20 Celebrities Who Worked Ordinary Jobs Before Becoming Stars

Ford worked as a professional carpenter in Los Angeles to support his young family, building recording studio furniture for Sergio Mendes and doors for George Lucas before landing Han Solo.

Before breaking into acting, DeVito worked as a hairdresser at his sister's beauty parlor and styled hair and makeup for deceased women at a local mortuary.

To pay for acting classes after moving to Los Angeles, Pitt dressed up in a giant yellow chicken suit to wave at passing traffic outside an El Pollo Loco restaurant on Sunset Boulevard.

Before breaking through on ER, Clooney cut tobacco leaves on Kentucky farms, stocked shelves at a shoe store, and sold life insurance policies door to door.

Goldberg obtained a beautician license and applied mortuary makeup to corpses in a funeral home. She also laid bricks as a member of the local bricklayers union.

While struggling to book acting roles in New York City, Stallone earned a dollar and twelve cents an hour cleaning out lion dung at the Central Park Zoo while writing scripts.

Hamm taught eighth-grade drama in Missouri before moving to Los Angeles, where he worked as a set dresser moving furniture for adult softcore movies to cover his rent.

At age sixteen, Walken spent a summer working with a traveling circus alongside head trainer Terrell Jacobs, entering the cage with a lioness named Sheba.

Fox worked once a week dancing on the sidewalk dressed in a giant banana costume to draw drivers into a local smoothie shop in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Tatum worked as a house roofer and sales associate before performing at a local nightclub in Tampa under the stage name Chan Crawford, inspiring the film Magic Mike.

McAdams worked at a McDonald's drive-thru and counter for three consecutive summers in Canada, admitting she once broke the restaurant orange juice dispenser.

Mendes worked the fryer and lemonade press at Hot Dog on a Stick in the Glendale Galleria mall, later serving pasta at a local restaurant before booking commercials.

Buscemi served four years as an active firefighter with FDNY Engine Company 55 in Lower Manhattan during the early 1980s, later returning after 9/11 to assist his old company.

Grant earned cash by marking pitch chalk lines and maintaining grass turf at Fulham FC's Craven Cottage stadium while writing radio sketch comedy.

Aniston worked as a telemarketer pitching timeshare properties and delivered packages as a bicycle messenger in New York City before landing her breakout role on Friends.

Dempsey competed in professional juggling tournaments across New England, placing second at the International Jugglers Association championship in 1981.

After moving from Georgia to New York City to pursue acting, Roberts scooped ice cream at Baskin-Robbins and sold footwear at an Athlete's Foot store.

Brosnan learned fire eating during a street theater workshop at the Oval House in London, performing the act professionally for three years before drama school.

While spending a year on a Rotary youth exchange in Warnervale, Australia, McConaughey shoveled chicken manure from coops and washed plates at six different local diners.

Jeong completed his medical residency in New Orleans and practiced internal medicine at a hospital in California for years while performing stand-up comedy sets at night.