Unless you're born into fame, it's no secret that making it as a star isn't an easy feat. Many renowned people have taken unusual professions to help them get by before becoming famous, and those positions have come back into the spotlight after they achieved superstar status.
Some of these careers are almost legendary in the
Entertainment industry, such as Kim Kardashian West's stint as a personal shopper for A-listers and Meghan Markle's time as a freelance calligrapher before becoming the Duchess of Sussex. Others, like Kris Jenner's former career as a flight attendant for American Airlines before she became a self-assigned talent manager and earned unprecedented levels of celebrity for her six children, required more investigation.
1. Meghan Markle
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Meghan Markle grew up in a single-parent family and did various jobs before becoming famous. She worked as a freelance calligrapher, offering seminars and designing wedding invitations. Meghan's handwriting is still immaculate, according to 2018 photos.
2. Hugh Jackman
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Hugh Jackman taught P.E. in a U.K. high school before becoming an actor. Jackman's brief teaching career has been eclipsed by his cinematic career, although he recognized Rollo Ross as one of his former students at the Zurich Film Festival in 2014. Jackman joked, "How's school? Ross said, "Definitely!"
3. Nicole Kidman
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Nicole Kidman, born in Hawaii and grew up on Sydney's North Shore, made her big screen debut in the 1990's Days of Thunder. Beforepj that, though, she helped her teacher's parents make ends meet by working as an assistant massage therapist alongside her mother.
4. Jennifer Aniston
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Jennifer Aniston tried her hand at a handful of odd jobs before landing the part of a lifetime on Friends. One of these was a two-week stint in telemarketing. She spoke about her long-forgotten career in an interview conducted in 2019: "There was not a single sale that I was able to close. My performance was dismal. A part of me wondered, "Why do we have to call folks at dinnertime?"
5. Johnny Depp
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Depp worked as a telemarketer and hated it. He said in an Interview in 2014: "You said, "I'm Edward Quartermaine from California." This grandfather clock or a trip to Tahiti is yours.' All this if they buy a gross of pens. Terrible. It was my first acting gig."
6. Cameron Diaz
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Like many other actresses, Diaz started as a model. Years before her breakthrough appearance in 1994's The Mask, she was on the cover of Seventeen magazine at age 16 and in advertisements for Coca-Cola and Calvin Klein.
7. Kanye West
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Before Kanye West became famous as a music producer, performer, and designer, he worked at a Chicago-area The Gap. West even rapped about his time working at The Gap in 2004's "Spaceship," admitting that he sometimes stole from the store (but was never arrested) to supplement his meager salary.
8. Taylor Swift
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Since the release of
Taylor Swift in 2006, Taylor Swift has become a household name in the music business. Swift had an unexpected job on a Christmas tree farm before she became famous. Swift told Rolling Stone in an interview that year: "In our group, everyone pulled their weight. One of my was to go around and pull the praying mantis pods off the trees so the insects wouldn't hatch inside people's homes."
9. Jennifer Hudson
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Jennifer Hudson, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her part in Dreamgirls (2007), got her start in the entertainment industry as a Disney-themed cast member performing on a
Disney Cruise Line. In an interview with W Magazine, she stated, "It's part of how I got [the role in] Dreamgirls because they accepted that as an acting credit," revealing the job's significance in landing her breakthrough role in the film.