15 Weird Jobs Celebrities Had Before They Were Famous

When we think of celebrities, we think of designer clothing, expensive jewellery, tens of thousands of Instagram followers and big fancy houses. While this is pretty accurate for most celebrities today, the majority of celebrities didn't start out like this. In fact many celebrities worked menial jobs before becoming famous, but it is very easy to forget that celebrities are real people… mostly due to the fact that we rarely get to see celebrities looking and acting like normal people. But it did happen, and today we are going to take you through some of the weirdest jobs that celebrities had before they were famous. From working in the local clubs to dressing up as a banana for a smoothie shop, there are some seriously bizarre jobs on this list. One celebrity was even a grave digger. Say what!? Here are 15 weird jobs that celebrities had before they were famous.

15 Brad Pitt: Chicken Mascot And Limo Driver For Strippers

Brad Pitt is unquestionably one of the most popular Hollywood actors, and he is also one of the dreamiest actors around. Just look at that face! Thanks to his good looks, it can be easy to assume that Brad always had a charmed life (who wouldn't want Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie fighting over you?), but he has actually experienced his fair share of crappy jobs before becoming an A list actor. The star dropped out of college to move to LA to pursue fame, but he had to take a few strange jobs while he waited for fame to find him, including dressing up as a chicken to hand out flyers for El Pollo Loco. It doesn't sound like a great job, but we bet he attracted lots of women to the fast food restaurant! He also briefly chauffeured club workers in a limo. He once said, "My job was to drive them to bachelor parties and things. I'd pick them up, and at the gig I'd collect the money, play the bad Prince tapes, and catch the girls' clothes." Interesting!

14 Beyoncé: Hair Salon Sweeper

Beyonce is now one of the most famous and influential women, but it took her some time to climb the fame ladder… and she had a pretty interesting job before she paid her bills with her voice. Before the Destiny's Child superstar became internationally famous, she used to work in her mom Tina Knowles' hair salon sweeping up hair. It doesn't sound like a bad gig. In fact, it kind of sounds like the perfect weekend or after-school job. But we can't help to wonder what the customers would think now if they knew that a future superstar was sweeping up the ends of their hair. It would definitely be a good story to tell! While the job may seem very different to where she is now, Beyonce is very open about her roots, and she candidly discussed her hair sweeping job on her HBO documentary, Life Is But a Dream.

13 Kanye West: GAP worker

Kanye West is known for being stubborn, opinionated, and occasionally difficult to work with, so it is very hard to imagine him having a job before he become famous. In fact, it is really hard to imagine Kanye West not being famous! But back in the day, he was employed by fashion giant GAP. We like to imagine that he refused to fold t-shirts and tidy up the shop floor, instead preferring to hand out his music while insulting people's fashion choices. It probably didn't actually go down like that, but either way he wasn't a great employee. The star sung about his time working for GAP, saying, "Let's go back, back to the GAP. Look at my check. wasn't no scratch. So if I stole, wasn't my fault. Yeah I stole, never got caught." Our main thought is… did the GAP end up inspiring part of the Yeezy collection? We definitely hope so.

12 Channing Tatum: Nightclub Dancer

This may be our favourite job on the whole list, just because we would love to see Channing Tatum as an actual, real life Magic Mike! We've all seen his amazing moves in Magic Mike, and now that we know that he started out as an actual dancer we can't help wondering if those are the same moves he used to bust out at his first job. In fact, the release of Magic Mike was one of the main reasons why people started talking about the gorgeous actor's previous life as a real dancer. But how did he become one? The story is probably fairly stereotypical; the actor dropped out of university when he was younger and he needed to find a temporary job to help pay the bills. He soon found a club that was willing to hire him (which doesn't surprise us at all) and then he spent a while earning a living like this.

11 Megan Fox: Banana Mascot

Megan Fox is known for her stunning good looks, and she is often typecast to play the role of the sexy woman. This has led to her being considered one of the best looking women in Hollywood, but once upon a time people actually paid her to hide her body and face. That's right, the gorgeous actress used to dress up as a banana for work. Yup. A banana. She worked for a smoothie shop in Florida, and we like to imagine that she put her acting skills to good use and become a super realistic banana. The star is fairly open about her earlier job, and she actually recently discussed her banana stint on Ellen. She described the job as the only real job she has ever had. Ellen loved the story, and she decided to prank Megan Fox during the interview by getting someone to sneak up behind her wearing a banana suit.

10 Whoopi Goldberg: Morgue Beautician

Today Whoopi Goldberg is a household name, but the actress and comedian wasn't always internationally famous. Once upon a time, she took a job in a morgue as a mortuary beautician, and the job wasn't as easy as it sounds. In fact the star only managed to land the job as she was a licensed beautician! She spent her days making up the dead so that they looked fabulous for the funeral, but the job started with a creepy prank - her boss pretended to be dead and then sat up in front of her! He said, "That's the worst thing that could ever happen to you here, and it won't. So there's nothing to be scared of.” Sounds terrifying. However, that wasn't the only strange job that Whoopi had; she also used to work as an operator! She said, "When I was younger, the money was great. See now, people would know my voice." Very good point!

9 Jon Hamm: Set Dresser For Certain Films

Jon Hamm is often classed as one of the sexiest men in Hollywood after playing suave advertising genius Don Draper on Mad Men, but he wasn't always the hot guy. In fact, once upon a time he just designed set for other sexy people. Yup, the actor was once a set dresser for some adult films! It definitely doesn't sound like a glamorous job, and Hamm always takes the time to stress that it wasn't the worst kind of films, rather than hardcore stuff. He didn't really enjoy the job, but it was a simple way to make a few hundred dollars each day. He has said, "Essentially, I had to move furniture around sweaty, naked people. It wasn't a great job but the money was useful. I had to get by-I wanted to be an actor." He went on to describe the role as “soul crushing”, but thankfully he succeeded and now he will never have to set up a these scenes again!

8 Hugh Jackman: Party Clown

Hugh Jackman is best known for playing the role of Wolverine. It's safe to say that in most of his films he comes across as a bada$$ superhero who has little to no time for children, but before Hugh was an actor he used to work as a party clown. It is very hard to imagine the actor as a party clown, but apparently he wasn't very good at the role. In a recent interview with In The News, he got super honest and candid about his stint as a party clown. He said, “I am really bad at magic. I in fact used to be a clown at kid's parties…  I just love making a fool out of myself. I made my living as a clown at kids' parties for about three years. I was Coco the Clown and I had no magic tricks and I remember a six-year-old standing up at a party saying 'Mummy this clown is terrible, he doesn't know any tricks' - and he was right."

7 Gerard Butler: Lawyer

Gerard Butler is best known for his beautiful accent and acting skills, but before he became one of the world's most famous actors he was actually a lawyer. This makes him the definition of beauty and brains… so we are officially swooning. The actor spoke about his previous career to Esquire, saying, “I came from a family just above working class, just below middle class, a great family of wonderful values. The idea of me having a chance for a law degree was enticing. Enticing to me, but also very enticing to my family.” It sounds like he put his family first, which is an admirable trait, but soon after taking a job with a law firm he decided to quit his job so that he could become a casting assistant. Soon after that he was cast in his first role as the lead in Coriolanus. We are sure that his family are very proud of him!

6 Patrick Dempsey: Professional Juggler

Patrick Dempsey is a skilled actor, but that isn't his only skill: the Grey's Anatomy star is also a very skilled juggler! Before he become an actor he was a professional juggler, and he wasn't just good; he competed in a few different juggling competitions, and in one competition he came second behind the guy who is classed as the best technical juggler of all time. Very impressive! Looks like he doesn't need to worry if the acting roles dry up, as he could always go back to professional juggling! If you're curious to see some of Patrick's juggling skills yourself, there are a few videos of him juggling on YouTube, including a video of him at 18 years old in a music video. There are also videos of him juggling on Rachel Ray! While he is definitely a great juggler, we are glad he become an actor as he played McDreamy perfectly (SOB).

5 Nicole Kidman: Massage Therapist

Nicole Kidman is an Oscar winning actress who has starred in a series of blockbuster Hollywood films, but once upon a time, the beautiful redhead helped to support her family by working as a massage therapist. She was only 17, but she wanted to help her family as her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and she wanted to help to pay the bills. Thankfully her mom survived and she was able to focus on other passions, such as acting, but the experience has stayed with her for life. After the experience she said, “I find trying to solve problems and saving lives far more important than my film career.” This definitely makes sense, and it seems that the stunning actress is very kind and altruistic. Today the actress seems to be very content, and she is happy to talk candidly about her time working as a massage therapist.

4 Joe Manganiello: Construction Worker

Joe Manganiello is one of the most attractive men in Hollywood, especially after his super sexy role in Magic Mike… which is why it isn't hard to imagine him dressed up in construction gear with a hard hat on. But the buff actor became a star he worked as a construction worker! According to his IMDB account he used to "shovel sand and gravel off of a truck and do demolitions for a construction company.” It doesn't sound like the best paid job in the world, but the amount of physical labour makes it a tough role. Sadly at the time Joe was struggling with some personal problems such as addiction. He says the time was a stressful one, but thankfully today he is clean and very happy with his life. This is great news, and we are sure that his wife Sofia Vergara is always there to support him.

3 Rachel McAdams: McDonalds Worker

Rachel McAdams is best known for her roles in The Notebook and Mean Girls, but one of her first jobs would definitely have been disapproved of by Regina George. The actress used to work at the Golden Arches McDonalds, and we like to imagine that she was eating free McDonalds meals at every shift. The actress worked at the fast food chain for an impressive three years, proving that she definitely isn't a diva. She spoke about the experience to Glamour, saying that;, "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. I was not a great employee; I broke the orange juice machine one day.” That wasn't the only mistake that she made; she also confessed that she was so obsessed with washing her hands that sometimes the drive-thru queue would back right up while she left to go wash her hands.

2 Madonna: Dunkin' Donuts Worker

Madonna didn't stumble upon fame: she dropped out of college so that she could move to New York to find success. However when she first moved she went through a difficult time, finding herself strapped for cash. She soon took a job at the Dunkin' Donuts in Times Square, but sadly the singer didn't even last a day before she was fired! But what was she fired for? Apparently, she squirted donut jelly filling at a customer (we guess they must have annoyed her) and the manager sacked her on the spot. Fair enough! The actress didn't let the experience deter her, and she spent some time waitressing and working in fast food restaurants before eventually joining the New York punk rock music scene in 1979. We love the idea of Madonna serving up tasty donuts in a cute uniform, but we are very happy that she discovered fame as she is a fantastic singer and a talented performer.

1 Rod Stewart: Grave Digger

This is probably the creepiest job on the list! Rob Stewart was a grave digger before he became famous, which is very hard to imagine. While it may seem like a strange choice of job, the singer actually intentionally sought out the job as he had a fear of dying that he wanted to confront. In Rod Stewart: The New Biography, the actor apparently hoped working at a cemetery would help to rationalize his fear of death: "He had suffered from nightmares about death from a very early age and so thought, as an impressionable teenager, that perhaps getting as close as he could to death, actually digging out holes to be filled by real bodies, he could rid himself of that fear." Very strange, but we are guessing that he got over his fear as he eventually left the cemetery to pursue a career as a singer and found success!