Celebs Who Refuse To Speak About Their Personal Lives

In the '90s and early '00s, you could hardly open a tabloid without seeing Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. The twins began acting at just nine months old, sharing the role of Michelle Tanner on "Full House," and by the time they reached their tween years, they had spun their fame into a billion-dollar brand. (As of 2022, the Olsen twins are worth $500 million, making them some of the richest women in Hollywood, despite the fact that they haven't appeared on screen in nearly 20 years). 

Then, in 2004, the 18-year-old twins began attending NYU and essentially dropped off the face of the planet. They went from making regular red carpet appearances and giving frequent interviews to focusing all their professional energy on their fashion brands, The Row and Elizabeth and James, and declining to speak about their personal lives.

While it's not hard to understand why these former media darlings would establish such strict boundaries, their younger sister, Elizabeth Olsen, explained their exact reasoning to Modern Luxury in 2017. Elizabeth said (via People) that her older sisters are "very tight-lipped, notoriously so" because they grew tired of having their words spun by outsiders. According to Elizabeth, the duo told her, "You know, even if you don't think anyone's going to read this article, someone might pull the quote later for [something else]." That feeling of not being in control of how their lives were perceived is ultimately what drove Mary-Kate and Ashley to keep mum.

Carrie Bradshaw, one of Sarah Jessica Parker's best-known characters, may have been a chronic oversharer, but, unlike an iconic sense of style, that's not something the actor shares with the sex column writer. While Parker hasn't fully shunned the public eye — she gives the occasional interview and runs a public Instagram account replete with detailed captions — there are certainly parts of her life that are off-limits.

For example, the "Sex and the City" actor has made an active choice to never speak publicly about her marriage to fellow actor Matthew Broderick. At an event in 2014, she told HuffPost, "The secret is, we don't discuss it. To reporters or anybody else. That's it! We don't hold it up as an example and we don't air our dirty laundry." 

In an earlier interview with Harper's Bazaar, she revealed the couple didn't make this decision because of any prior negative experiences with the press (à la the Olsen twins), but because they never thought to share that information. "Matthew and I come from a different time and place. When we were young people, all we ever wanted was to be good working actors ... nobody talked about being a celebrity. So when our marriage came up in conversation, it wouldn't occur to us that we were obligated to respond to allegations or gossip. You have to be a bit circumspect, but you also have to take up a position, and you have to stick to it," she explained.

Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling are undeniably one of Hollywood's hottest couples, but aside from their jaw-dropping good looks, the duo shares virtually nothing with the public about their relationship. Neither actor was ever very forthcoming about their personal lives individually, but entering into an off-screen romance seems to have only strengthened their resolve when it comes to keeping certain details of their lives private.

In a now-deleted Instagram comment (via DigitalSpy), Mendes explained her stance on discussing her family, writing, "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. And since my children are still 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 me consent. As far as Ryan and I, it just works for us this way, to stay private."

And stay private they have. The couple has never widely shared how they met (though rumor has it, it was on the set of "The Place Beyond the Pines"), whether they have any intentions of tying the knot, or divulged any of the details of either one of their two pregnancies. Given the fact that Mendes briefly deleted her Instagram account in early 2022 in an effort to separate even more from the public, that most likely won't change anytime soon.

Many of the celebrities on this list refuse to speak about their personal lives because something shifted — their words were being spun, their priorities changed, they had kids of their own, they needed to rid their worlds of certain energies, etc. — but that is not the case with Natalie Portman. Since she first became a household name in 1999 with "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace,” the actor has never really spoken about her private life. Outside of her marriage to Benjamin Millepied, Portman has never publicly confirmed a romance and doesn't share details about either of her children, Aleph and Amalia.

In 2018, she told The Guardian that she felt like this strict delineation between her professional, public life and her personal, private life helped her avoid the public meltdowns many other child and teenage stars have. "In my real life, I feel exposed to the public eye and the concept of celebrity is part of my life. But I do also lead a private, quiet life that is relatively guarded from the excesses. ... My family and my friends are completely separate from my work side," she told the outlet.

As for social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter that would give fans a glimpse into her life outside of Hollywood in a more controlled manner than, say, a tell-all interview? There's no way you'll ever find her on them. Portman told Insider it would just create more unwanted interest in her personal life.

In a weird twist of fate, Leighton Meester, who rose to fame in the teenage drama "Gossip Girl" (a series that was literally built on exploiting the private lives and hidden secrets of its fictional characters) is one of Hollywood's quietest players. According to those in Meester's camp, there are a number of reasons for this reluctance to share personal details.

The actor herself told Refinery 29 that she keeps certain things close to the chest in order to avoid being typecast. "I think the perception is: You're an ingenue, or you're an icon, or you're a mom. There's no in between," she told her interviewer. And judging by her filmography, it appears Meester prides herself on being able to play a wide variety of parts successfully, with zero interest in only being cast as a doting mother or happy housewife.

Her husband, "The O.C." heartthrob Adam Brody, offered a different perspective on Meester's media shyness. He told GQ, "She's more inherently private than I am. ... We're homebodies ... we've found this great balance so far that really works for us. We're also not very active on social media." Whatever the primary reason for Meester's refusal to openly discuss her personal life, she's not taking the never-ending interest in it too seriously. In 2013, she told Cosmopolitan that she found the near non-stop scrutiny that comes with being a celebrity funny, noting that the rumor mill has never annoyed her, no matter how ridiculous things have gotten.

When "Titanic" hit theaters, Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio's on-screen chemistry sparked rumors that they shared a love connection that was just as strong as the one between Jack and Rose. While they've always denied having a romantic relationship — maintaining that they've only ever been friends — it's not something the tabloids have ever really let go of. Which, as far as Winslet is concerned, might actually be for the best.

The English actor is incredibly closed off when it comes to her personal life, and having this false flag relationship keeps the focus off of her real ones. Winslet has been married three times, most recently to Richard Branson's nephew, Edward Abel Smith, and has three children, though many people likely wouldn't know that unless they've been paying very close attention. She told WSJ Magazine that she's happy with the way things are. "No one really knows what has happened in my life. 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," she explained.

So we may not be getting certain details, but what about seeing parts of her out-of-the-spotlight life splashed across social media? Not a chance. Winslet told The New York Times she has no desire to start an Instagram or log in to TikTok because she feels it makes people more focused on curating a specific image of themselves and less present in their real lives. We can't argue with that.

Finally, Dolly Parton may be the queen of country music (and the queen of our hearts), but she's not one to share a note more than she needs to when it comes to her personal life. In an interview on Apple Country Music's "The Kelleigh Bannen Show" (via Today), Parton attributed her decision to hold certain things back to her faith and her mother. 

"I learned early on [which parts of my life to hold back]," she explained. "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 continued, stating, "There's a part [of life] that belongs to God and to me. It's a sacred place that just is mine and God's, and I've known how to [hold] that [back] because I think God has directed that."

One particular aspect of her life Parton has chosen to keep quiet about is her relationship with her husband, Carl Dean. Despite the fact that the couple has been married for 50 years (a true feat!), Dean rarely joins Parton at public events and she hardly ever speaks about him in the press. This arrangement seems to have suited them both perfectly well, even if it leaves her fans yearning for more.