Seven Actors Who Said "Bye Bye" To Hollywood For Other Careers, And Eight Others That Were Working Regular(ish) Jobs Before They Found Fame

"I took what I learned about secrets, shame, and pleasure, and applied it to the real world around me."

We all know the acting industry is rather cutthroat, so many actors had to find other jobs before making their big breaks. While some stars found fame after different types of work, others left Hollywood behind to take on another career entirely.

NBC

So, here are eight actors that had a different job before finding fame, and seven others that left Hollywood for other careers:

1. Had a different job before – Danny DeVito

Noam Galai / WireImage / Via Getty Images

Before Danny got into acting, he actually trained as a hairdresser. His sister was a stylist, so before he became one of the most recognisable actors in Hollywood, Danny would work alongside her. Speaking about the job, he said that he enjoyed it: 

" I loved it," he beamed. "I can joke about the fact that I was thrust into a bevvy of beauties every day and I was one of the straight ones. But kidding aside, I seriously enjoyed it."

2. Left it behind – Mara Wilson

Sony Pictures Releasing / Jerod Harris / Getty Images

Mara was one of the biggest child stars when she left her acting career behind. Not only did she star in the titular role of Matilda, but she also appeared as Natalie Hillard in Mrs. Doubtfire, and Susan Walker in Miracle on 34th Street.

When she was still young, Mara felt somewhat overshadowed by the characters she'd played, and she struggled with the difficulties of growing into a young woman after being a child actor. She spoke about the difficulty of acting school, and why she left that career behind, saying: 

"I was at NYU and I knew there were a lot of good actors there, and the thing about acting classes is you're playing parts you don't usually play. ... [You have to] not be afraid to make mistakes. Well, I was terrified; I was frozen with fear. That's when I started focusing more on writing. Writing I'd always loved."

She went on to write the book about her life, titled: Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame and continues to write, alongside appearing on panels and at storytelling events. 

3. Had a different job before – Hugh Jackman

Kevin Winter / Getty Images

Before he was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, Hugh was still influencing young minds, but as a PE teacher. Back in 1987, Hugh was working at Uppingham School in Rutland, England. 

Later in life, when he'd become a huge actor, Hugh's prior career bizarrely made a crossover with his famous lifestyle when he recognised one of the interviewers at the Zurich Film Festival as one of his former students. Hugh couldn't help making a joke when the journalist, Rollo Ross, tried to ask him a serious question, instead replying: 

"You know what makes me angry, Rollo? It's students who don't really listen. No, it's the kind of students who don't bring their kit and the kind of students who don't jump in the pool when I tell them to. That's what makes me angry, Rollo." 

Watch the hilarious and wholesome interview here:

youtube.com

4. Left it behind – Kal Penn

Corey Nickols / Getty Images for IMDb / Via Getty Images

Kal Penn, known for Harold and Kumar, House, and Designated Survivor, took an uncommon career switch-up in 2009 when he joined the Obama administration to work as the principal associate editor in the White House Office of Public Engagement. He also became a co-chair of the reelection campaign in 2013 and served on the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities for Obama's second term. 

5. Had a different job before – Gabourey Sidibe

Gregg Deguire / WireImage / Via Getty Images

Before becoming a star, Gabourey worked as a phone sex operator for three years. She spoke about not being able to find work when she was young, saying: "I was 21, couldn’t afford to go to school, and couldn’t get a job. I searched for one for weeks, months." 

It was her therapist that suggested telemarketing, but when she heard telemarketing she instantly thought: "phone sex." She then got an interview for a phone actor job, where she learnt what to say, what not to say, and that the primary goal was to keep them talking/listening (there was added commission on lengthy calls). 

Her first few calls in the interview went poorly, lasting less than a minute. Just before her interviewer was going to tell her she didn't get the job, another call came in which for over 40 minutes and secured her the job. 

She was still working there when she got the part for Precious. On the experience, she said: "I took what I learned about secrets, shame, and pleasure, and applied it to the real world around me."

6. Left it behind – Frankie Muniz

Fox / James Gilbert / Getty Images

The Malcolm in the Middle and Agent Cody Banks star was always a big fan of racing, and he decided to move away from the acting game in 2006 to follow his dreams. The former child actor has spoken about taking a break from acting, saying: 

"When I was on Malcolm, I was just so excited to be working on a show, but also in that same sense, when the show ended, I kind of left the business for a little bit. I started doing other things. I was racing cars. I joined a band. I was touring all over."

In 2006, Frankie raced in the BMW USA Championship on his way towards competing in the ChampCar Atlantic Championship from 2007 to 2009. Just last year Frankie made his stock car racing debut at Kern County Raceway Park!

7. Had a different job before – Harrison Ford

Paul Harris / Getty Images / 20th Century Fox

Harrison's goal was always to become an actor, but after struggling to secure any significant parts, he trained as a carpenter as a fallback option. In fact, when director Jacques Demy proposed Harrison for the lead in his film Model Shop in 1969, the head of Columbia Pictures dissuaded him, saying Harrison would never have a future in the film business. 

As it happens, his carpentry led to the door being opened for his big break. The wheels started turning when he was working as a carpenter for casting director Fred Roos. Fred got Harisson an audition for George Lucas' film American Graffiti, in which he landed the role of Bob Falfa. 

Still, Harrison wasn't able to give up his carpentry because he was feeding his family and didn't immediately get a host of lucrative job offers. He was 34 when he landed the role that helped him put down the tools, and it was Fred who again helped him land the Han Solo part. 

George Lucas didn't want to hire any American Graffiti actors in Star Wars, but Fred was keen on Harrison, so on the day of auditions, Fred had Harrison come in to do some carpentry. He was asked to fill in and run some lines with the auditioners, and despite actors such as Kurt Russell, Christopher Walken and Nick Nolte all going for Han Solo, it was Harrison that stood out. 

8. Left it behind – Freddie Prinze Jr.

Warner Bros. Pictures / Vincent Sandoval / Getty Images

Freddie's career change-up came after the terrible time he had filming 24 with Kiefer Sutherland, something which he opened up about: "I hated every moment of it. So I just sort of stopped." 

After this bad experience, Freddie went and worked for Vince McMahon at WWE. Speaking about his job at WWE, he said, "it was a crazier job than working with Kiefer. But, at least he [Vince] was cool and tall. I didn’t have to take my shoes off to do scenes with him, which they made me do. Just put the guy on an apple box or don’t hire me next time. You know I’m six feet and he’s 5’4." 

Freddie eventually came back to the acting business though, with Christmas with You last year, and we're happy to have him back!

9. Had a different job before – Whoopi Goldberg

Larry Busacca / Getty Images

Before becoming a household name, Whoopi had a fairly unique job in a funeral parlour. As a licenced beautician, she took the job of doing hair and makeup on dead people which she said could be a "rough gig." 

She spoke about one particularly creepy incident where her boss played a rather scary prank on her: 

"In the old days, they used to have these big, thick doors -- wooden doors," Whoopi says. "[It was] kind of chilly in the room, and [it] had these drawers. So, I go in, and he's not in there."

While waiting for her boss to arrive for their meeting, she heard a strange noise and looked over to one of the drawers that had started opening of its own accord. 

"The drawer is really opening, and this thing happens where I see this: [My boss sits up and says,] 'Hello there.' I run, boom, into the door, knocked myself out." 

10. Left it behind – Daniel Day-Lewis

Jason Merritt / Getty Images

Daniel was certainly one to choose his acting roles specifically and took breaks from acting on multiple occasions. One of his most fabled departures from the acting lifestyle was when in late 1996 and early 1997, he swapped Hollywood for Florence, Italy to learn shoemaking under the expert tutelage of Stefano Bemer. 

We don't know how long he was making shoes, but he didn't come back to acting for five years. 

11. Had a different job before – Christopher Walken

Jack Mitchell / Getty Images /  SGranitz / WireImage / Via Getty Images

Before Christopher even got into acting, he had a rather bizarre job as a lion tamer for a circus. While we can now all agree that having real animals in circuses is cruel, at the time, Christopher loved the job, saying: “I would come into the cage and wave my whip, and she’d lazily get up and sit like a dog and maybe give a little roar. I like cats a lot. I’ve always liked cats. They’re great company.”

After this brief stint in the circus, Christopher decided to train to be a dancer, after which he became a nightclub dancer and changed his name to Christopher (it was Ronnie before). It was his dancing that lead to him being in productions, and touring with shows such as West Side Story, and he eventually became one of Hollywood's household names. 

12. Left it behind – Gwyneth Paltrow

Theo Wargo / WireImage / Via Getty Images

Gwyneth's last movie role came in 2019, where she reprised her role as Pepper Potts in Avengers: Endgame. Since then though, while still being very much in the public eye, she's swapped her acting career to work on running her lifestyle brand, Goop (and to go on the odd skiing jaunt, of course. 

Talking about leaving the business behind, she said, "I really don't miss it at all. I think I'm so lucky that I got to do it, and I'm sure I still will, at some point. And the team is always trying to get me to do a movie, but I really love what I do."

While she has no real plans to get back into the movie business, she did say that she promised her mother that she would return to do a play. We can only hope that it'll be a reenactment of the skiing trial. 

13. Had a different job before – Steve Buscemi

Maria Moratti / Getty Images

Back in the 1980s, when Steve was just 18, he took the Fire Department of the City of New York civil service test and worked as a firefighter in Manhattan! Though he left the job to pursue his acting career, his firefighting days weren't over. 

After the September 11th attacks, Steve returned to his role to help the under-pressure rescue service. Speaking about going back, he said: "It was a privilege to be able to do it. It was great to connect with the firehouse I used to work with and with some of the guys I worked alongside. And it was enormously helpful for me because while I was working, I didn’t really think about it as much, feel it as much.”

14. Left it behind – Ariana Richards

Universal Pictures / David Livingston / Getty Images

Ariana shot to stardom when she was just 13, after landing the role in Stephen Spielberg's Jurrasic Park. She played the teenage whizkid Lex Murphy, granddaughter of John Hammond – a role that kickstarted her young Hollywood career. Throughout the '90s and 2000s, she appeared in a variety of movies and reprised her role as Lex in Lost World: Jurassic Park. 

After starring in the TV movie Battledogs in 2013, Ariana decided to put her degree in fine art to use and switched up to become a painter, something she's been quite a success at!

15. Had a different job before – Ken Jeong

Noel Vasquez / Getty Images

You'll recognise Ken from The Hangover and Community, among other notable roles, but before he starred as the doctor in Knocked Up, he was a full-time practising physician. He opened up about being a very serious doctor, saying: “I was so intense as a doctor, and I was always stressed out, patients were surprised I did stand-up comedy on the side.”

Ken also said he loved being a doctor, and his foray into acting was a happy surprise: “I was happy just being the doctor from Knocked Up, much less what happened after. The Hangover changed my life from black-and-white to Technicolor.”

In fact, Ken, who always had a passion for acting, filmed the role in Knocked Up during a vacation week, and things spiralled from there!

When have other celebs made big career swaps? Let us know in the comments below!