Becoming a successful actor is something most people only dream of, but for some people who achieve it, it was never actually their dream at all.
Here are 13 actors who had no intention of pursuing an acting career before getting their first role:
1.Jennifer Hudsonmay not have wonAmerican IdolSeason 3, but her incredible performances caught the attention of theDreamgirlscasting directors. After leaving the reality competition, she was invited to audition for the role of Effie White.
She toldEntertainment Tonight , " The week that I sang ' Weekend in New England ' [ onAmerican Idol ] and Barry Manilow was the Edgar Albert Guest mentor on the show , he arranged my ' Weekend in New England ' similar to ' And I Am Telling You , ' with the same musical pause and big musical note and stuff like that because I reminded him so much of Effie . I palpate like that was my pre - audition for the role , which had people buzz about Jennifer Hudson for Effie White . "
Watch her screen test below:
2.WhenRosario Dawsonwas 15,Vibefilmed a commercial outside her house, so she sat on the stoop to watch a grip shehad a crushon. Later in the day, a group of people “suddenly turned and looked at [her] and [she] thought [she] was in trouble, and it ended up being a pre-production group fromKidsthat were scouting for locations.” Director Larry Clark and writer Harmony Korine asked her to audition to play Ruby.
She toldDazed , " Larry say he was make his first picture show and would I be concerned . And Harmony was start up and down , like , ' Oh my God , I compose this fictional character for you without even realizing . I did n’t even know you . You ’re perfect for this character , you have to come in . You have to amount in , you have to come in . ' "
3.After having no luck finding the right fit for Tina Carlyle inThe Maskby looking at top models, casting director Fern Champion asked a modeling agent she knew for suggestions. Her friend said, “There is one gal” —Cameron Diaz. The model enrolled in acting and dance classes to prepare for the part.
Director Russell Chuck toldVariety , " [ Diaz ] was the only somebody for the part as far as I was concerned after her first reading . And then I see the chemistry with her and Jim [ Carrey ] . Eight callback later , including improvs with Jim , I finally convinced producer . "
Watch part of her screen test, starting at the 4:30 mark, below:
4.When Alyssa Milano was 7, her babysitter, who wanted to become an actor, dragged her along to audition for an onstage production ofAnnie. Since other children were there, the babysitter asked if she wanted to audition too. Milano agreed, even though she “had no idea what that word (audition) meant.”
On theUnstyledpodcast , she said , " I knew 1,500 kids where there . Only four got pick , and I was one of the four . "
5.Vin Diesel was discovered after breaking into a theater as a kid. Bored and unafraid, he and his friends started vandalizing and playing inside the theater. However, the creative director, Crystal Field, caught them. Rather than call their parents or the police, she recruited them for her upcoming play.
OnThe Roseanne Show , he said , " [ landing field ] shove a handwriting in our face and said , ' If you want to recreate here , be here every twenty-four hours at 4 p.m. Here ’s $ 20 a week . ' "
He went on to balance more plays with his schoolwork .
6.Before booking the role of Jules onEuphoria, Hunter Schafer was a model who had “not acted before and was not planning on it really either.” However, while preparing to enroll in fashion school, she saw a casting call “for trans girls, who didn’t have to be experienced and it didn’t sayEuphoriaor anything but [she] was like, ‘Huh.'” Though intrigued, she brushed it off at first, but then, her modeling agency sent her in to audition.
She toldEntertainment Weekly , " They hooked me up with an acting coach through the audition process , and he crack me like an egg , and I kind of , like , started falling in honey with the script and , like , acting itself over that period of time and it happen , like , I got cast . It ’s just the wildest process , over , like , a few month , I would say . "
7.Before playing Nick Young inCrazy Rich Asians, Henry Golding was a travel host in Malaysia. Director Jon M. Chu, who was frustrated that they hadn’t cast any unknown actors yet, found Golding through the recommendation of an accountant who’d met him one time.
Chu toldVulture , " I think I blew it off , because I got so many emails from people who have good - looking Asian male acquaintance that are just good - bet Asian men . Twenty - four hours later , I just happened to go back to the email , and I ’m looking at his Instagram , and he had these wizardly slight video of him giving tours , talking about food for thought , speak about cat , and it was spellbind . "
Then , they link through a mutual Facebook friend . Golding had always wanted to playact but never pursued it . After assemble the film director over Skype , however , he embarked on the auditory modality procedure .
8.While castingOver the Edge, director Jonathan Kaplan “wanted real teens, as opposed to professional actors — and kids who were also age-appropriate.” With no budget for a professional casting director, he sent his friend, talent scout Jane Bernstein, to schools in search of “the new James Dean.” At a middle school in Westchester, New York, she discovered Matt Dillon while he was skipping class. After auditioning, he booked the role of Richie.
Bernstein toldVice , " On our last day in Westchester , we were walking through the crowded dormitory of this one school , and the bell rang and everyone run back to class . But there was this one kid — and he really was a kid , like 12 or 13 — who was easy and young but who had a stamina about him . … It was clean from the very commencement that Matt was prove his hardest to play the role of a sturdy guy . Maybe Rocky Balboa . Or the Fonz , fromHappy Days . Or perchance just a punk kid . "
9.While on a spring break trip in Panama City Beach, Florida with her friends, then–Texas State University student Sasha Lane was dancing when she caught the attention ofAmerican Honeydirector Andrea Arnold, who approached her about the role of Star. Her friends intervened. One was concerned Arnold was trying to coax her into doing porn, but another googled the director to prove she really was who she said she was.
Lane toldGlamour , " I remember retrieve it would n’t ever fall out . But Andrea and the gang follow to my hotel that dark . The next day , instead of give-up the ghost back to Texas with my friends , I moved my bags into her railway car . I enounce to her , ' If you vote out me , my friends know where I am , so do n’t try . ' "
10.Jason Statham used to sell cheap watches and other jewelry on the street to fund his diving career. Through his additional work as a model, he met director Guy Ritchie, who cast him as Bacon inLock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrelsbecause he “was interested in what [Statham] used to do on the fucking street.”
The role player toldEsquire , " He ’d drop a line a quality that was the same as me . And he said , ' I love it . Give me some of the patter . ' At the fourth dimension , I had load of it . Loads of it . And he was transfixed with that , and he just want someone who was bona fide . He said , ' I ’m gon na get someone from fucking drama schoolhouse to do this ? How can they learn what you ’ve learned ? ' It ’s such an esoteric fucking subject , no one eff about it unless you ’re in it . You ca n’t read it in textbooks . "
11.Growing up, Ellen Pompeo “sort of” wanted to be an actor, but she “didn’t know how to go about it.” Letting those dreams take a backseat, she became a bartender. However, one night at work, she served an agent. At first, Pompeo thought she was trying to flirt with her, but she turned out to be a legitimate agent who helped her land auditions for commercials.
She toldABC News , " [ act as ] came to me . "
12.When Eva Mendes was in college, a talent manager discovered her while leafing through her friend’s photography portfolio. Soon after, she booked parts in music videos for Aerosmith and the Pet Shop Boys.
She told theSydney Morning Herald , " There was a commercial cast director who ’d rent me try out for commercials and keep bringing me in for callback . One mean solar day , after a year of never book a problem , I said , ' Okay , tell me what I need to change so I can get cast . ' She said , ' Honey , it ’s just your looking at . You ’re too ethnic , so you ’re never going to be the cheek of any American product . ' … I have fond memories of that moment now , because that adult female actually provide me with the fuel I take , so I used it as a challenge , to give me that fire or extra kick I needed to give out through . "
13.And finally, after being in and out of prison for more than 10 years, Danny Trejo began his sobriety journey, then became a drug counselor. In 1984, he visited the set ofRunaway Trainto help out an actor he was sponsoring, and he was invited to be in the movie himself.
On PBS’sFinding Your Roots , he said , " This guy order , ' Hey , do you wanna be in this motion-picture show ? ' And I [ said , ] ' What I got ta do ? ' He allege , ' Do you wanna be an redundant ? … Can you do like a convict ? ' … I said , ' I ’m a professional . ' "
Paramount Pictures / Viayoutube.com
