Celebrities are usually not born famous, they grow up as normal kids, teens, or even young adults before some life event happens which then leads them to down a path to where they are now. This would mean that at some stage, these celebrities were just as normal as us, and had normal jobs for a long or short period. Some of them had everyday jobs, like waitressing, doing the clean-up jobs at different businesses, and scooping ice cream, while others had odd jobs like selling insurance, cleaning breast pumps and funeral directing. Let's see which celebrities' first jobs surprise you the most.
Chris Hemsworth
Everybody loves a little bit of Chris Hemsworth now and then, but the heartthrob himself probably had one of the weirdest first jobs anyone could ever imagine. Funnily enough, it was as far as acting as anyone could think. Hemsworth worked at a pharmacy, not as a pharmacist but as the person who cleaned out breast pumps. Because the pharmacy would rent these out, someone had to clean them before the next hire.
At least Hemsworth’s wife would benefit from this, probably a lot more than she would from his acting career. We’d never expect this to be a job, but hey, there’s something out there for everyone.
Tiffany Haddish
Tiffany Haddish has played a lot of roles that leave people in stitches, and this isn’t just because comedy is her thing, it actually stems from way back to her first job at Alaska Airlines. Haddish worked as a ground staff member and customer service was a big part of that. She aimed to be the best customer service agent and make sure every person who came passed her would leave feeling happier.
Haddish lives by this today, which makes sense why she loves doing comedies. Each person who crosses her either on the screen or in real life will leave feeling better than they did before.
George Clooney
We could imagine a few jobs we could see George Clooney doing, and none of them that cross our minds would entail any dirty work. Well, to our surprise, Clooney didn’t exactly have glorious jobs before being famous. During the Letterman Show, Clooney told David that he did not have the greatest jobs and one of them included selling insurance door-to-door. It was so bad that the first policy he sold, the guy actually died.
We can get that Clooney must have been happier to be acting than carrying on with selling insurance like that. But he did put a whole new meaning to drop-dead gorgeous.
Eva Mendes
Knowing how stunning Eva Mendes is, we would think that she modeled her whole life, because who wouldn’t do that if they looked that beautiful. But Mendes was very much a normal person before she started acting, so normal that she sold hot dogs on sticks at Hot Dog on a Stick at a food court in a mall in California. And we bet she sold a lot of them.
Luckily Mendes gets to walk down red carpets now and have others serve her hot dogs on sticks, that is if she still enjoys them after working at a place that sells them.
Angelina Jolie
Sometimes when someone does not do something right, people try and find ways to do them better, which can usually turn out into successful businesses too. Angelina Jolie was one of those people who wanted to do things better. Before becoming the actor she is today, Jolie was on her way to becoming a funeral director. This career choice had stemmed from the poor delivery of her own grandfather's funeral.
It’s such an Angelina Jolie thing to do, always trying to make the world a better place, that is outside of her acting career. We rate she could put on a great funeral though.
Amy Adams
Enchanted actor Amy Adams has just the right looks to perform as a Disney Princess at Disneyland, but as looks should never deceive, it was not what she did in her first job. Adams worked at Hooters when she was 18 years old. Her tank tops, hot pants, beautiful smile, and bubbly personality worked so well for her that she managed to make quite a bit of money while working there.
Just as any young adult coming out of college, a job is such an important part of their independence, and for Adams, working at Hooters was just that for her.
Tan France
Queer Eye favorite Tan France may have always been a fashionista deep down, but it was not what brought in his first paycheck. France did 30 days of training as a flight attendant and was supposed to take on a 6-month job. But the service industry was not for him and he left after 2 months because it was not an easy job and he did not enjoy being a glorified waiter.
A job as a flight attendant can be a tough job. And we prefer France as he is now, sharing his passion and love on Queer Eye, rather than being a glorified waiter.
Kate Middleton
Kate Middleton may be a Duchess now, but believe it or not, she too worked a normal first job, and not one we would think would be fit for a Prince. 4 years before the Duchess and Prince Willams engagement she had contacted the owner of the store, Jigsaw, Bella Robinson and asked for a job. Middleton got a job as a buyer for the store in their accessories department.
This would mean that anyone could also meet a Prince and marry him, even if they worked a normal job before. But we would also swop being a store buyer to having buyers for ourselves.
Megan Fox
Megan Fox can make a lot of jaws drop with her stunning looks, and surprisingly her first job may just have done the same. We need to remember that everyone has to start somewhere, even Megan Fox and so she first worked as a promoter for a smoothie store where she had to wear a banana costume. We find it hard to picture Fox in a banana costume, but we’re sure she pulled it off.
We are sure Fox sometimes wishes to be back in that banana costume, where she can hide from the paparazzi and no one would ever expect a thing if she ran off. Banana, split!
Margot Robbie
Margot Robbie got her screen break from her role as the gold-digging wife in Wolf of Wall Street. Her roles after that have also been nothing but amazing. But before all that, Robbie worked at Subway making sandwiches. She claims that she was really good at it because she did not skim on the spreads and fillings and made sure there was a good amount of them in the sandwiches.
Robbie seems to be the whole package, she is beautiful, seems really nice, can act really well, and… she can make a really great sandwich. What more could one want?
Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj has not only given us “my anaconda don’t” and some Superbass, but she has also more recently taken to the big screen too, in animations like Ice Age and in comedies like Lydia, the assistance from The Other Women. But before all that, she worked as a waitress at Red Lobster, where she was also then fired when she followed customers back to their car because they took her pen.
Minaj, as we know her, is a strong-willed woman who doesn’t take nonsense from people and that is most likely why she also felt like customer service was not for her.
Rachel McAdams
Rachel McAdams has been it all, from mean girl to serious drama female lead, she has done it all and everything in between. Her acting career has come a long way from her first job though. McAdams worked at McDonald's, which she enjoyed, but did not feel she was the best employee there. In her 3-year run working there, she somehow managed to break the orange juice machine as well.
Knowing where she is now, we doubt breaking an orange juice machine is the worse of her living worries and we bet that McDonald’s store would have her back there breaking things any day.
Julia Roberts
As the actress who was able to pull off the role of Vivian in Pretty Woman, we would think Julia Roberts would be able to pull off any job too. So before the leather boots and blue wig, Roberts worked as an ice cream scooper at Baskin-Robbins. It seems like a pretty simple job for such a brilliant actor, but it was something she really enjoyed doing, not as much as acting we’d guess.
We wonder how she went from scooping ice cream to big-screen movies because it is a big step in between. But as w said before, everyone has to start somewhere.
Channing Tatum
Channing Tatum is probably one of the very few actors who got to act in a role that was the same as one of his first jobs. And no, it was not a football player, dancer, or action hero. So if you’ve managed to put two or two together, you would have guessed it. Yes, Channing Tatum was a stripper. The Magic Mike star perfected the role because it was not his first rodeo.
Sadly, his boss at the time had monetized on a video of him from back then and Tatum had to own up to it, even though he tried to keep it under the radar.
Miley Cyrus
Having a dad who is a country music icon would mean that there would be quite a few jobs open for you to take. But because Miley Cyrus is who she is, we would not expect her to take just any normal job. Before Cyrus was Hannah Montana, she was a bra collector. Cyrus would be paid to run onto the stage after her dad's show and collect the underwear.
Bra collecting is not quite the same as art collecting as we can tell, but who wouldn’t love to be paid to collect all the thrown paraphernalia off of a stage after a show.
Kanye West
Kanye West is that celebrity that people either love or hate, there is no in-between. But before West got into his rapping, fashion, and ongoing Kardashian drama he worked as a salesperson at the store, Gap. This is quite funny though considering he is knee-deep in the Yeezy brand today. But as we know Kanye, he would, of course, find some sort of soulful life meaning behind his first job.
Kanye explained how a gap was how he felt over the years, that he was or had to be the gap throughout his creative path. You do you Kanye, you do you.
Jennifer Aniston
Before the days of Friends, Just Go with It, and Horrible Bosses, Jennifer Aniston also had to do some normal work. While doing some public relations work for the movie Horrible Bosses, they were all asked about their worse working experiences. Aniston worked as a bike messenger when she was 19, shortly after school. She did not enjoy it very much though, especially after she cycled into a door that just opened.
It's good to know that celebrities also make mistakes as much as we normal people do. Also, they knew what it felt like to work normal jobs before getting roles that made them famous.
Cardi B
Cardi B is a character on her own. She is probably one of the most unique celebrities we know. But before the rapper became famous, she had a few normal jobs that got her started in life. She was a cashier at a supermarket called Amish Market in Tribeca. But she was fired from that position when she gave her colleague a bit too much discount than what was allowed.
The boss who fired her told her to rather work at a strip club because she had the body for it. And in true Cardi B style, she went on to become a stripper.
Amy Poehler
Saturday Night Live star and writer Amy Poehler has given the world a lot to laugh at over the years. She is best at playing the roles of slapstick and all-around funny characters. But before the giggles and fun, she worked as an ice cream scooper in her local area. This was how she first started earning money, just like Julia Roberts. And with flavors as crazy as her, we’re sure she fit right in.
Poehler enjoyed the job so much that she was happy to write an article on it for The New Yorker. You must really love a job to write a whole article on it.
Nicole Kidman
They say that if you do what you love it doesn’t feel like work at all. For Nicole Kidman, she got to do this as her first job, and we are sure she also feels the same way now as an actor too. Kidman started giving her mom massages when she was in pain because of her cancer treatment. She enjoyed it and was good at it, so she made money from it for others.
Funny enough, Kidman still loves to give massages and would be happy to do it for others today. We just doubt she would charge for it now though, being a rich actress and all.
Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt made started acting in his first movies in the late 80s. He made his mark on many though after he starred in Seven and the Oceans movies, among so many others. But before he got into acting and long before he met Angelina Jolie, he worked at a chicken restaurant called El Pollo Loco. Here he used to wear a chicken costume to promote it and lure people in.
If the people walking passed knew who the man under the chicken head would become today, we are sure they would be flocking in to eat at that restaurant back then.
Beyonce
Beyonce has been performing since she was 6 years old, but not on the stage or even at concerts. For three years, little Beyonce would sweep the floor at her mom's hair salon. At her young age, she would sing for her mom's clients as well as put on shows for those who were waiting for their hair to set. And who wouldn’t want to have that memory with them knowing where she is today.
Beyonce knew from a young age she loved performing, and something as simple as little shows in her mom's salon was just a stepping stone to the greatest career of her life.
Meghan Markle
If you’ve ever seen Megan Markle's signature, you’d know she has a very unique and beautiful handwriting. The ex-Suits actress had an interesting skill that got her a very interesting job. Markle was a calligrapher. In 2005 she even got the job of handwriting the invitations for Robin Thicke and Paula Patton’s wedding. It's a pity she’s not more involved in the royal family because she’d be writing invites for them too.
Calligraphy is a difficult handwriting to know or learn, so it is interesting that Markle would be a celebrity with such a unique skill. These famous people are full of surprises.
Taylor Swift
We could imagine Taylor Swift's first job may have involved something on a farm or something to do with horses, and we were not too far off from that. Before Swift was writing Love Story, Shake it Off and Bad Blood, she worked as a praying mantis picker. On the farm, she would pick praying mantis’ off of the tress, only because she was too young to lift the tress themselves.
Knowing this we are a little surprised she hasn’t written a song about that yet. With the way she has written songs, we would think it would be in there somewhere.
Jennifer Lopez
As a singer, dancer, and actress, Jennifer Lopez has done it all and her many talents have not gone unnoticed. Lopez has always had an array of jobs but dancing and dance instructing were one of her earlier ones right before the fame hit her. Besides being a law firm clerk and backup dancer for some bigger names, she worked as a dance instructor where she even taught Kerry Washington.
Most people love Lopez because of her awesome dance moves, but she is lucky to also be able to move viewers in movies and sing too. What an amazing talent.
Barack Obama
In becoming a President it does not mean you have used all your life working towards it, especially when you are still young and figuring out where you are going in life. Barack Obama’s first job was probably the further thing from politics and running for President. Obama also worked at Baskin Robbins in Hawaii scooping ice cream. He had said that the job taught him responsibility and hard work.
We are starting to see many celebrities become famous after working as ice cream scoopers, perhaps that's where the rest of us went wrong. We would still take a scop from Obama any day.
Victoria Beckham
Spice Girl Victoria Beckham has lived a very posh life, just like her Spice Girl name. It is hard to imagine that she ever worked any kind of normal job. That is most likely why Beckham did not do a normal job as ice cream scooping but instead took a role as a rollerskating sperm in Body Matters, a 1986 BBC sex education show. We can not believe it either.
Beckham does not seem like she would have the kind of humor to pull off a role like this one. And we know you won’t believe it either. Don’t worry, the internet has proof.
Harry Styles
Watermelon Sugar signer Harry Styles made his debut on The X Factor back in 2010. If you’ve seen his audition then you’d know that at that time 16-year-old Styles was working at a bakery called W Mandeville Bakery in Cheshire. After he made it through the bakery got plastered with pictures and banners and we’re sure tons of customers too… not only for baked goods but to say they stepped foot where Styles once worked.
Styles probably did not know how his life would change from being a bakery worker to being where he is today but we are sure she still appreciates the bakery and the impact it had on his life.
Halle Berry
Halle Berry may have given us Catwomen and many other great roles, but it was never easy for her to get there. After moving to New York Berry was homeless for the first while there, just before she started her path in acting. But long before that Berry did pageants as her childhood career. She placed quite high in most of them and even made it second in the 1986 Miss USA pageant.
Berry is a true example of how hard work and perseverance pay off. From almost beauty queen to homeless and now one of the best actresses we have seen, she's a true inspiration.
Gemma Chan
Gemma Chan, who we have seen in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Crazy Rich Asians, was never really on the path to becoming an actress in the beginning. Chan was on her way to becoming a lawyer, she even had a job at a firm, when she took a step back and realized that the law movies that got her interested in law had actually attracted her more because of the acting.
Coming from an Asian culture, it was not easy for her to make that change in her career and for her parents to accept it. Luckily the change has been a good one for her.
Michael B. Jordan
Michael B. Jordan is one of those actors who seems like one of the quiet ones until his next movie comes out and he lets his talents speak for him. Before hitting off his acting career in 1999, Jordan was a child model. He modeled for some well-known brands like Modell’s Sporting Goods and Toys “R” Us. His first role after that was as a teenager in the movie Black and White.
Jordan even acted in one episode of Cosby and The Sopranos. From a model to some big roles, Jordan really has made a great name for himself in the film industry.
Kerry Washington
For most people, when they just start off working they usually work a few different jobs before finding the one that sticks for longer. Kerry Washington was just like most people. While working towards her acting career, Washington also worked as a waitress and teacher. She was still a temporary teacher at some public schools in New York City while she filmed one of her first movies, Save the Last Dance.
Juggling two careers in order to make sure the path you are going on is something a few celebrities have done as well. At least if all else had to fail, Washington could still teach.
Zayn Malik
Zayn Malik also made his big break at the same time as Harry Styles when they merged into the One Direction group. When Malik was between 15 and 17 years old he was dabbling in boxing, but that was not the career he wanted to go into. Before the X-Factor discovery, Malik wanted to go into teaching English, which we now know was obviously not for him and neither was boxing.
The singer has had his fair share of ups and downs since being famous and included in that is being the father to Gigi Hadid's baby. A far stretch from teaching, we’d say.
Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa took a little while to become a big name, and it didn’t come easy to her as she started this path as a signer at the young age of 14. But doing covers on YouTube was not what paid her the cheques. Dua Lipa started working as a model at 15 after she moved to London. But it was not too long after that she would be noticed.
Lipa has had a great rise to fame and is even branching out into acting and her modeling career is also far from over as we still see her on the runway today.
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino is one of the greatest directors of our time. He never ceases to amaze with his eccentric movies and creative storylines. That is why it is hard to believe that Tarantino actually dropped out of high school to pursue a career in the film industry. One of his first jobs was working as an usher at an adult movie theater, and while doing so he also took acting classes.
After doing so Tarantino finally got a job at Video Archives in Manhattan Beach and worked closely with Roger Avary, learning the tricks of the trade and writing some scripts.