• New Money Mindset badge

15 Celebs Who Had "Regular" Jobs Before Becoming Famous

Everyone starts from somewhere.

Simone Johnson
by Simone Johnson

BuzzFeed Contributor

1. Lil Nas X

Lil Nas X on the red carpet at the BET Awards.
Aaron J. Thornton / Getty Images

Lil Nas X stole our hearts with "Old Town Road" and is creating a space for queer artists in hip-hop like never before. (Have you seen "Industry Baby"??? *Chef's kiss*!) But before he became a professional artist in the music industry, he worked at Six Flags Over Georgia theme park while he waited for his music career to take off. 


Old gig & salary: Six Flags attendant, $24,000/year

New gig & estimated net worth: Rapper, singer, songwriter, and media personality, $14 million

2. Kanye West

Kanye West
Neil Mockford / GC Images

Kanye is so many things... but before he was controversial, he worked for Gap’s customer service department. This is also a full circle moment, since he just signed a 10-year deal with the clothing company last year. 

Old gig & salary: Gap Customer service associate, $35,846/year

New gig & estimated net worth: Rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, and fashion designer, $6.6 billion

3. Jon Hamm

Jon Hamm on the red carpet.
Cindy Ord / Getty Images for Tribeca Festival

Hamm has had some pretty wild roles, but none of his characters tops his old job as a Cinemax soft-core pornography set dresser. It's definitely one of the most interesting roles we've found. But when asked about it, the Mad Men star told ​​Vanity Fair "it was soul-crushing." 

Old gig & salary: Pornography crew member, $500 to $5,000 per shoot.

New gig & estimated net worth: Actor, producer, $40 million

4. Steve Buscemi

Steve Buscemi waving hello.
Rafa Rivas / AFP via Getty Images

Steve Buscemi had a pretty inspiring position. He used to be a firefighter and is actually a real-life hero. When the 9/11 attack happened, he rejoined the firefighter force to help out during the tragedy. 

Old gig & salary: Firefighter, $48,723/year

New gig & estimated net worth: Actor, writer, director, producer, $35 million

5. Rachel McAdams

Rachel McAdams plays Regina George.
Cbs Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images

Rachel McAdams is our favorite mean girl and the absolute queen of romantic movies. (Helloooo: The Time Traveler's Wife, The Notebook, The Vow...) Before she was making us all sob in front of our screens, she worked at McDonald's. 

"It was a great place to work, but I had a little bit of an OCD thing with hand-washing and just didn't have time," she told Glamour. "They were like, 'Hey, the drive-thru's backing up. Stop washing your hands!' I was not a great employee; I broke the orange juice machine one day."

Old gig & salary: McDonald's employee, $18,720/year

New gig & estimated net worth: Actor, $16 million

6. Gabourey Sidibe

Gabourey Sidibe on the red carpet in a yellow dress.
Paul R. Giunta / Getty Images

Sidibe is so confident, and we can just imagine how hot her phone sex operator voice is. Prior to her role in Precious and on Empire, she had that job for about three years. Sidibe told People, "I was actually pretty good at it. I did it for two months before I was promoted."

Old gig & salary: Phone sex operator, $22,662 to $85,662/year

New gig & estimated net worth: Actor or author, $6 million

7. Margot Robbie

Margot Robbie on the red carpet.
Handout / A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images

Robbie may play the incredibly badass Harley Quinn we've all come to know and love, but she was a regular Subway employee prior to her stardom. The Wolf of Wall Street actor told Delish, "Like, I actually don't go that often anymore because I watch them make it badly — and I'm upset."

 

Old gig & salary: Subway Sandwich artist $33K/year

New gig & estimated net worth: Actor and producer, $26 million

8. Summer Walker

Summer Walker on the red carper.
Aaron J. Thornton / Getty Images

Before Walker was a sultry songbird, she worked as a cleaner for commercial and residential homes. You can check out her old Instagram. But that's not the only job she did before she was famous — she also worked as a stripper. (Talk about hardworking!)


Old gig & salary: House cleaner, $21K to $27K/year 
Stripper $52,969K/year

New gig & estimated net worth: Singer and songwriter, $3 million

9. Hugh Jackman

Hugh Jackman giving a thumbs up.
James Devaney / GC Images

Jackman can truly do wrong — turns out the Wolverine used to be a physical education teacher.


Old gig & salary: PE teacher,  $38K to 65K/year

New gig & estimated net worth: Actor, singer, and producer, $180 million

10. Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj with pink and purple hair.
Mondadori Portfolio / Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images

Once upon of time, the Queen of Rap was a Red Lobster server. The Harajuku Barbie told GQ, "I like dealing with people, but I don't really like a lot of bullshit, so maybe customer service wasn't the best job for me."

Old gig & salary: Red Lobster server, $31,283/year

New gig & estimated net worth: Rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor, $80 million

11. Tan France

Taylor Hill / FilmMagic,

Tan France may fly high with Queer Eye, but he was a flight attendant before becoming famous. France wrote in his book, Naturally Tan, that when working as a flight attendant he “felt like a glorified waiter.”


Old gig & salary: Flight attendant $62,835 to $97,057

New gig & estimated net worth: Fashion designer, television personality, and author, $6 million

12. Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle in a white suit.
Max Mumby / Getty Images

The Harry and Meghan love story is nothing short of a wild fairytale. And if you watched Suits, you’ll also remember how sweet her onscreen romance was with Michael. Markle had probably had one of the most extravagant weddings of the century, but she actually used to write wedding invitations for a living using her stylish calligraphy skills. 


Old gig & salary: Calligrapher, $68,200/year

New gig & estimated net worth: American member of the British royal family and a former actor, $2.2 million

13. Jim Carrey

Jim Carey smiling.
Nbc / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Jim Carrey helped people way before he became a comedian. The Mask star used to work as a janitor. He got his job as a teenager to help support his family. 

Old gig & salary: Janitor $32,855 to $44,451/year

New gig & estimated net worth: Actor, comedian, writer, and producer, $180 million 

14. Barack Obama

Barack Obama giving a speech.
Jewel Samad / AFP via Getty Images

Next to being president, one of the best jobs out there is working with ice cream! When Obama was a teen, he scooped ice cream at Baskin-Robbins. (Presidents — they're just like us!)

Old gig & salary: Ice cream scooper. $22,032/year

New gig & estimated net worth: Former president of the United States, $70 million

15. And finally, Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Johnson, posing on the red carpet for the premier of his new movie, Jungle Cruise.
Jesse Grant / Getty Images for Disney

Johnson is the kind of man who's up for any challenge, including scrubbing dishes. When he was 13 years old, he took on the challenge of working as a dishwasher. And we all know how that story ended: Today he's one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood!

Old gig & salary: Dishwasher, $25,240 /year

New gig & estimated net worth: Actor, producer, entrepreneur, and retired professional wrestler, $400 million

Note: The net worth figures cited in this post are estimates based on reported salaries and other public data.

Do you know of any other jobs celebs had before they were famous? Tell us about them in the comments!

And for more stories about life and money, check out the rest of our personal finance posts.