From salesman to superstar: 10 celebs who used to have ‘normal’ jobs
Sitting at your desk staring despondently into space, you feel stuck in this dead end job. Any hopes you once had of being a success are all but a pipedream now. Or are they? Mick Jagger sold ice cream, Megan Fox was a banana mascot and Tom Selleck grew avocados. It might be hard to believe but many famous names actually used to hold down regular jobs like the rest of us before they made it big. Yes, as we’re about to discover, from humble beginnings come great things…
Bram Stoker was a theatre manager
Before Stoker wrote Dracula (1897) and created an entirely new horror trend, the author managed the Lyceum Theatre in London’s West End. We should be thankful really, because this creative surrounding inspired him to write his first horror story, which was then followed by one of the most widely-read works of literature of all time.
Tom Hanks sold peanuts and popcorn
He’s one of Hollywood’s most famous actors, infamous for perfectly portraying the everyday man. Tom Hanks might just have his humble beginnings to thank for his ability to relate to his audience, because before he became a world-famous actor and filmmaker, he sold peanuts and popcorn at the Oakland Coliseum.
Christopher Walken was a lion tamer
American actor Christopher Walken, who’s starred in films including Sleepy Hollow, Pulp Fiction, and Catch Me If You Can, was a fearless teenager who went to the travelling circus to work as a lion tamer!
Gwen Stefani worked at her local Dairy Queen
Gwen Stefani is a celebrated music icon, enjoying worldwide success both as a solo artist and with her band No Doubt. It wasn’t always glitz and glamour though; before her international breakthrough Gwen worked at her local Dairy Queen fast food outlet.
Sylvester Stallone cleaned lion cages
Perhaps there’s something about working with lions that makes a man fearless, because actor, screenwriter and director Sylvester Stallone also worked with the big beasts before finding success in Hollywood. Prior to becoming an internationally famous action hero, he was paid to clean the lion cage in the zoo in Central Park.
Hugh Jackman was a party clown
Australian actor Hugh Jackman was evidently born to entertain. Before becoming one of Hollywood’s most famous actors, Wolverine worked as Coco the Party Clown and only made about $50 per show.
Megan Fox was a banana mascot
Hollywood actress Megan Fox caught her break with the film Transformers. She admits that before becoming an actress, she only really had one real job: she was a banana mascot for a smoothie place in Florida. That’s quite the promotion!
Jennifer Aniston was a cleaner and a waitress
Living out a rags to riches story, Jennifer Aniston went from being a waitress to, well, pretending to be a waitress in legendary TV comedy Friends. We have a hunch her hourly wage was higher for the latter.
Brad Pitt was a limo driver for strippers
Today it’s Brad Pitt himself who’s being driven around in fancy limos, but before his career kicked off he was the one behind the wheel. His job was to take strippers to bachelor parties and pick them up again afterwards.
So you see, everyone has to start their career somewhere – even celebrated superstars. Who knows, getting jobs like these could lead to stardom!
