01of 12

CHARLIE HUNNAM

Charlie Hunnam.Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty

BRITAIN-ENTERTAINMENT-CINEMA-KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD

02of 12CHRIS PRATTThe megastar was once a wannabe actor living in a van and waiting tables in Maui, when a director came in to the Bubba Gump where he worked and changed his life.“I have one of those strange stories that you hear about, and you think that that can’t possibly be true,“he said onan episode ofLive with Kelly and Ryan.The director told him he was cute, asked if he acted, and “four days later I was in Los Angeles and I never went back,” he added.

02of 12

CHRIS PRATT

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Photocall - London

The megastar was once a wannabe actor living in a van and waiting tables in Maui, when a director came in to the Bubba Gump where he worked and changed his life.

“I have one of those strange stories that you hear about, and you think that that can’t possibly be true,“he said onan episode ofLive with Kelly and Ryan.The director told him he was cute, asked if he acted, and “four days later I was in Los Angeles and I never went back,” he added.

03of 12MANDY MOOREGilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagicThe singer-turned-actress has a FedEx employee to thank for the launch of her career. The summer before she began high school, the actress bought some studio time — and the delivery man heard her. “It turned out the delivery guy had a friend of a friend of a friend who was the head of Urban A&R at Epic Records,“Moore toldInto the Gloss, adding that the incident led to a visit from a label rep. “The meeting was the same day as my high school homecoming football game, and I was more concerned about making sure this meeting was done in time so I could hang out with my friends! It was so beyond my comprehension that this could actually lead to a career. I was 14!”

03of 12

MANDY MOORE

Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic

Entertainment Weekly & People New York Upfronts

The singer-turned-actress has a FedEx employee to thank for the launch of her career. The summer before she began high school, the actress bought some studio time — and the delivery man heard her. “It turned out the delivery guy had a friend of a friend of a friend who was the head of Urban A&R at Epic Records,“Moore toldInto the Gloss, adding that the incident led to a visit from a label rep. “The meeting was the same day as my high school homecoming football game, and I was more concerned about making sure this meeting was done in time so I could hang out with my friends! It was so beyond my comprehension that this could actually lead to a career. I was 14!”

04of 12

JENNIFER LAWRENCE

Han Myung-Gu/WireImage

“Passengers” Press Conference In Seoul

05of 12

ZAC EFRON

Dia Dipasupil/Getty

The Cinema Society Hosts A Screening Of “Baywatch” - Arrivals

06of 12

NATALIE PORTMAN

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

From_GettyFeed

07of 12

SOFIA VERGARA

PG/Splash News Online

World Premiere of ‘The Female Brain’ in Los Angeles, CA

08of 12ROSARIO DAWSONIlya S. Savenok/GettyThe star’s breakout role in 1995’sKidscatapulted the fresh-faced teen to fame — but how did Dawson snag her first on-screen role? “I was hanging out on my stoop,“she saidof where the film’s director Larry Clark and writer Harmony Korine spotted the New York City native. “They wouldn’t have seen me otherwise.”

08of 12

ROSARIO DAWSON

Ilya S. Savenok/Getty

2017 Lower Eastside Girls Club Spring Fling And Awards Gala

The star’s breakout role in 1995’sKidscatapulted the fresh-faced teen to fame — but how did Dawson snag her first on-screen role? “I was hanging out on my stoop,“she saidof where the film’s director Larry Clark and writer Harmony Korine spotted the New York City native. “They wouldn’t have seen me otherwise.”

09of 12

CHLOË SEVIGNY

George Pimentel/Getty

“Beatriz At Dinner” Premiere - 2017 Sundance Film Festival

10of 12

ASHTON KUTCHER

Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images

ashton-kutcher

11of 12

CHARLIZE THERON

George Pimentel/WireImage

70th Anniversary Red Carpet Arrivals - The 70th Annual Cannes Film Festival

Sounding like a straight-up film scene, Theron’s “How I Was Discovered” anecdote involves the 18-year-old South African transplant getting into a shouting match with a bank teller in L.A. after her paycheck was rejected. “If I didn’t cash that check, I wouldn’t have had a place to sleep that night,“Theron toldO, The Oprah Magazineof the 1994 incident.

12of 12HALEY JOEL OSMENTMaarten de Boer/GettyOsment is living proof thatanythingcan happen at Ikea — including launching a successful career as a child actor. “I was at the Burbank Ikea, and it’s so weird that they’d do this because I think if you saw this now, you’d be like, ‘What?’ But they had a casting table with two women taking Polaroids of all the kids who would come into the store,“he told Vulture.“They took a Polaroid and nobody thought anything of it until we got called to do a cattle call at one of those kids’ commercial things. We went, and from that audition, within a couple of weeks, I was doing a Pizza Hut commercial for Bigfoot pizzas, a promotional pizza they had. Just from that commercial, the casting director forForrest Gumpgot in contact with us and I was reading with [director Robert] Zemeckis and Tom Hanks pretty soon after that,” he said. “It all kind of snowballed from there.”

12of 12

HALEY JOEL OSMENT

Maarten de Boer/Getty

509731019KS00023_2014_Toron

Osment is living proof thatanythingcan happen at Ikea — including launching a successful career as a child actor. “I was at the Burbank Ikea, and it’s so weird that they’d do this because I think if you saw this now, you’d be like, ‘What?’ But they had a casting table with two women taking Polaroids of all the kids who would come into the store,“he told Vulture.

“They took a Polaroid and nobody thought anything of it until we got called to do a cattle call at one of those kids’ commercial things. We went, and from that audition, within a couple of weeks, I was doing a Pizza Hut commercial for Bigfoot pizzas, a promotional pizza they had. Just from that commercial, the casting director forForrest Gumpgot in contact with us and I was reading with [director Robert] Zemeckis and Tom Hanks pretty soon after that,” he said. “It all kind of snowballed from there.”

source: people.com