The Nicest Things Celebs Said About Each Other That We Heard In 2023
Copy link
Vote up the sweetest things celebs had to say about each other.
As much as celebrity culture revolves around gossip, drama, feuds, and tea-spilling, there's another side to the story. In fact, judging by these celebrity quotes, it seems far more common that stars gas each other up than tear each other down.
When it came to these actors, musicians, and athletes, their friends, family, and co-workers had nothing but nice things to say about them. These wholesome takes made us bigger fans of these celebs and made our year a little bit nicer. Win-win!
- Photo:
- Road to Perdition
- Paramount Pictures
Paul Newman was an accomplished actor and director with a career that spanned more than five decades. He won numerous acting awards and even co-founded Newman's Own, a food and beverage company in business since 1982 that donates its after-tax profits to charity. Despite his fame and fortune, Newman (who passed in 2008) was a humble man and didn't want to be treated differently from others.
In 2008, film director Sam Mendes shared his awe at working with Newman in the 2002 crime drama Road To Perdition:
[H]e demanded to be treated like everyone else. He had no stock at all for any kind of star treatment. I’d try to delay calling him to the set, and he’d come down on his own and be like, “Why don’t you call me earlier? This is where all the fun is! I’m just sitting around in my trailer!”
Speaking of which, you can always tell how much work an actor really wants to do by the size and style of their trailers. Some actors have vast trailers full of scented candles and a chef who offers them two choices for lunch. Paul’s trailer, on the other hand, was completely empty! There was literally nothing in it at all. He had absolutely no interest in being in the trailer. He wanted to work… It was just him and his script. And also he didn’t travel with any assistants. No assistants, no driver or trainer, no entourage at all… He spent most of his life trying to stop people from treating him like Paul Newman…
You’re used to editing your thoughts about people - even the nicest ones - but there’s no need with Paul. There’s no such thing as a bad memory. He used to walk on his hands, by the way. He was 76 years old, and I walked into the room twice when he was walking on his hands. He was entertaining the kids on set, the two boys in the movie with whom he had sort of an eccentric, fatherly relationship. He was immediately drawn to them. He had to make them laugh.
- Christina Chilin
Aww?- Photo:
- 2
The late Taylor Hawkins , who passed in March 2022, joined Foo Fighters in 1997. His first official album with the band came out in 1999 with There Was Nothing Left To Lose. Until that point, the drums were played by either Dave Grohl or William Goldsmith, who left the band in 1997 when they deemed his work wasn't usable for the second album.
In a 2021 interview with Rolling Stone, Hawkins recalled being nervous about recording his first Foo record, especially with the tumultuous fallout of Goldsmith's departure:
At one point I just said to Dave, “Listen, dude, I just don’t think I can do this.” And I was battling the demons a bit back then as well. I was just so scared. And he said - it kind of chokes me up - he just held my hand through it, and he’s like, “You’re going to play some drums on this.” And I did half the drums on it, because he f*cking held my hand through it, like that older brother, best friend does.
- Cortland Jacoby
Aww? After Matthew Perry's passing in October 2023, Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston shared a moving tribute to the actor on Instagram:
Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before… He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be. For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn't hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard. In the last couple weeks, I’ve been poring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again. I’ll keep them forever and ever. I found one text that he sent me out of nowhere one day. It says it all. (See the second slide…)
Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day… sometimes I can almost hear you saying “could you BE any crazier?”
Rest little brother.
You always made my day…The second image in Aniston's post showed a text from Perry with a photo of them laughing on-set, with him telling her, “Making you laugh just made my day. It made my day :)”
- Elle Tharp
Aww?- Photo:
When it comes to sibling bonds, it seems few share the connection that Jake Gyllenhaal and his older sister Maggie Gyllenhaal have.
Over the years, Jake has often given compliments to his older sibling. In a 2021 interview with Us Weekly, Jake commended Maggie for how she raises her family:
When I'm with [her kids], all I can think about is what incredible work my sister has put in and what a good mother she is with all the things she has on her plate already… With her extraordinary talent and everything she does there, it says a lot about her and it says a lot about her husband. Fully devoted to their family. They give me a chance to be a fun uncle because their daughters are so cool.
When it comes to her career, Jake views Maggie's success as a competitive inspiration:
We somehow found ourselves in the same business having grown up with two parents who were incredible teachers in storytelling [who] were also, admittedly, competitive with each other… so that behavior was part of the model we were shown. And I’m her little brother. It’s within my nature to always want to support her, I would walk through fire for her, but it’s also my nature to want to win. But we have moved passed that competition. I can honestly say that all I want is for her to win, and it fills my heart to watch her killing it.
- Lauren Glen
Aww?- Photo:
- Grace and Frankie
- Netflix
Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin have one of Hollywood's most obvious friendships. Known for their first collaboration in the 1980 comedy 9 to 5, they went on to star in Netflix's Grace and Frankie and 80 for Brady.
As Fonda told Vulture in 2022, the two have developed an intimacy that has translated on the big screen:
I love her deeply. I liked her before, but I know her better now. I feel safe with her. We shot a scene in 80 for Brady yesterday where myself, Lily, Sally Field, and Rita Moreno are in bed in a motel. I’m in bed with her, and without even thinking about it, I spooned her. It just felt really great. I don’t know of another actor I’d do that with.
- Cortland Jacoby
Aww?- Photo:
- Photo:
- The Great Gatsby
- Warner Bros. Pictures
Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio have been friends since the late 1990s. The two met on the street, as the latter shared in an interview:
I literally jumped out of the car. I was like, “Tobey! Tobey! Hey! Hey!” And he was like, “Oh, yeah - I know you. You're... that guy.” But I just made him my pal. When I want someone to be my friend, I just make them my friend.
Maguire told PopSugar that when the two finally worked together in 2013, after he put aside his partying ways and settled down with a wife and children, it was nice to be around his friend DiCaprio:
Just the fact I was forced to see one of my best friends every day was fantastic… And then I got to go to work with one of our greatest actors and be inspired by him.
- Cortland Jacoby
Aww?- Photo:
- Photo:
- The Godfather
- Paramount Pictures
During his 2007 American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award acceptance speech, Al Pacino gave a touching tribute to his The Godfather co-star, Diane Keaton. As he walked to the stage, he (and the camera) focused directly on her, and the actor gushed:
Hi, Di! Good seeing you. I like your hat. I have to say, I have a lot of memories with Diane. I guess, I feel as though I've known you my whole life…
This Diane. I remember leaving the house once, and I had an interview. And I'm very uncomfortable here, of course. But, at interviews, I'm even more uncomfortable, believe it or not. And I was going, we discussed it a little bit, and she was very encouraging - helping me along… And as I was leaving, she called out to me, said: “Al! You're going to be OK. Just remember: whatever you do, don't say you're an artist.”
I really appreciated it. It was good advice, Di. But I have to say now, dare I say it? Forgive me. You're an artist, Di. You're a great artist. I remember it, and I love it. And I love you, forever.
- Lauren Glen
Aww?- Photo:
- Photo:
In the Ant-Man movies, Michael Douglas plays Hank Pym, the designer of the suit that turns Paul Rudd into the titular character. When Ant-Man and the Wasp came out in 2018, Douglas shared his thoughts on what it was like to work with Rudd:
Paul is just a sweetheart. He’s just a great, great guy so it sets the tone. Most of my career I’ve been number one on a call sheet, the lead, and so to be in a supporting role in a picture like this, you watch how he does it, you assume a lot of responsibility. If you’re smart, if you’re the first, you set the tone. You’re the first one on the set, you make everybody else comfortable to make their best performances possible.
Douglas went on to talk about how much fun it was being on set with Rudd and the other stars of the movie:
I’m a little jealous of Paul because I’m kind of carrying the storyline, and having to go home to research about what the hell I’m talking about. And Paul will just come in with some one-liner and steal the scene. He’s unpredictable, wonderfully so. And funny.
- Melissa Sartore
Aww?- Photo:
- Armageddon
- Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Michael Clarke Duncan and Bruce Willis became very good friends - Willis turned out to be incredibly influential in Duncan getting cast in 1999's The Green Mile - but they didn't start off that way.
After Duncan received the role of Bear Curlene in 1998's Armageddon, he intentionally stayed away from Willis because "people had told me he was not kind to talk to." One day, Willis asked him about it in an exchange Duncan described to Larry King in 2000:
I would avoid him every day. We first started Armageddon - you remember this? - And he stopped me and he said, “Michael,” he said, “you never speak to me.” I said, “Because I heard that you're really not a nice person.” And he says, “Have I ever treated you that way?” I said, “No, you haven't. But I'm not going to give you a chance to treat me that way either. I want to save my job.” He said, “Don't worry about that.” He extended his hand, and we've been best friends ever since.
The truth behind this statement can be seen in another interview Duncan gave one year earlier. When asked about working with Willis, he said:
Bruce Willis is wonderful. I consider him to be one of my dearest and closest friends. He's absolutely amazing.
- Emily Pogue
Aww?- Photo:
- Photo:
- A League of Their Own
- Columbia Pictures
In a 2020 piece for The Hollywood Reporter, Geena Davis wrote:
One of the great joys of my life is that I got to make A League of Their Own with Tom Hanks.
When Davis and Hanks starred in the 1992 hit film, Hanks was one of very few men in the cast and on set. But that did not impact his professionalism or his legendary kindness. Davis recalled that he never made any comments about the nearly all-female cast:
In my experience, on the very rare occasions where there’s only one man in a group of women - on a panel or something - they always find it necessary to make uncomfortable jokes about it. That’s not Tom. And I don’t think it ever even occurred to us that he was the only guy on the team.
On set, Hanks made time for the many people who lived in Evansville, IN, and acted as extras in period costume for the baseball game scenes. Davis's ultimate impression of him was as an ego-less actor with nothing but kindness for everyone he met:
Tom’s talent is unlimited and truly breathtaking when you look at the great variety of characters he’s played throughout his career. And while it might be hard for that kind of success to not go to somebody’s head, I think it would be impossible for anything to dampen Tom’s humanity. No level of fame could impact his innate warmth and generosity. He’s just that guy.
- Katherine Walker
Aww?- Photo:
- Photo:
Sometimes it may seem like the movie industry takes nice people and crushes the kindness out of them. Fortunately, this doesn't apply to Michael Cera, and many of his castmates in various productions have gone out of their way to show just how kind he is.
One such person is Ellen Wong, who portrayed Scott’s girlfriend (and then ex-girlfriend) Knives Chau in 2010's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. In her telling, he went out of his way to be kind and supportive to her:
On the first day [of filming], and the first scene I shot was where Knives was at the door meeting Scott's bandmates for the first time. I thought that was so appropriate because I was so scared and so was she in that moment.
So, here I am, by myself behind this door and Michael opens the door with “You promise to be good?” and I deliver my line, he closes the door… and we're waiting to reload the camera and in that time, Michael opens up the door, peeks his head out and goes “Ellen, you're doing a really good job. Keep it up,” and that just goes to show you what a genuinely nice guy… he is and how he is who he is and what you see is what you get.
- Thomas West
Aww?- Photo:
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
- Warner Bros. Pictures
Daniel Radcliffe may have been the star of the Harry Potter franchise, but he was joined by a remarkable coterie of talent, including the late Alan Rickman, who played the complex villain Severus Snape.
After Rickman's 2016 passing, some of his diaries were published; he commented several times about his bond with Radcliffe as well as his opinions about the youth's acting prowess. In one particularly revealing passage, he wrote about Radcliffe’s growth as well as his shortcomings:
He’s so concentrated now. Serious and focused - but with a sense of fun. I still don’t think he’s really an actor but he will undoubtedly direct/produce. And he has such quiet, dignified support from his parents. Nothing is pushed.
- Thomas West
Aww?- Photo:
- Photo:
When soccer star David Beckham and Spice Girl Victoria Adams wed at an Irish castle in 1999, they became one of the world's most popular married couples.
In a letter to her younger self published in Vogue, Victoria Beckham made it clear her husband is something of a romantic. She recounted their first meeting in 1997 - and revealed that David kept the piece of paper containing her phone number:
While the other football players stand at the bar drinking with their mates, you will see David standing aside with his family... And he has such a cute smile. You, too, are close to your family, and you will think how similar he feels to you. He's going to ask for your number. (He still has the London-to-Manchester plane ticket on which you wrote it.)
- Setareh Janda
Aww?- Photo:
- Bad Santa 2
- Broad Green Pictures
Kathy Bates and Billy Bob Thornton had a complicated mother-and-son relationship in 2016's Bad Santa 2. That sentiment clearly doesn't carry over into real life, however, especially when the Sling Blade actor honored Bates at her 2016 Hollywood Walk of Fame induction:
When the question is “How about Kathy Bates?” the answer is always “of course.” She's the type of actor who is not only loved by the public and the fans and the critics but also actors know how good she is and what she can do.
He went on to discuss who Bates is as a person - accepting those in her life for who they are, which Thornton said he always appreciated. He ended his speech by saying he “loved [her] as a friend and an artist," and that if he could be a woman, “I'd be Kathy Bates.”
- Cortland Jacoby
Aww?- Photo:
- Photo:
- Speed
- 20th Century Fox
Throughout the 1990s, Keanu Reeves slowly transitioned from comedy into action, and perhaps no film illustrates this process better than 1994's propulsive and compelling Speed. Adding to its appeal is the chemistry between its leads, with Reeves joined by Sandra Bullock - also one of the biggest stars of the decade.
The two share a strong bond, though Bullock has also been straightforward about how Reeves's listening skills can be a double-edged sword. As she revealed in an Esquire interview:
He’s a listener. And it drives. People. Crazy… When I first met him, I would spend as much time as I could filling a silence, just to feel comfortable. And the more I jibber-jabbered on, the quieter he would get. And I thought, I don’t understand what’s happening! He’s looking at me with eyes of confusion. He’s quiet. Did I say something to offend him? And then a day or two later, he would arrive with a note or a little package, saying, “I thought about what you said.” And he would have his response.
- Thomas West
Aww?- Photo:
- Photo:
- Out of Africa
- Universal Pictures
Robert Redford needs no introduction. He was one of the biggest stars of the 1960s and ’70s, capturing the heart of America. And it seems he's just as genuine as we all wanted him to be.
Several of his costars have spoken highly about Redford over the years, including Faye Dunaway, who starred in the 1975 spy flick Three Days of the Condor with Redford. As she revealed to Vogue:
We had some trouble, I have to say, because my character was kidnapped by him and in mortal fear of [harm coming to her]… and you can’t have those feelings about Redford. You just say, “Yes! Fine! Good!” because he’s so gorgeous and he has such a kind of wonderful charisma.
Meryl Streep, who starred with Redford in the 1985 Academy Award-winning Out of Africa, also offered high praise in the same Vogue article:
He’s really wonderful to work with. He has an unusual quality for a man - he has a very receptive way about him and is an incredibly good listener. That’s an attribute people usually associate with women. So for women, he’s very easy to talk to.
- Emily Pogue
Aww?- Photo:
I could waste every minute you have saying the praises of Jackie Chan and I believe he’s underappreciated in America.
That's how actor and WWE wrestler John Cena described Jackie Chan after working with him in 2023's Hidden Strike (also called Project X-Traction in some markets).
Playing former US Marine Chris Van Horne, who teams up with private security officer "Dragon" Luo Feng (Chan) to uncover a terrorist plot, Cena enjoyed the opportunity to act with the action film legend. While the project had a learning curve as Cena and Chan merged their acting styles, Cena described it as life-changing:
It was enlightening... it’s f**king awesome. Jackie is once-in-a-generation. He's certainly our generation’s great physical storyteller. It’s awesome and at his age, he defies age. He defies time. He is always creative. No job is too small. He will sweep the floor. He treats his crew like family.
Hidden Strike was actually filmed in 2018, but experienced long delays due to various political and economic complications. It was finally released in July 2023.
- Lauren Glen
Aww?
