Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame(01 of15)
Open Image ModalHarrison FordThe ‘Indiana Jones’ star was a struggling actor all through his 20s, and after being repeatedly told that he didn’t have what it takes to be a movie star, he was cast in one of the featured roles in George Lucas’s ‘American Graffiti’ at the age of 31. The movie might have made him a star but it paid so little that he turned his back on the acting world and returned to being a carpenter. Four years later, George Lucas and cast him again as Han Solo in ‘Star Wars’ when Ford was 35. He was almost 40 when ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ hit the big screen and by that point he never had to pick up a saw again. (credit:WENN)
Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame(02 of15)
Open Image ModalLady GagaUS music mogul LA Reid might have signed the likes of Mariah Carey, Pink, Justin Bieber and Usher, but he doesn’t always get it right. Simon Cowell’s mate famously signed Lady Gaga, telling her she was going to ‘change music’ only to drop her after only three months before she’d released a note. He later admitted it was The ‘biggest mistake of my life’. (credit:WENN)
Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame(03 of15)
Open Image ModalJon HammThe ‘Mad Men’ star spent his twenties and thirties waiting tables in LA as he struggled to get his big break. After a series of smaller roles it wasn’t until 2007 that he was cast as Don Draper in the huge worldwide hit, ‘Mad Men’. (credit:WENN)
Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame(04 of15)
Open Image ModalSylvester StalloneLegend has it that Sylvester Stallone was down to his last $50 when he moved to New York and wrote and starred in ‘Rocky’, but his first appearance on screen was six years before in the soft core pornography feature film ‘The Party at Kitty and Stud's’ (1970). He was paid $200 for two days' work, which the star later explained he had done out of desperation after being evicted from his apartment and finding himself homeless for several days. “It was either do that movie or rob someone, because I was at the end – the very end – of my rope," he later said. (credit:WENN)
Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame(05 of15)
Open Image ModalJessica ChastainJessica cut her teeth in a string of bit parts on the small screen, including episodes of ‘ER’ and ‘Poirot’, as well as small theatre productions before she got her first film role in the little-seen ‘Jolene’. By 2008, she was still an unknown despite making a name for herself in the industry, and it wasn’t until she was cast opposite Brad Pitt in ‘The Tree of Life’ that her career really began to take off. Two Oscar nominations followed for her role as Celia in 2012’s ‘The Help’ and ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ the following year, by which point she was 35 years old and finally a household name. (credit:WENN)
Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame(06 of15)
Open Image ModalAlan RickmanAlan Rickman didn’t even start studying acting until he was 30, because he was too busy running a graphic design company with his mates. His first notable role was in the stage version of ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’, which John Malkovich took over when the story was made into a movie. But producer Joel Silver spotted Rickman’s talent and cast him in his first film, ‘Die Hard’. He’s since gone on to make a career out of playing bad guys, as well as Professor Severus Snape in ‘Harry Potter’. (credit:WENN)
Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame(07 of15)
Open Image ModalSteven SpielbergOne of the greatest film directors of all time was actually rejected from the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film and Television on three separate occasions. He eventually attended another film school only to drop out to become a director before finishing his studies. Thirty-five years after starting his degree, after directing some of the biggest movies of all time including ‘E.T.’, ‘Jaws’, ‘Schindler’s List’, ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Indiana Jones’, Spielberg returned to school in 2002 to finally complete his work and earn his BA. (credit:WENN)
Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame(08 of15)
Open Image ModalJK RowlingJ.K. Rowling was a divorced single mother in her early 30s, getting by on welfare benefits when she began to write the first story in what was to become the ‘Harry Potter’ series. But the author’s efforts were rejected by 12 different publishers before she finally sold the rights to ‘The Philosopher’s Stone’ for the equivalent of $4,000. Fast forward to 1999 and the first three books in the series held the top three spots in the New York Times bestseller list. (credit:WENN)
Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame(09 of15)
Open Image ModalJeremy RennerBefore he hit pay dirt in ‘The Hurt Locker’ and ‘The Avengers’, Jeremy Renner worked as a make-up artist to make ends meet, whilst taking on small acting roles. (credit:WENN)
Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame(10 of15)
Open Image ModalSidney PoitierAfter his first audition, the ‘Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner’ star was told by the casting director, “Why don’t you stop wasting people’s time and go out and become a dishwasher or something?” Undeterred, he pursued his acting dream, winning a Best Actor Oscar in 1964 for his role in ‘Lilies In the Field’ and became one of the most well-respected actors of his generation. (credit:WENN)
Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame(11 of15)
Open Image ModalOprah WinfreyShe’s one of the richest and best-known human beings on the planet but it wasn’t plain sailing for US media queen Oprah. After enduring a rough and often abusive childhood , Oprah suffered numerous career setbacks including being fired from her job as a television reporter because she was ‘unfit for TV’. her lucky break came in the form of a small, failing morning show, but just months later, Oprah helped turn the show’s success around to such a degree that it was renamed ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’. The rest is history. (credit:WENN)
Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame(12 of15)
Open Image ModalThe BeatlesThe biggest group in the world like, ever, were turned down by one silly record company, who told them, “we don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” Never have so few words cost so much. (credit:PA)
Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame(13 of15)
Open Image ModalCharlie Chaplin‘Too nonsensical’. That’s what screen legend Charlie Chaplin was told at the start of his career by Hollywood studio chiefs. Now it’s hard to imagine a silent film without thinking of the iconic star. (credit:PA)
Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame(14 of15)
Open Image ModalElvis PresleyElvis might have become one of the best-selling artists of all time and a bona fide icon in the process but not everyone could see The King’s potential at the start of his career. Back in 1954, when Elvis was still a nobody, he was fired after just one performance by Jimmy Denny, the manager of the Grand Ole Opry, telling him, “You ain’t going nowhere, son. You ought to go back to driving a truck”. Luckily, Elvis had other ideas. (credit:PA)
Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame(15 of15)
Open Image ModalFred AstaireThe feedback from Fred Astaire’s very first screen test was, “Can’t act. Can’t sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.” After going on to huge success and acclaim, the actor, singer and dancer kept that note with his feedback on in his Beverly Hills mansion as a constant reminder of how far he had come. (credit:PA)