baby daughter.
« I’m sickened, I’m disgusted and I’m respectfully asking everyone to stop following us around and stop trying to take pictures of our daughter and especially printing them. »
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