14 Huge Celebrities Who Worked Very Some Pretty Crazy First Jobs

With the way luxurious celebrity lives are documented in tabloids every day, it’s hard to imagine a time when things were ever difficult for them. You just don’t look at a picture of George Clooney and think, “Gee, now there’s a person who has struggled to get by.”

Yet, for as rich and famous as celebs like Clooney and Rihanna might be, for every success story, there’s an origin story, too. Often, these well-known people had quite humble beginnings.

Still not buying it? Here are 14 celebrities and the strange first jobs they had before they made it to the big leagues…

1. Brad Pitt: Long before Pitt was starring in major films like Fight Club and Inglorious Basterds or dating Hollywood’s leading ladies, he was dressing up as the chicken mascot for Los Angeles restaurant chain El Pollo Loco.

 

2. Rihanna: You’re likely familiar with Bad Girl Riri from her hit songs like “We found Love,” “Umbrella,” and “Diamonds,” but did you know that, before she was the star of the music stage, she served as an army cadet in her hometown of Barbados?

3. Johnny Depp: Before he was playing leading roles like Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise, and even prior to his role as the titular Edward Scissorhands, Depp worked as a telemarketer.

 

4. Jim Carrey: Carrey has worked his way into the ranks of the greatest physical comedians of all time with hilarious roles in films like Dumb and Dumber, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and The Mask. Before his days of making people laugh out loud, however, he dropped out of high school and worked as a janitor to support his family.

  

5. Pierce Brosnan: Most known for playing the role of the British secret service agent James Bond in GoldenEye, Die Another Day, and The World is Not Enough, Brosnan had an equally life-risking job. Any guesses? He worked as a fire-eater!

 

6. Harrison Ford: Famous for having starred in such notable franchises as Star Wars and Indiana Jones, it’s hard to imagine Ford ever having a different job. Yet, when he was much younger, he actually worked as a carpenter.

 

7. Danny DeVito: DeVito has had some rather peculiar roles over the years, from starring as The Penguin in Batman Returns to his role as Frank on TV’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Yet, his most bizarre role of all had to be his first gig when he worked as a mortuary hairdresser.

8. Steve Buscemi: Buscemi has long been regarded as an offbeat—but respected—actor. He’s had roles in a wide variety of films, too, including Big Daddy, The Big Lebowski, and Con Air. But did you know that he was originally a firefighter?

After the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City, Buscemi returned to his former fire company to assist in the rescue effort for a week. He refused to take photographs or conduct interviews. “It was a privilege to be able to do it,” he said. Later, he added: “It wasn’t until I stopped that I really felt the full impact of what had happened. It would have been much harder for me to get through it if I hadn’t been able to do that.”

9. Barack Obama: It’s difficult to imagine the 44th President of the United States in any other role than a politician, but even in his first job he was serving the people. That’s because he worked as a server at ice cream shop Baskin Robbins!

 

10. David Bowie: The late musician, actor, and fashion icon took on many roles over his storied lifetime, including leading his own band and acting as Philip Jeffries in Twin Peaks. Perhaps his most unexpected gig, however, was when he was a delivery boy for a butcher.

 

11. Chris Pratt: Over the past few years, Pratt has made his way from a minor character on Parks and Recreation to starring in films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World. Little known was that he worked as stripper as a young man living in Hawaii.

12. George Clooney: Over the course of the past few decades, Clooney has become one of the most recognizable leading men in Hollywood, starring in films like Ocean’s Eleven, Syriana, and Gravity. Long before these roles, he worked as an insurance salesman and as a shoe store clerk. He also cut tobacco and even stocked shelves at a retail store.

13. Bill Murray: Longtime funnyman Bill Murray is best known for his roles in such comedy films as Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, and King Pin, but before he was making people laugh worldwide, he was working in a grocery store in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. 

 

14. Christopher Lee: Known for his roles in the 1958 remake of Dracula, The Lord of the Rings, and The Wickerman, it’s little known that Lee actually got his start working for the intelligence service.

 
  Who would’ve thought that all of these rich and famous people really were just like us in the beginning?