What Actor World a Job Dressed as a Giant Chicken to Promote a Restaurant

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These 34 Celebs Had Totally Normal Jobs Before They Were Famous

Pls don't tell Margot Robbie your Subway order tho.

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Here's a fact: few people are actually born, like, famous-famous. That means that before celebrities became, you know, celebrities, they were once one of us—i.e., regular people who had to pay for rent, utilities, and credit card bills with normal jobs like "working at McDonald's," "praying mantis exterminator," and "armadillo murderer." (We'll, uh, explain.) You see, Hollywood doesn't actually start to pay the big bucks until you land the sorts of roles in movies and TV shows that the creepy movie trailer voice (you know the one) describes as "highly anticipated." And you can't enjoy the riches of music superstardom until, you know, become a music star. And you can't just poof! become royalty unless you find a crown-wearing boo. Anyway, you get the idea. So here's a list of some of non-red-carpet-necessary jobs held by some of your favorite actors, music stars, and royals back in the day.

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Margot Robbie, Subway Employee

Would you like that toasted? Before Margot Robbie took her talents to Hollywood, becoming an Academy Award nominee for I, Tonya and Bombshell, she was making sandwiches at Subway. She told Delish, "Like, I actually don't go that often anymore, because I watch them make it badly—and I'm upset."

2 of 34

Tan France, Flight Attendant

Before Tan France taught us the French tuck on Netflix's Queer Eye, he was wearing dull uniforms as a flight attendant. He wrote in his book, Naturally Tan , that he only lasted two months, saying that he "felt like a glorified waiter."

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Kate Middleton, Luxury Fashion Buyer

Yes, Kate Middleton had a life before marrying a Prince and becoming a Dutchess—she was a buyer for luxury fashion store, Jigsaw. She got the job by reaching out to the brand's founder, Belle Robinson, and worked in the accessories department. Fancy!

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Tiffany Haddish, Alaska Airlines Ground Staff

She's a crowdpleaser on-screen and on the ground! Before Tiffany Haddish turned into a breakthrough actress and comedian, she was on the ground staff team for Alaska Airlines. She told Stephen Colbert, "I worked at the gates and my goal was always to bring happiness and joy to people—still to this day."

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Ashton Kutcher, Cereal Sweeper

Growing up in Iowa, Ashton Kutcher had many odd jobs before his successful move out to Hollywood. He worked on his family's farm living his best cowboy life, helping with the animals. After that he worked at General Mills, sweeping up cereal.

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Taylor Swift, Praying Mantis Exterminator

We all know the fabled story of Taylor Swift's childhood on a Christmas tree farm, but did you also know that she worked on said farm? "[My job] was picking the praying-mantis pods off of the trees, collecting them so that the bugs wouldn't hatch inside people's houses," Taylor told Esquire in 2014. "The only reason that was my job was because I was too little to help lift trees."

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Nicki Minaj, Red Lobster Waitress

Nicki has repeatedly discussed her pre-fame job as a waitress at our nation's finest chain of casual dining seafood restaurants, but even she'd tell you it wasn't her forte. "I like dealing with people, but I don't really like a lot of bullshit, so maybe customer service wasn't the best job for me," she told GQ in 2014. She was fired from Red Lobster after she followed a couple who'd stolen her pen into the parking lot and flipped them off.

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Meghan Markle, Calligrapher

Before she was a Suits actress (or, hello, a member of the royal fam), Meghan Markle was a professional calligrapher. She worked at Paper Source for a while between 2004 and 2005, and did freelance jobs on the side—she actually addressed the invitations for Robin Thicke's wedding to Paula Patton.

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Beyoncé, Salon Floor Sweeper

It's hard to think of Beyoncé as anything but BEYONCÉ, but she too was once a child forced to earn her keep by doing mundane tasks for her parents. "From six to nine years old, I would sing and put on little shows by myself for the women who wanted a hot press and curl and some good conversation," Bey said in 2011 of working in her mother's salon. "I helped sweep hair off the floor for tips to pay for my season pass to Six Flags."

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Jon Hamm, Porn Set Dresser

You know Jon as the incredibly suave Don Draper, but he was not always the man that could make drinking in the office look like a good idea. Back in 1996, he worked as a set dresser for soft-core porn movies that aired on Cinemax. "It was soul-crushing," he said.

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Amy Poehler, Ice Cream Scooper

Overachiever Amy Poehler not only worked as an ice cream scooper at her local parlor, Chadwick's, but wrote an entire essay about it for The New Yorker. "Hard and physical, the job consisted of stacking and wiping and scooping and lifting," she wrote. "Every time a customer was celebrating a birthday, an employee had to bang a drum that hung from the ceiling, and play the kazoo, and encourage the entire restaurant to join him or her in a sing-along."

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Brad Pitt, Chicken Costume Wearer

Brad Pitt's first job in Hollywood was at an El Pollo Loco chicken restaurant, where he had to stand outside in a chicken costume and wave at passing would-be customers. If you go on any celeb-themed bus tour in Los Angeles, there is a 99.9 percent chance they will drive you by the very restaurant.

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Cardi B, Grocery Clerk

Before she started stripping, Cardi B worked as a full-time cashier at the Amish Market in NYC's Tribeca neighborhood. She was fired after giving a coworker a discount on a purchase, and went to check out the strip club across the street after a manager told her she had a nice body.

14 of 34

Nicole Kidman, Massage Therapist

Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress Nicole Kidman learned the time-honored art of massage to help with her mother's muscle pains during her breast cancer, but she liked it so much she started doing it for other people, too. "I still love giving people massages," she said in 2012.

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Matthew McConaughey, Armadillo Murderer

Matthew's first job was at the Oak Forest Country Club in Longview, Texas. He got paid to rake the sand traps on the golf course, but he later got conscripted by the greenskeeper to shoot armadillos who were eating the grass on the grounds. "That was the most fun part," he said.

16 of 34

Kanye West, Gap Sales Associate

Before he was designing his own Yeezy collections, Kanye worked as a sales associate at the Gap during his teen years. "It's funny that I worked at the Gap in high school, because in my past 15 years it seems like that's the place I stood in my creative path — to be the gap, the bridge," Kanye told Paper in 2015. He also talked about his time there in the song "Spaceship" from Graduation.

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Channing Tatum, Stripper

I mean, you've seen Magic Mike and Magic Mike XXL, so you know this. He didn't do it for very long, but the video proof lives on. Ride it, my pony...

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Cindy Crawford, Corn Shucker

Now one of the world's most iconic supermodels, Cindy Crawford was once a small-town girl just like so many other small-town girls hoping to make it big. Before she was discovered, she shucked corn for $4 an hour.

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Madonna, Dunkin Donuts Employee

Back in her early NYC days, Madonna worked at a Times Square outpost of Dunkin Donuts. She was reportedly fired for squirting jelly on a customer. What's the prob tho?

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Miley Cyrus, Bra Collector

Miley started making her own money at a very young age—hello, Hannah Montana—but in her pre-fame days, she worked as a part-time bra janitor, picking up all the bras and underwear that ended up on the stage after her dad's concerts. "I'd get a really big one and be like, 'Dad! I found your biggest fan!'" she told Rolling Stone in 2013. Billy Ray paid her $10 for her services.

21 of 34

Melissa McCarthy, Starbucks Barista

Before she was the star of movies like Bridesmaids and Spy, Melissa worked as a barista at Starbucks and once had her own celeb sighting when Chris Farley came in for a drink. "At one point, I got so overwhelmed because he was right there, that I started crying," she said.

22 of 34

Gabourey Sidibe, Phone Sex Operator

Before she landed her career-making role in the movie Precious, Gabourey worked as an operator on a phone-sex line for three years. "I was actually pretty good at it," she told People in 2017. "I did it for two months before I was promoted."

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Jennifer Aniston, Bike Messenger

During the press tour for her movie Horrible Bosses, Jennifer said the "toughest" job she ever had was working as a bike messenger when she was 19. "[My lowest moment was] probably driving into a door that opened," she said. "I'm very uncoordinated and extraordinarily klutzy."

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Julia Roberts, Ice Cream Scooper

While she was still a wee Hollywood newcomer taking acting classes, the Pretty Woman herself scooped ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Another famous Baskin Robbins alum? Barack Obama.

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Megan Fox, Banana Costume Wearer

Like Brad Pitt before her, Megan Fox also had a brief stint as a professional wearer of a dumb costume. In Megan's case, it was a banana outfit, which she wore to promote a smoothie shop.

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Chace Crawford, Abercrombie Model

Okay, this was really just a good excuse to put a photo of young, shirtless Chace Crawford in this gallery. Before landing the role of Nate Archibald on Gossip Girl, Chace worked as a model for Abercrombie & Fitch.

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Jennifer Hudson, Burger King Employee

Before winning an Oscar for her role in Dreamgirls, Jennifer worked at a Burger King in her hometown of Chicago. In 2007, the company awarded her free Burger King for life. Can! You! Imagine?!!

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Eva Mendes, Hot Dog on a Stick Employee

Hot Dog on a Stick is a restaurant that sells hot dogs on sticks, as you may have guessed, but could you have guessed that Eva Mendes once worked there? She served up the delicacies at a mall in Glendale, California.

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Taraji P. Henson, Tina Turner Cover Singer

Prior to introducing the world to the wonder of Cookie Lyon, Taraji P. Henson worked a few jobs to pay off her student loans. She was a secretary at the Pentagon, but also sang Tina Turner covers on a Potomac River cruise ship.

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Eva Longoria, Wendy's Employee

In her pre–Desperate Housewives days, Eva worked at Wendy's, and later shared her cheeseburger secrets on Rachael Ray. "What we learned at Wendy's was mayonnaise goes on the bun first, to seal the bun, so the bun stays nice," she said. "Then you put the ketchup. And [then] mustard goes on the meat, because it brings out the flavor of meat."

Eliza Thompson senior entertainment editor I'm the senior entertainment editor at Cosmopolitan.com, which means my DVR is always 98 percent full.

James Barrett James is a journalist covering everything from travel, interviews, personal essays to lifestyle and entertainment.

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What Actor World a Job Dressed as a Giant Chicken to Promote a Restaurant

Source: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/g19737935/celebrity-first-jobs/

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