HOT GALLERY: These Celebrities Were Voted Most Likely to Succeed in High School—and Guess What? They Really Did!

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Laura Linney

That studious brunette is none other than (blonde) indie darling Laura Linney, named Most Likely to Succeed at Northfield Mount Hermon in Northfield, Massachusetts, in 1982. Linney went on to study at Juilliard and the Moscow Art Theatre School and has since been nominated for three Oscars and won four Emmys, among many other accolades, for her work in movies like You Can Count on Me and TV shows like John Adams.

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Christine Taylor

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia—Christine Taylor may forever be remembered for her on-the-nose performance reprising some classic Brady Bunch moments in a pair of mid-’90s remakes. But Mrs. Ben Stiller (the couple have been married for more than a decade) has been amassing an impressive résumé ever since she was the Most Likely to Succeed senior at Allentown Central Catholic in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1989—the same year she landed a starring role on the Nickelodeon series Hey Dude. In recent years, she’s had memorable guest-starring roles on shows like Arrested Development and Hannah Montana.

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Herman Cain

He was a surprise front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination until sexual misconduct allegations turned him into a punch line. But before Herman Cain’s not-so-successful campaign, he proved his classmates from Atlanta’s Samuel Howard Archer High School right for naming him Most Likely to Succeed in 1963: Cain was the CEO of Godfather’s Pizza for 10 years and was also the CEO of the National Restaurant Association.

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Jesse Eisenberg

The curls probably gave him away. Before Jesse Eisenberg starred in movies like The Squid and the Whale, Zombieland, and The Social Network (for which he received a Best Actor Oscar nomination), he was a fresh-faced student at New York City’s esteemed Professional Performing Arts School, where as a senior in 2001 he was named Most Likely to Succeed.

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Kobe Bryant

He hasn’t changed a bit, has he? As the senior picked Most Likely to Succeed at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, in 1996, Kobe Bryant was so good that he chose to forgo college and take a shot at the NBA. He was picked up by the Charlotte Hornets and traded to the L.A. Lakers, where he has spent his pro career. Did his decision pay off? Well, let’s see: He’s led his team to five NBA championships, has been named MVP of both the league and the finals, has earned an Olympic gold medal, and is described as the second coming of Michael Jordan. So, yeah, not a bad gamble.

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Nora Ephron

Writer-director-producer Nora Ephron, named Most Likely to Succeed in 1958 at a place full of future success stories, Beverly Hills High School, was best known for her beloved movies like Julie & Julia and When Harry Met Sally. But bet you didn’t know that she was an intern in John F. Kennedy’s White House. Or that she knew all along the identity of her ex-husband Carl Bernstein’s most famous source, Deep Throat.

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Rick Warren

Bespectacled Most Likely to Succeed senior Rick Warren—then known as Richard—was all smiles at Ukiah High School in Ukiah, California, in 1972. Now the best-selling author of The Purpose Driven Life and the evangelical pastor of the mega-Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, Warren found himself in a media firestorm when his friend President Obama asked him to deliver the invocation at his January 2009 inauguration.

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Tiger Woods

One of the highest-earning, winningest golfers of all time, Tiger Woods started on his path to success well before being voted Most Likely to Succeed at Western High School in Anaheim, California, in 1994. A child prodigy, Woods golfed on The Mike Douglas Show at age 2 alongside his father, Earl, and the legendary comedian and golf enthusiast Bob Hope. Woods went on to become the youngest-ever U.S. Junior Amateur champion and attend Stanford University on a golf scholarship before going pro.

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Trisha Yearwood

At Piedmont Academy in Monticello, Georgia, in 1982, Most Likely to Succeed senior Trisha (Patricia) Yearwood posed in a jail—but she didn’t stay locked up for long. The “How Do I Live” songstress is a Grammy-winning country artist, an actress (she had a recurring role on JAG), a cookbook author (Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood), and a philanthropist (Habitat for Humanity). She’s also married to Garth Brooks.

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Willard Scott

Did you recognize that mile-wide smile? It’s none other than weatherman-turned-birthday-announcer Willard Scott. He clearly already favored the shirt-tie-sweater-jacket look as the Most Likely to Succeed senior at George Washington High School in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1951. But it was that smile that really made an impression when Scott originated the role of Ronald McDonald in the early ’60s (you’ve got to see him shilling his look-alike Ronald McDonald dolls in this commercial).