Acting isn't all glitz and glam. Sometimes, actors — especially those who started in the business as children — decide to leave the limelight for more traditional career paths.
Here are 24 former actors who went on to have "regular" jobs.
1.Michael Schoeffling, who played Jake Ryan in 16 Candles, became a furniture maker.
2.Kal Penn, who played Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar movies, briefly left Hollywood for Washington, DC when he served as the associate director of the White House Office of Public Liaison from 2009–2011.
3.Donnie Dunagan, who voiced the titular character in Bambi at 6 years old, joined the military in his teens and kept his previous acting career a secret until 2005.
4.Carrie Henn, who played Newt in Aliens, never acted in another movie, and when she grew up, she became a teacher.
5.Jennifer Stone, who played Harper on Wizards of Waverly Place, is now a registered nurse.
6.Erik Estrada, who played officer Francis Llewellyn "Ponch" Poncherello on CHiPs, became a real-life police officer in St. Anthony, Idaho.
7.Dylan Sprouse, who played Zack Martin on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, runs All-Wise Meadery, a mead brewery in Brooklyn.
8.Karyn Parsons, who played Hilary Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, founded the nonprofit organization Sweet Blackberry, which creates content to teach children about Black history.
9.Kevin Jonas, who acted in Camp Rock and Jonas L.A. alongside his music career with his brothers, worked as a contractor before getting back into music.
11.Phoebe Cates Kline, who played Linda Barrett in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, runs a boutique called Blue Tree in Manhattan.
12.Rick Moranis, who played Louis Tully in Ghostbusters, became a stay-at-home dad.
13.Jeff Cohen, who played Chunk in The Goonies, is now a lawyer.
14.Lucas Babin, who played Spider in School of Rock, became the district attorney for Tyler County, Texas.
15.Mara Wilson, who played the titular character in Matilda, is now a writer.
16.Peter Ostrum, who played Charlie in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, is now a dairy veterinarian.
17.Danny Lloyd, who played Danny Torrance in The Shining, is now a biology professor at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
18.Bridgit Mendler, who played Teddy Duncan on Good Luck Charlie, is pursuing a degree at Harvard Law School.
19.Jerry Mathers, who played Beaver Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver, became a sergeant in the Air Force Reserve.
20.Charlie Korsmo, who played Jackie in Hook, is a law professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
21.Nikki Blonsky, who played Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray, was a makeup artist at Superstar Salon in New York.
22.Ross Bagley, who played Nicky Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Buckwheat in The Little Rascals, works as a Realtor in Los Angeles.
23.Teddy Dunn, who played Duncan Kane on Veronica Mars, became a lawyer who now serves as an Assistant United States Attorney at the United States Attorney's Office District of Columbia.
24.And finally, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played the titular role in The Terminator, announced his bid for governor of California on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in August 2003 then served two full terms from 2003–2011.
