We love to think that celebrities have it totally made. They make a ton of money, live fabulous lives, and have everything they could ever want. Right? Well, that's definitely how we tend to view stars, but it's not always the case. Take these 15 stars, for example. They didn't have amazing relationships with their parents, went through super tough times, and/or decided to make a tough decision for the good of their career. These 15 stars decided to get emancipated from their mom and dad at a super young age. Things worked out in the end because they've all got awesome careers, but it still must have been a really tricky thing to do.
15 Taylor Momsen
In a storyline that proves that fact sometimes really does mirror fiction, the Gossip Girl star who is also in a rock band emancipated from her parents -- just like her character Jenny decided to move out and work at a fashion line for a time. She legally separated from her mom and dad when she was sweet sixteen. Now she's making music with her band The Pretty Reckless.
14 Laura Dern
You might know her from beautiful roles in dramas like Enlightened but did you know that she broke up with her parents when she was 16 as well? She also finished high school at that age. Can you say overachiever? It looks like it was for the best because she's been able to devote her life to her acting craft, and she's definitely got the talent to back it up.
13 Kim Richards
The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star was also a super successful and famous actress when she was growing up, along with her sister Kyle. Now the two have a super rocky sisterhood and Kim is in and out of rehab thanks to her severe alcoholism. It's a sad tale. When Kim got emancipated, she wanted to be the only one in charge of her money, but unfortunately her life has seemed to be full of ups and downs (and mostly downs).
12 Rose McGowan
The Charmed star who had a pretty tragic end thanks to a closing garage door in horror cult classic Scream also got emancipated when she was 15. She had a pretty nuts childhood with trying to live on her own and even getting into drugs. So it was probably for the best that she said goodbye to her family and make it on her own.
11 Edward Furlong
There was a pretty scandalous, soap opera-ish reason behind this tale of emancipation. Apparently the Terminator 2 star who was super successful in his childhood was in love with his tutor when he was 15. The problem? She was almost 30. Oops. His family wasn't pleased, to say the least, and he got emancipated.
10 Aaron Carter
The poor kid. He's been through so much with his family. He even tried to emancipate from his parents in order to get his mom to stop taking his cash. He may have successfully broken away, but his finances weren't exactly in the best shape after that anyway. Plus he's had to deal with the tragic untimely death of his sister, Leslie.
9 Jaime Pressley
The Hart Of Dixie actress wanted to go all the way to Japan to work as a model when she was a teenager. She wasn't allowed to go alone and needed someone to supervise her, but that wasn't going to happen, so instead she broke up with mom and dad. She has said that it was a practical decision and not because she had any family drama or anything.
8 Alicia Silverstone
Or Cher from Clueless as you probably know (and love) her. Alicia wanted to work crazy hours without worrying about the law, so that was the reason behind her emancipation decision. There's someone else on this list who did it for the same reason, so it's definitely a pretty common and logical idea.
7 Drew Barrymore
It's no secret that Drew had basically the worst childhood imaginable. She also grew up super fast. Besides trying drugs and alcohol at a crazy young age, Drew also started starring in such gems as E.T. as a kid. So it definitely makes sense that she got emancipated, too. She's become an amazing actress and businesswoman (she's got photography books and a film production company) so it seemed to be a good choice.
6 Macaulay Culkin
Everyone knows this already, but let's repeat it for good measure: the poor Home Alone star had such family problems that he fought for legal emancipation when he was only 15. Of course, he must have felt like he was so much older than that, since of course he was a child star whose claim to fame was acting in fun and silly holiday movies. He has actually never spoken to his dad since that awful time. Talk about sad.
5 Amanda Bynes
Okay, disclaimer: technically Amanda never got legally emancipated from her mom and dad. But she tried, and we think she belongs on this list because, basically, if it wasn't for her psychological problems in the past few years, she would probably be the comedy star that she was becoming. So she would definitely be in a financial and emotional position to be separate from her family.
4 Jena Malone
Okay, so the poor actresses' mother was stealing tons of cash from her. What's a girl to do? Get legally emancipated, of course. She did and life has probably been a lot calmer and more fun since.
3 Corey Feldman
Corey actually sued his parents because they took the majority of his money from his bank account. Sounds familiar, right? What's with all the parents on this list stealing from their kids? What's their deal? Corey's parents took his bank account from a million bucks to $40,000. Yes, actually. So he sued and officially separated from them.
2 Ariel Winter
The Modern Family actress hasn't been shy about telling the public about her terrible family life, so it makes sense that she got emancipated, and it definitely seems to have been for the better. She hasn't lived at home in several years because her mom was physically abusing her. Such a terrible thing to go through, especially when you're in the spotlight.
1 Michelle Williams
When the actress was breaking hearts left and right as girl next door Jen on the teen soap Dawson's Creek, she wanted to be as independent as possible. For her, that meant getting emancipated. It sounds like she's regretted that choice in recent years as she has often said in interviews that she wasn't old enough to do that. But it definitely seemed to work for her at the time. Because of laws about working children, she thought it was a good idea so she could spend super long hours on set. It wasn't the worst idea because her performance was super amazing and got her where she is today. But it sucks to regret something that seemed like a good idea at the time.
sources: Huffingtonpost.com, Dailymail.co.uk, Wonderwall.com
