25 Celebrity Jobs Before They Were Famous

Patrick Dempsey used to be a professional juggler. He came second in the International Jugglers Competition and the Junior Division in 1982 and 1983.

Rod  Stewart worked as a gravedigger before becoming a music icon. Talk about a dead crowd.

Before being mean on the screen, Rachel McAdams was a friendly cashier at McDonalds for three years. “I was not a great employee; I broke the orange juice machine one day,” she said.

Nicole Kidman was a former massage therapist. Hopefully her husband Keith Urban is taking advantage of that fact.

George Clooney tried out to play professional baseball with the Cincinnati Reds in 1977, but didn’t make the cut. He could have been a bench sitter for seasons and seasons and thousands of games, but instead he settled for being a bagillionaire actor.

Jon Stewart started his comedy career with puppets. According to the New York Times, “After graduating from the College of William and Mary in 1984 with a degree in psychology, he returned to New Jersey where he worked for the state, performing puppet shows designed to sensitize schoolchildren to the disabled.”

Harrison Ford was a carpenter before becoming a Hollywood icon. He picked up the craft in Los Angeles in the late ’60s and eventually found his way into constructing movie sets.

Angelina Jolie was frustrated by the way in which her grandfather’s funeral was conducted. So she decided on a career path as a funeral director. She ordered a certificate, but ended up going with the acting route instead. Live action beats dead action.

Long before he was leading 300, Gerard Butler graduated with a law degree and headed to work at a firm. Unfortunately, he was fired shortly thereafter and his dreams of making it to the courtroom fell dead. Just like Leonidas.

Before he was training with Apollo Creed and Mick, Sylvester Stallone was a lion cage cleaner. Hopefully the lions were out of the cage while he cleaned. But maybe that’s where the Italian Stallion got his agility?

No money, mo’ problems. Diddy used to clean bathrooms at a Mexican restaurant before hitting it big with Jr. Mafia.

Jay-Z was actually a crack dealer before he became a rap titan. “I know about budgets. I was a drug dealer,” he said.

Jon Hamm once was a set-dresser for pornographic films. Oh, and he also taught high school drama. Hopefully not at the same time.

Before sitting in the makeup chair herself, Whoopi Goldberg used to be a makeup artist… for dead people. Yes, the comedian was once a mortuary beautician.

Before Channing Tatum was stripping on screen for a lot of money, he was stripping off-screen for a lot less money. I guess you gotta keep doing what you’re good at?

Johnny Depp confessed that he was a (really bad) pen salesman.

Before Amy Adams hit it big, she was a Hooters Girl. She went from Hooters to the Disney movies— it seems it’s usually the other way around with Disney stars.

Barack Obama uses to be a scooper at Baskin-Robbins where he launched the Hope and Change Jar. I wonder if tips counted as donating to a Super PAC?

Queen Latifah used to work at Burger King. That’s where she got used to having it her way.

Gwen Stefani used to work at Dairy Queen. No Doubt she had her fill of Dilly Bars.

Brad Pitt used to dress up as a chicken for El Pollo Loco. See? The chicks have always loved him.

Madonna was a Dunkin’ Donuts clerk before she made a break into the music scene and became the Queen of Pop. “I was sacked from Dunkin’ Donuts for squirting the donuts jelly all over the customers,” she said.

While helping customers pick out clothes at The Gap, Kanye West used to ask if they wanted it harder, better, faster, stronger…or in a different color?

Hugh Jackman used to dress up as a clown for birthday parties. It must have been hear making balloon animals with blades coming out of your hands.

Jim’s family fell on hard times while he was in high school. So from 1978 to 1979, the comedian left school at age 15 and was a janitor at a factory. He said, “We were living out of a van. I quit school at age 15 to begin working to help support my family as a janitor. I’d have a baseball bat on my janitor cart because I was so angry I just wanted to beat the heck out of something.”