After serving time in jail, Danny Trejo decided to turn his life around and became a drug counselor for young people with addiction. He was visiting one of his patients on the set of Runaway Train when he was offered a role.

Jason Statham used to sell knock-off jewelry on the streets of London. Later he got several modeling gigs, and his agency introduced him to filmmaker Guy Ritchie. As luck would have it, during the audition Ritchie asked him to impersonate a black-market jewelry seller. That’s how Statham got his first role.

Harrison Ford’s first attempts to become an actor didn’t bring him any luck. He learned carpentry to earn a living but continued auditioning for roles. George Lucas cast him in a small role for American Graffiti and remembered him several years later when he was looking for someone to fill in the part of Han Solo. 

When James L. Brooks was creating the popular sitcom Taxi, he knew exactly how he wanted the character of Louie De Palma to look. He sent his assistant on a search with a sketch in his hands, and that sketch matched Danny DeVito.

At the age of 7, Vin Diesel, who back then still went under the name of Mark Sinclair, and his friends broke into a theater. Caught by a play director, they could have been in a lot of trouble, but instead, the play director cast Vin Diesel in her upcoming production.

Tracy Chapman was studying at Tufts University when she was recording her demos. She also happened to be classmates with Brian Koppelman, whose father was a music executive. One day Koppelman just stole one of her demos and sent it to his father.

Charlize Theron moved across the ocean to try her luck in Hollywood, but she didn’t have any luck until one day she was spotted in a bank, yelling at a teller for not cashing her paycheck.

Young Johnny Depp saw himself as more of a rock star than an actor. But when his friend Nicholas Cage got him an audition for Nightmare on Elm Street, Depp decided to give it a try and was approved for the role by Wes Craven on the advice of his teenage daughter. 

You might recognize Peter Mayhew better under the name of Chewbacca, but before this became his iconic role, Mayhew worked as a hospital orderly. His height of 7'3" and large foot size turned him into one of the subjects of a newspaper article. Film producers discovered him from there and offered him his first role as the minotaur in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.

Back when she was 17, Chloë Sevigny was skateboarding in the street one day. She must have been really good at it because a fashion editor who spotted her asked her to model for Sassy magazine. She landed her first film role two years later.

Channing Tatum could have gone to college on a football scholarship, but instead, he decided to take a job opportunity in an all-male revue in Tampa. Someone at the club recommended he try modeling, and surprisingly, Tatum listened. His first commercial led to the leading role in Step Up.  

Pamela Anderson was at a football game, and as it happens sometimes, was caught by a camera. Her face on the Jumbotron instantly turned her into a local celebrity.

A friend of Brad Pitt’s asked him to accompany her to an audition because she needed a partner to play her love. But it was Pitt who caught the agent’s attention during the audition.

When she was still Norma Jeane Mortenson, Marilyn Monroe worked in an aircraft factory. A touring army photographer took a picture of her and later offered her work as his model. Soon after, Monroe started getting other offers.

Jennifer Aniston had played in four failed TV shows and felt like her career wasn’t going anywhere, so she approached TV executive Warren Littlefield at a gas station, asking for advice. A few months later he helped her get a role as Rachel in Friends. 

Matthew McConaughey may not have always wanted to become an actor, but he definitely had no intentions of joining his father’s oil business. It took him some time to figure out what he actually wanted to do, and that’s when he started appearing in commercials and student films. He found his breakthrough at a bar, where he met a casting director who later introduced him to Richard Linklater, who right then was looking for actors for Dazed and Confused.

Chris Pratt worked as a waiter and was living out of his van when a director offered him help with his career.

Gisele Bündchen had no intention of becoming a model; she just wanted a free trip to São Paulo, so she signed up for a modeling course. On the trip, she was scouted by a modeling agent at a McDonald’s.

When Rosario Dawson was 15, there was a commercial shoot taking place outside her apartment. She sat on the front porch, watching the process, when the director and screenwriter approached her and asked if she had ever thought about being in movies.

Jennifer Lawrence was on vacation in New York when she was spotted by a talent agent. She first started as a teen model and later debuted on TV.

Natalie Portman was 11 and eating pizza when a representative from Revlon offered her a modeling gig for the brand. Portman wasn’t interested in modeling; however, she did want to become an actress, and the Revlon rep decided to help her.

Ashton Kutcher could have become an engineer, but one night he was spotted at a bar by a talent agent. On the agent’s advice, Kutcher entered a modeling competition and won first place. He took this as an opportunity to drop out of college and sign with a New York agency.

When 13-year-old Mandy Moore was singing one day, she didn’t expect a FedEx delivery driver of all people to overhear her. But the man was so impressed by her singing that he sent her demo to a friend at Epic Records.

IKEA can be useful in so many ways, but for Haley Joel Osment it became the place that changed his life. Two women who had a casting table in the store took his picture, thus leading to his first commercial role.

Burt Reynolds was building a rather successful football career for himself when an injury put an end to it. Not allowing himself to be defeated, Reynolds turned to acting, won a scholarship, and later started appearing in various TV shows until he hit the movie screens.

Back in 2003 when Rihanna had a band with two of her classmates, they were lucky enough to get an audition with record producer Evan Rogers. He was so impressed by her that he later invited her for a solo audition and then took her family to the US so that Rihanna could record some demos.

Tony Braxton didn’t expect an audience when she was singing to herself at a gas station, but songwriter Bill Pettaway happened to be around and heard her.

Tippi Hedren was literally getting out of a cab in Minneapolis when she was noticed and offered a modeling gig. Her commercial for a diet beverage caught the eye of the famous filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, who offered her her debut role in movies.

Nick Jonas was probably very bored when he started singing at a hair salon his mom took him to when he was 6. But as a result, someone gave his mother a manager’s card.

Will Smith started his career rapping under the stage name The Fresh Prince. Not particularly successful, he turned to the Arsenio Hall Show for a kick-start. At the show, he met Benny Medina, who introduced him to a producer, and after a while, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, partially inspired by Smith’s life, went on air.

Ellen Pompeo was spotted by a casting agent when she was working as a bartender. She even misinterpreted his intentions as flirting. But once that was cleared up, she started acting in commercials and even landed several minor TV roles.

Sofia Vergara was at the beach with her family when a scout approached her and asked for permission to take a photo. Vergara landed her first commercial later that year.

Last-minute Christmas shopping with his brother turned out to be very lucky for Charlie Hunnam. He was noticed by the production manager for the British teen drama Byker Grove and was offered a role.

Christie Brinkley was an art student in Paris when she was spotted by photographer Errol Sawyer at a post office, of all places.

Vine may not exist anymore, but before its demise, it helped Shawn Mendes kick-start a career. Videos of him singing gained a huge following and finally caught the eye of artist manager Andrew Gertler.

Even when you are on a plane, up in the air, you have a chance of being spotted by a talent scout. That’s what happened to Kate Moss at the age of 14 when she was on a family vacation and was approached by the founder of Storm Model Management.

Sarah Michelle Gellar was just 4 when she was spotted by an agent at a restaurant with her parents in New York City. Starting off in commercials, she later graduated to TV shows and movies.

John Wayne worked at Fox Film Corporation, moving props and filming equipment. His looks didn’t go unnoticed by filmmakers, most notably John Ford, and soon Wayne would be cast as an extra.

As a school student, Víctor Manuelle was invited on stage to perform together with salsa singer Gilberto Santa Rosa. His vocal abilities as well as his freestyling skills impressed Santa Rosa so much that he helped Manuelle kick-start his own career.

It is not unusual for music managers and producers to look for artists on YouTube these days. Scooter Braun was looking for someone completely different when he accidentally clicked on one of Bieber’s videos. And that’s how his career started.

When she was first approached by an agent, Evangeline Lilly was hesitant to try modeling, but she finally agreed. She worked in TV commercials and as a movie extra for a while until her agent encouraged her to try something bigger. That’s how she became part of the TV series Lost.

When Alden Ehrenreich was making a comedy video for a friend’s bar mitzvah, he probably didn’t expect Steven Spielberg to watch it. Yet, the famous filmmaker, who also knew said friend, did watch it and immediately noticed Ehrenreich.

Katherine Heigl’s aunt wanted to promote a hair product she invented, so she photographed her 9-year-old niece and sent the photos to New York modeling agencies.

Alexis Bledel got her lucky break at a shopping mall where she was offered a modeling gig. Later on, she became an actress.

When Ricky Martin was looking for backup singers for a performance, he turned to a church choir for help. Houghton was chosen out of the four best singers the church suggested for Martin.