Before the cameras rolled on these Hollywood A-listers, they shockingly worked minimum-wage jobs that covered rent, food, and in Julia Roberts’ case, acting classes.
These 12 celebs held jobs at ice cream counters and drive-thrus to retail floors and farm fields. Some of these early gigs were real shifts, with real outfits that may shock you. For these stars, paychecks came before premieres, and is proof that the road to Hollywood often starts at a time clock.
Brad Pitt in a chicken suit
Amazingly, Brad Pitt once-upon-a-time waved signs in an El Pollo Loco chicken costume on a street corner during a store opening. Sweating for minimum wage and no doubt catching more middle fingers than tips. One report mentioned he had “no shame” about the gig, laughing and saying that a man’s gotta eat. He stood outside, he danced, he sold chicken. It’s honest work for the Oscar winner.
Margot Robbie makes sandwiches
Margot Robbie made Subway sandwiches in Australia before the red carpets and box-office headlines. She wasn’t playing dress-up either, she was a bona fide “sandwich artist,” clocking in like any other and learning the rhythm of a lunch rush. As British Vogue put it, Robbie was literally making subs while breaking into “Neighbours,” only later realizing acting could be a full-time job that paid the bills. It’s the kind of humble start that resets your idea of overnight success. Minimum wage. Plastic gloves. The works.
Amy Poehler ice cream scooper
Ice-cream scooper by title, birthday-kazoo leader by necessity. At Chadwick’s, a Massachusetts parlor with Styrofoam boaters and sticky floors, teenage Amy Poehler learned closing shifts, aching forearms, and the performance beat of making a room sing. As The New Yorker noted in her own essay, she rang cowbells, banged a drum, and discovered something true about herself between stacks of sundaes and end-of-night scrubbing. Hard, physical, repetitive work. Sticky summer nights, minimum wage, and comedy seeds planted in a hairnet.
Jim Carrey cleans to get by
Jim Carrey, one of the all-time comedy greats, especially on the big screen, was once a janitor, sweeping floors and night shifts on minimum wage. According to Wikipedia, his family’s finances pushed him and his brother into janitor and security work at a tire factory, with eight-hour overnight stretches that started after school and ended at dawn. That’s exhaustion you can’t fake, and resilience you can’t teach. The future Ace Ventura learned timing, but also survival, one mop bucket at a time.
Jennifer Aniston delivering packages
Before “Friends,” Jennifer Aniston delivered packages by bike in Manhattan traffic for minimum pay. She lasted a single day, admitting later that Fifth Avenue plus courier tubes equals a white-knuckle ride. Reporting from The National shows she jumped in when the office messenger no-showed, then dodged taxis and car doors like a rookie stunt performer.
Julia Roberts at Baskin-Robbins
Before fame, Julia Roberts scooped ice cream at Baskin-Robbins for minimum wage and used those paychecks to cover acting classes. Bright Side notes that the future Oscar winner learned customer service the sticky, old-school way, rotating tubs and counting out change while chasing a dream that didn’t pay yet. That image cuts through many of the “overnight success” myths celebs seem to get given. It shows the work between auditions.
Kanye West folds at Gap
A teenage Kanye West worked as a sales associate at the Gap, earning minimum wage while absorbing retail basics, from folding tees to dealing with returns. Cosmopolitan reported on a time where he spoke about his retail days back in a 2015 interview, connecting those shifts to his fashion ambitions and even threading the experience into “Spaceship.” This shows that even a store’s floor can be a lab if you’re paying attention. I remember similar retail racks from my own mall days, and the hum of fluorescent lights never really leaves you.
Megan Fox in a banana suit
At a Florida smoothie shop, Megan Fox sometimes worked the register, other days she zipped into a giant banana costume and waved at traffic for minimum wage. Bright Side reported the rotating fruit-suit duty, which is one of those details you’d swear was a sketch until you see it in print. The job description reads simple, but the reality is performance, persistence, and no small amount of embarrassment tolerance. That’s useful training for red carpets and press junkets no doubt.
Drive-thru nights with James Franco
After dropping out of UCLA, James Franco took the late shift at a McDonald’s drive-thru, practicing accents between headset pings and stretching minimum-wage dollars to cover rent. Bright Side states that he even said, “McDonald’s was there for me when no one else was,” a line that turns a starter job into a lifeline. One report mentioned he ate burgers headed for the bin, which tells you plenty about the margins. Amazingly, that booth doubled as a tiny stage, a place where he could keep rehearsing lines while handing out fries. Survival first, then art.
Cindy Crawford’s cornfield grind
Back in the Midwest, Cindy Crawford shucked corn for about $4 an hour before modeling took over. Town & Country reported that modelling “beat shucking corn for $4 an hour.” In other reports, Crawford recalled long, fast days in the fields. The pay was low, the pace wasn’t, and the job turned into a lesson on speed and stamina. According to those who’ve done it, the husks slice, the sun doesn’t care, and you learn to keep going anyway.
Chris Pratt hustles at Bubba Gump
Years before the Star-Lord suit, Chris Pratt waited tables at Bubba Gump Shrimp in Maui, living out of a van and stretching minimum-wage tips to the next day. Vanity Fair noted that a chance encounter at the restaurant helped launch him to Hollywood, while Bright Side captured his own throwback about eating leftover shrimp on the way to the kitchen. That’s a scrappy edge you don’t forget, because service work stamps itself on you.
Madonna’s jelly incident at Dunkin’
The Vintage News reported that Madonna’s New York City stint at Dunkin’ Donuts ended fast after a jelly-squirter mishap. The minimum wage job lasted one week, maybe less, before the 80s queen of pop was out the door. Unfortunately, cell phones weren’t a thing in the late-’70s, as a video of Madonna covered in donut jelly would be great to see. However, the story definitely pays homage to the star’s edgy personality even before the spotlight. It also screams scrappy survival of the late-’70s NYC, where a paycheck was a paycheck.