Do you want to know what celebrities looked like before they got famous? What their life was like and how it led up to stardom. Something is intriguing about seeing a photo of a celebrity before they became famous. It’s like getting a sneak peek behind the curtain and witnessing their transformation from an ordinary person into someone in the public eye.
In this blog post, we’ve gathered 25 photos of famous people before they became world-renowned celebrities. Some are recognizable, while others look completely different than you would expect. Scroll down to enjoy.
1. Sean Connery During His Time With The Royal Navy In 1946
Have you ever seen a movie and thought, “Wow, that guy is good-looking.” only to find out later that it was the same guy who played James Bond? Sean Connery was one of those guys. Before he became famous for playing secret agents and such, he was just another Scottish lad trying to make his way in the world.
His first job was as a milkman in Edinburgh before he joined the Royal Navy at age 16. After three years, Sean was discharged on medical grounds. Then he returned to his hometown, where there were many different jobs that he could have taken up: lorry driver or construction worker etc.
But it wasn’t until after World War II that cinema audiences became more acquainted with their hero. They loved him because not only did he look good on-screen (perfectly cast), but he also took part during production by doing dangerous scenes while doubled understudies who often got themselves into trouble without knowing how close they came.
2. 16-Year-Old Angelina Jolie In Circa 1991
Angelina Jolie is one of the most talented and beautiful women in Hollywood, but it wasn’t until her breakthrough role as a cyborg that she found success. The movie Cyborg 2 showed off all-new sides to this already fame-worthy actor, gaining attention from major European film festivals for this performance alone. After being passed upon by several other studios because they didn’t think anyone could make an interesting enough character out.
Angelina Jolie went on to star opposite Tom Cruise playing his daughter, who falls into computer hackers’ hands while trying to stop themselves from becoming victims – which leads to some engaging scenes between these two actors where you can tell both.
3. Christoph Waltz In 1975
Christoph Waltz was never interested in theatre at the beginning. He had always been fascinated by opera and would visit it twice a week when he was ten years old; even though acting classes were required for his major undergraduate course of study (and part-time work), Christoph still found time to take voice lessons as well so that someday maybe… His breakthrough movie role came after Inglorious Basterds helped launch him into international stardom – but not without some initial struggles first!
4. Eminem In The 1980s
Eminem is a rap artist first heard on the song “Reckless” by Ice-T and Chris ‘The Glove’ Taylor in 1984. He began rapping himself when he was just 14 years old, releasing his album called Infinite back then, but it failed to make any impact whatsoever, with its release date being January 1996; this all changed, though, because Slim Shady adopted an alter ego character named after him (Slim) which gave birth – through collaboration between Draymond Vexation Records & Interscope records-, finally leading up towards 1999’s iconic ‘Slim shady LP.’
5. Lady Gaga In The 2000s
Lady Gaga started playing piano at four years old and studied acting for ten years before she became successful. She didn’t get any significant roles in auditions. Then a talent scout noticed her performance on stage while studying in New York City nightclubs, where they would play songs like “Just Dance” by Jean-Melvin Koalya, which became one of 2009’s best-selling singles worldwide! Lady Gaga got famous after her debut album, The Fame, which included the singles Just Dance and Poker Face.
6. Bob Marley When The Song Rude Boy Was Released In 1964
Bob Marley’s music career started in his early days of playing with friends. After moving to Trenchtown, he met Higgs and Wilson, who were successful vocal duos. They helped him learn how to play guitar. They also introduced other local teens into their circle, becoming known as The Wailers, eventually signing onto an Island Records contract after releasing one single under it, “Simmer Down.”
7. Christian Bale In 1990
When Christian Bale was just a young lad, he had no idea that one day he would become one of the most famous actors in the world. If you polled a room full of people and asked them to guess which Hollywood star had worked at a McDonald’s in his youth, not many would choose Bale. But it’s true – before hitting it big in movies like “American Psycho” and “The Dark Knight,” the superstar spent some time flipping burgers for minimum wage.
8. Jennifer Aniston Dressed As A Witch For Halloween In Circa 1986
Jennifer Aniston’s early life is an enigma. She attended a Waldorf school, and after being discovered by one of its teachers during their off-Broadway productions in New York City at age 11. She worked part-time jobs, including telemarketer or bike messenger, before getting her first regular television role on Molloy, where the show wasn’t successful. It did not last long due to failures in other roles. Jennifer became famous worldwide when they offered her flat-stomach character Rachel Green in Friends.
9. Tommy Lee Jones While Playing As An Offensive Guard At St. Mark’s School Of Texas In 1965
Jones’s love for the theatre and football led him to finance his education at Harvard, where he performed in several plays. After graduating from university with a degree in Fine Arts (and not knowing what field would be most lucrative), Tommy worked as an actor while still playing some ball too! He got noticed by Hollywood after being nominated for Best Supporting Actor Oscar-worthy performance in 1993 ‘The Fugitive.’
10. Quentin Tarantino In 1983
Quentin Tarantino had a diverse career before he made movies. He worked in various industries, including as an usher at the movie theatre and recruiter for aerospace companies during this period when it was popular to be “a dreamer.” His first job out of college was working production assistant on films such as True Lies (1994) by David Fincher – someone who would go on to great success with their unique style that is all theirs. Then came Reservoir Dogs, which launched him into fame not just here but around Europe too. 1994 saw Inglorious Basterds release alongside its director’s other breathtaking creations like Kill Bill vols 1 & 2.
11. Clint Eastwood As A High School Senior In 1948
Clint Eastwood’s journey to fame and fortune began when he was drafted into the army in Korea. After serving as a swimming instructor, Clint gained international recognition for his role in Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western "The Man With No Name (1964)."
12. Vin Diesel In The 1980s
Vin Diesel is an actor, producer, and screenwriter who started his career in the theater. He first performed on stage when he was seven years old, playing Dinosaur Door (a play) produced at The New City Theater Company with other kids from around NYC for two months until it closed due to lack of audience support. This would later lead him to write scripts that were successful enough that Steven Spielberg saw one while casting Saving Private Ryan, jaws open!
13. Katy Perry In 2001
Katy Perry started singing in church at age 9, and by 13 had her first guitar as a birthday present. She learned how to play songs from different genres, including contemporary Christian music, on albums released between 2001-2003 before releasing One of The Boys, which contained hit singles like “I Kissed A Girl” or even hotter concepts such as Hot n Cold.”
14. David Harbour In 1994
David Harbour was another actor working on Broadway and in movies for years. He had some minor roles but nothing that skyrocketed his career or made him famous- until Stranger Things came along. The show has been a huge hit for Netflix, which means many more opportunities to work and get recognized outside of Hollywood, where it finally feels like everyone knows who this guy is after all these years. With only one big project under his belt before then, being mostly anonymous, living life off scripts waiting around at the auditioning time, trying not to fall asleep while watching.
15. Mark Zuckerberg At Harvard In 2002
Mark Zuckerberg’s passion for programming began in middle school when he wrote his first program. His father saw how interested Mark was and hired a teacher to tutor him privately so they could work together on projects during college time – one of these being Facebook which initially started at Harvard but quickly spread across universities nationwide before becoming available to everyone.
16. 18-Year-Old Robin Williams In His Senior Year Of High School In 1969
When Robin Williams was young, he wanted to be a political analyst. However, after realizing the field of study wasn’t for him and dropping out of college, his interest shifted towards acting. Three years at The College Of Marin in California helped shape him and established many successful careers later on, including Mork & Mindy (1978-1982), which made him famous.
17. Keanu Reeves Circa 1984
Keanu Reeves had a pretty normal early life. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1964 to parents Patricia and Samuel Reeves. When he was three years old, the family moved to Canada. Reeves grew up in Toronto and went to school there. After high school, he attended college for a year but decided to drop out and pursue acting. So far, his decision has paid off! Reeves has had an extremely successful career as an actor and is now one of the most well-known stars in Hollywood.
18. Morgan Freeman In Air Force Somewhere In Between 1955 And 1959
Morgan Freeman’s career as an actor began when he was nine. He won his first statewide drama competition at 12 and by high school, had performed in a radio show while still working on the campus staff of his university’s theater company.
When Morgan returned from military service during World War II (1942-1945), it wasn’t long before we saw him getting partial scholarships to Jackson State University, where he studied Arts & Letters. But then opted out because there were no roles available for Black actors… especially ones who wanted more than just bit parts or student Aid Work. In addition to that, he worked as a dancer and started getting acting jobs. He became famous in the 1970s for his role in the children’s television series The Electric Company.
19. 26-Year-Old Joe Biden Circa 1968
Joe Biden is a well-known politician who has served in various positions domestically and internationally. He became more familiar to the public at large when he joined forces with Barack Obama as vice president on the 2008 election campaign trail, then again from 2009 to 2017 under their administration’s leadership together, where they helped lead America through some very difficult times, including but not limited to: The Great Recession; Katrina Devastation; War In Iraq — and so much else.
20. Jim Carrey In The 1980s
Jim Carrey had a very difficult time in his early days, but he persevered because of comedy. He would often perform on stage or at local clubs around Toronto, where people were able to see just what creativity could do for someone who wasn’t quite famous yet–that is until season 2, episode 3 (“The Hot Potato”) when they showed off this new talent called “Jimmie C.”
In Living Color made its television debut during the 1991-1992 autumn months reaching several million homes each weeknight via ABC network stations across America, including WABC Channel 5 NYC, which featured both original episodes 1 and 2.
21. Susan Sarandon When She Was 17 Years Old In 1963
Susan Sarandon’s career is an interesting and diverse one. During her college years, the actress supported herself by cutting hair in between working as a switchboard operator for two different companies – but it wasn’t long after graduation before she started gaining recognition on stage.
Her first role came when director George trailer cast Susan to play “Spike” alongside Timothy Dalton (who would become famous for playing Bond character James Bond) back during their student days at London Central School Of Films And Television, auditioning together under choreographer/founder Ralph Daily. He said, “It was great fun watching them come up with this really bizarre slow waltz” while they were dancing around, trying not to make any noise.
22. Peter Dinklage In The 1980s
Dinklage realized in his teen years that he wanted to pursue a career in acting. In 1984, he saw the production of the play True West written by Sam Shepard, which inspired him so much that it determined the direction of his life. Dinklage went to Bennington College and studied drama there.
But at the beginning of his career, Dinklage struggled. He had to work at a data processing company for six years to make ends meet. He wasn’t getting any work as an actor partially because he refused roles where the character's focus would be his achondroplasia. But his time to shine came with the 2003 movie The Station Agent, for which he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for best actor. And the role that made Dinklage’s name known worldwide was Tyrion Lannister in the fantasy drama Game of Thrones.
23. Tom Hanks In 1974
After reading Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh and watching the performance, Tom Hanks decided that he wanted to be an actor. So he enrolled in the theatre program at California State University – Long Beach, where his campus life was chronicled by telenovelas that streamed onto street corners before being recorded for posterity as part of LADOT history books with roots dating back decades ago when Channel 13 broadcasts were still new technology making this city home even more so than now!
24. 15-Year-Old Dwayne Johnson Circa 1987
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was once a professional football player, but he pursued an acting career instead. He became one of the world’s highest-grossing actors after starring in movies and has been nominated for multiple awards during his time as both actor/director alongside other successful projects such these blockbusters; Pain & Gain (2013), San Andreas (2015), Furious 7: The Reward featuring Carter Velvet Uniforms.
25. Nirvana In 1990
Nirvana was a Seattle-based rock band that gained popularity in the 1990s. Guitarist and singer founded them, and songwriter Krist Novoselic (also known as “Noise”), bassist Kurt Cobain with help from Dave Grohl, who joined after their first drummer left them due to school schedules; they finally found success when releasing Smells Like Teen Spirit off their debut album “Bleach” released back in 1989 which became an instant classic capturing both mainstream audiences but also creating something new called ‘alternative’ music.”
There are few things more satisfying than seeing the before and after of someone who has worked hard to achieve their goals. It’s like watching a Disney movie come to life in real-time.
This blog post features 25 photos that show celebrities before they became world-renowned stars, but don’t take our word for it; scroll through these pictures yourself and then tell us which one is your favorite in the comments section below and share it with your buddy.
