45 Celebrities Discovered In Odd Ways To Inspire You To Never Give Up

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.