Can you name these celebrities before they became famous?
In almost every crevice of the entertainment industry lies a celebrity — Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino. It seems like we only know these celebrities based on their career and newspaper clippings. However, these celebrities lived completely different lives before fame. Test your celebrity knowledge by guessing these celebrities before they became famous.
This celebrity lived in Greenwich Village during the 40s and 50s, where his father was a painter and his mother was a poet and also a painter
This actor studied acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory, where his breakout role was in a Martin Scorsese film. The actor has remained a longtime partner of Scorsese and has won two Academy Awards in his 60-year career.
Answer: Robert de Niro
While Robert de Niro was starting his career in the 50s and 60s, his breakout role is widely considered to be Scorsese’s “Mean Streets,” where he played a side character and starred alongside Harvey Keitel. De Niro’s role in “Mean Streets” quickly established him as a versatile actor, often playing “tough guy” roles with emotional complexity.
De Niro has been nominated nine times at the Academy Awards and has won twice for “The Godfather Part II” and “Raging Bull.” De Niro was most recently nominated for an Oscar for his work in another Scorsese flick, “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
This celebrity’s father was a soap opera star and her mother was also a widely recognized actress in the 60s
Before starring in the iconic 90s sitcom, this actress starred in several short-lived sitcoms like “Molloy” and the TV adaptation of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” This actress also starred in the 1993 film “Leprechaun.”
Answer: Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston burst into the Hollywood scene with her charismatic role as Rachel Green in “Friends.” A 90s icon, Aniston quickly established her career after “Friends” with roles in “We’re the Millers” and “The Morning Show.” While Aniston has continued to find success in her later career, most people know her as the endearing Rachel Green, from millennials, Gen Z to Gen Alpha alike.
Before fame, this celebrity grew up in Chattanooga, TN, and was pursuing a career in science
Before becoming one of the most recognizable Hollywood faces of all time, this celebrity was originally pursuing marine biology at Morehouse College, where a local acting group changed the trajectory of his life. He has starred in some of the most popular franchises like “Star Wars” and the Marvel Universe.
Answer: Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson has become one of the highest-paid actors of all time following his roles as Mace Windu in “Star Wars” and Nick Fury in the MCU. Today, Jackson’s films have grossed more than $14 billion worldwide. Jackson is also a frequent collaborator with Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino, playing roles like Lee’s “Jungle Fever” and Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction,” one of Jackson’s most recognizable roles ever.
This celebrity was a ballet dancer before becoming one of the biggest singers of all time
Born and raised in Bay City, Michigan, this celebrity originally pursued a career in dance, where she received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan. However, at just 20-years-old, she moved to New York City with only $35 in her pocket to pursue a career in dance. This celebrity dabbled in different side gigs as a backup singer and dancer before becoming one of the biggest singers of all time.
Answer: Madonna
Dubbed the “Queen of Pop,” Madonna has won seven GRAMMYs throughout her 45-year career. Madonna’s big break came in 1982 when she persuaded DJ Mark Kamins to play her song “Everybody” at a nightclub. Kamins was so impressed that he arranged for Madonna to meet Seymour Stein, president of Sire Records, where she signed a two-year deal.
Madonna shattered barriers throughout her career, making her a controversial figure in the music industry. The singer constantly challenged social norms, using religious symbols in her explicit music videos and was a prominent voice in the queer community, especially during the AIDS epidemic in the 80s.
This celebrity grew up in the Bronx and had aspirations of becoming a baseball player before starring in one of the biggest gangster movies of all time
While in junior high school, this celebrity’s teacher saw his acting potential and cast him in school plays, which was the turning point in this celebrity’s life. This celebrity grew up in the South Bronx and studied acting at HB Studio after getting rejected from Actors Studio. Today, this celebrity is the co-president of Actors Studio.
Answer: Al Pacino
Known for his unforgettable roles in “The Godfather” trilogy and “Serpico,” Al Pacino has become a veteran actor in Hollywood. In his TK career, Pacino scored nine Oscar nominations and won an Oscar for his role in “Scent of a Woman.” Pacino is credited with some of the most recognizable movie quotes of all time, like “Say hello to my little friend” from “Scarface” and “Attica! Attica!” in “Dog Day Afternoon.”
Pacino and de Niro quickly became a dynamic duo on screen. The New York City pair have starred in projects like “The Godfather Part II,” “Heat” and most recently, the critically acclaimed “The Irishman” from Scorsese.
One of her earliest roles was in the musical classic “Singin’ in the Rain,” but this celebrity’s breakthrough wouldn’t come until several years later
This celebrity is originally from Puerto Rico before moving to New York City at a young age. While in the Big Apple, she began taking dance lessons and landed her first Broadway role at the age of 13.
When she moved to Culver City to pursue acting, this celebrity earned her first role in film with “So Young, So Bad” in 1950. This celebrity starred in other roles, such as “Singin’ in the Rain,” before her big break in a Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein classic.
Answer: Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno’s breakout role was in the 60s classic “West Side Story,” where she played the spunky Chita Rivera. Moreno’s performance in “West Side Story” led to her first Oscar win in the Best Supporting Actress category. Moreno continued to become a dominant force in the entertainment industry, with GRAMMY, Emmy and Tony wins under her belt, making Moreno one of the few celebrities to achieve the EGOT status. Moreno is one of the few remaining figures in the Golden Age of Hollywood.
This celebrity was majoring in journalism at the University of Missouri before dropping out to pursue acting, two credits shy of completing his degree
This celebrity grew up in the Midwest, where he was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, before moving to Springfield, Missouri. This celebrity had no connections in Hollywood — his father was a trucking company proprietor, and his mother was a school counselor. Just two credits away from completing his degree, this celebrity packed up and moved to Hollywood simply for his love of movies.
Answer: Brad Pitt
Before becoming one of Hollywood’s most successful actors, Brad Pitt was a struggling actor for six years. Pitt starred in small roles in different television shows before appearing in Ridley Scott’s “Thelma and Louis,” where he gained a larger following. Pitt’s breakout role was his portrayal of Louis de Pointe du Lac in the 1994 film “Interview with the Vampire.”
Pitt has since starred in blockbusters like “F1” and “Fight Club.” In 2020, Pitt scored his first Oscar win in Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” despite facing stiff competition like Tom Hanks and Anthony Hopkins.
This celebrity is named after a small city in Minnesota that starts with the letter W
This celebrity was born in Minnesota before moving to Petaluma, California at the age of 10. There, she earned her first role in the high school drama film “Lucas,” where renowned director Tim Burton discovered this celebrity. Burton quickly cast the celebrity in his movie “Beetlejuice,” sparking her acting career for years to come.
Answer: Winona Ryder
Following her charming performance in “Beetlejuice,” Winona Ryder and Burton continued to work together in other projects like “Edward Scissorhands” and “Frankenweenie.” Ryder’s roles are known to be geared towards the melancholic side, where her earlier roles are often darker than other typical roles. Ryder took an acting break in the early 2000s and returned with roles in “Star Trek” and “Black Swan.” Ryder reignited her fame with her role as Joyce Byers in Netflix’s critically-acclaimed “Stranger Things.”
Before becoming one of the greatest actors in the 21st century, this celebrity played college basketball at Fordham University in the late 70s
This celebrity started his career with a role in the medical drama television show “St. Elsewhere” from 1982 to 1988. Later, this celebrity starred in other, powerful leading roles like “Glory” and “Mississippi Masala,” cementing his status as the greatest actor of the 21st century by the New York Times in 2020.
Answer: Denzel Washington
The New York Times named Denzel Washington as the greatest actor of the century for his commanding roles on screen, from Shakespeare retellings to embodying historical figures. In 1992, Washington played Civil Rights Movement leader Malcolm X in the movie of the same name, where his performance is still talked about today. Washington has two Academy Awards under his belt, and his sons, John David and Malcolm Washington, are pursuing a career in film.
This celebrity is a Vassar College and Yale University alumna and is the most nominated Oscar actress of all time
Though this celebrity appeared in many school plays, she didn’t take acting seriously until she was at Vassar College, where she gained attention for her talent in her school. Though this celebrity received education from one of the co-founders of Actors Studio, one of the best places for an acting education, she disagreed with some of the techniques she learned. Today, she’s regarded as one of the greatest actresses of all time.
Answer: Meryl Streep
With a whopping 22 Oscar nominations, Meryl Streep is considered to be one of the greatest actors of all time. Known for her emotionally driven roles, Streep has starred in dramatic movies like “Kramer vs. Kramer” and “Sophie’s Choice.” While these roles are known to be heartbreakers, Streep has also starred in comedies like “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Mamma Mia!” In 2014, Streep was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
How many did you get?
Many of these celebrities pursued careers in entertainment long before their fame. From Robert de Niro to Winona Ryder, these legacies continue to leave a lasting imprint on the entertainment industry today.
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