Here are some embarrassing jobs celebrities held before they became famous

Updated on August 13, 2022 20:19 PM by Anna P

An A-lister's life seems like a breeze, to put it mildly. The long, grueling hours spent on set are not to be disregarded.

Once those are wrapped up, you'll be on your way to endless Hulk paychecks and a Hollywood Hills pied-a-terre. As with everyone else, your favorite celebs had to pay their dues before they could live a life of unmitigated leisure.

Celebs have worked odd jobs ranging from oyster shuckers and pen salespeople to chicken coop scoopers and coffin cleaners to support themselves.

The absolute worst are gathered here. It might not be worth pursuing these gigs even if they resulted in irrevocable status. You're going to cringe as you read this.

Red Lobster employed Nicki Minaj as a waitress

New York City restaurant Red Lobster served you seafood before rapper Nicki Minaj became a star on the music charts.

Nicki admits she was never the most gracious employee as a waitress, as she was always looking for ways to escape. As a disgruntled employee, Onika Maraj was just another one of the man's disgruntled workers before becoming Nicki.

Fetty Wap wrapped a FedEx package

For Fetty Wap to reach the top of the list, he also needed a quick buck here and there. As a result of this desire, the rapper was hired as a Fed-Ex package wrapper. Although he only stayed for two days before moving on to another equally charming job at Popeye's, the cashier.

Stripper Channing Tatum

As a result of his experience before becoming a star of Magic Mike, he seemed so believable on camera. After dropping out of the University of South Florida, the actor started stripping at 19.

Tatum, however, began turning to drugs and alcohol to cope with tough shifts due to this lifestyle.

Gabourey Sidibe worked for a hotline for sex

Gabourey Sidibe worked at a phone-based sex company before scoring her breakthrough role in "Precious." She says that this gig allowed her to move on to bigger and better things due to these acting lessons.

The acting school was talking to me, pretending to be Melody, a young college girl. Sidibe knows that was her acting.

McDonald's was Rachel McAdams' job

Rachel McAdams was hitting up McDonald's soft serve before she hit the big screen. Rather than serving customers, the actress spent more time washing her hands during her shift than working.

Meghan Markle wrote wedding invitations

No one can miss the irony in this situation. During her acting career in Los Angeles, the royal newlywed taught calligraphy, gift-wrapping, and bookbinding at Paper Source.

Her freelance calligraphy work led her to handwriting invitations for Robin Thicke's wedding and Paula Patton's in 2005. Markle was able to design some flourishes on the invitations for her wedding, despite the royal family not allowing much color. Nevertheless, we suspect that the Duchess will handwrite the thank you notes.

Hair salons were Beyonce's workplace

Her mother, Tina Knowles, owned a hair salon where Queen B swept up hair as a child. Although she probably was still rocking it at that point.

The pen salesman that Johnny Depp was

Like fellow actor Gabourey Sidibe, Johnny Depp honed on his acting talent as a pen salesman. He says that was the first time he had ever been on stage. When they buy a gross of pens from you, you promise all these things to them. There was nothing good about it.

Naya Rivera worked at Hooters as a waitress

When she worked as a waitress at Hooters, she was often required to perform sex appeal on the job site. It's safe to say that everyone in an overcrowded restaurant probably feels the same about their bodies as the actress did about her uniform.

The bellhop was Tom Cruise's job

As a bellhop at a hotel, Tom Cruise transported guests' luggage before Jerry Maguire captured the affections of a nation. As Matt Lauer learned the hard way, this hospitality did not last.

He worked at Abercrombie and Fitch shirtless

The mall day was a day we didn't get to enjoy, and we're sorry we missed it. A shirtless Abercrombie and Fitch host long before he was on the big screen, Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford used his cheekbones and washboard abs for good.

To promote a smoothie shop, Megan Fox wore a banana suit

A banana was Megan Fox's first grueling role before she spent long hours on film sets. Jennifer's Body star donned a big yellow fruit suit to promote a local smoothie shop.

It was mandatory for someone to dress up as a piece of fruit once a week, usually on a Friday, and stand out by the highway. During Ellen DeGeneres' show, she described herself as a banana, a giant banana.

To promote El Pollo Loco, Brad Pitt dressed like a chicken

Stars of all stripes start small. Brad Pitt tried getting people to eat chicken long before he was a huge box office draw. You read that right: the Academy Award-nominated actor once wore a chicken costume for a Mexican restaurant.

A food court sold hot dogs served by Eva Mendes

Ryan Gosling and red carpets weren't always part of Eva Mendes' life. Hot Dog on a Stick at Glendale Galleria was where Mendes served hot dogs before Hollywood called.

Dairy Queen employed Gwen Stefani

Gwen Stefani is now famous for her singing career, but once, she was famous for making Blizzard. Her first paycheck was earned at a Dairy Queen, the No Doubt frontwoman revealed in an interview with Marie Claire.

Jackman was a physical education teacher Teacher

It wasn't long before Hugh Jackman took on the role of Wolverine that he became obsessed with being buff. A former physical education teacher, Jackman made it big in the entertainment industry before becoming an actor teacher.

His former student was even remembered by name at the Zurich Film Festival in 2013 when he ran into him and ran into one of his former students.

In adult films, Jon Hamm dressed for the sets

A friend introduced Jon Hamm to the epitome of an odd job when he was between jobs and down on his luck. My friend said you could have my job. The HIt was difficult for me to figure out how to do that.

Amm recalled to Esquire that he was in the set dressing business. According to her, Skinemax will hire anyone for these movies. In Mad Men, Hamm played Don Draper, his breakout role.

She worked at Dunkin' Donuts

There's at least one good thing about this customer's story. There is no such thing as a Material Girl who does not have a side hustle. As a young woman on her way to stardom, Madonna worked as a cashier at Dunkin' Donuts after dropping out of college. After squirting jelly-filled donuts all over a customer, the superstar was fired within a day.

A former accountant, John Legend

The perfect combination of sex, talent, and intelligence. John Legend must be a fake, but alas. She worked at the Boston Consulting Group for three years after graduating from Penn. Even with all the number crunching, Legend couldn't escape his passion for music, and eventually, he began serenading millions of girls worldwide instead.

Burger King was one of Queen Latifah's jobs

Queen Latifah has become an expert at putting on a game face as a celebrity, but that wasn't always the case. Her previous job at Burger King was terminated because she lost her temper, the actress revealed to Contactmusic.

Latifah said there used to be many homeless people coming into the house. The manager of Burger King had unfortunately retired by the time Latifah returned to confront him.

A Barbados army cadet, Rihanna

This Barbados beauty's fan base deserves the nickname, Rihanna. In an ironic twist, Shontelle, ironically, once served as an army cadet under the "Diamonds" singer's guidance in Barbados. Camouflage is her favorite color, so it's no wonder she wears it so well.

A human-sized sperm dressed as Posh Spice on roller skates appeared on a BBC sex-education show in 1986, Body Matters.

Baskin Robbins scooper Barack Obama

During the mid-'70s, the president scooped ice cream at a Honolulu Baskin Robbins, as stated in a since-deleted LinkedIn post - reported by CBS News and Politifact. He gave up eating ice cream after becoming sick because of his job.

An oyster shucker, Ellen DeGeneres

To get her big break in 1986, Ellen DeGeneres worked a series of random jobs before appearing on The Tonight Show, Starring Johnny Carson, including painting houses, selling vacuums, and oyster shucking. This job truly put the "odd" in "odd job."

Matthew McConaughey cleaned the chicken coop

Matthew McConaughey cleaned chicken coops for some spare cash during a semester abroad in Australia. There is nothing wrong, nothing wrong, nothing wrong.

The coffin cleaner was Sean Connery

The actor worked in various unglamorous jobs before becoming James Bond, including milkman, lorry driver, a lifeguard at Portobello swimming pool, laborer, the Edinburgh College of Art model, and, yes, polisher of coffins. His job was to bleach mahogany coffins to make them look like oak and work for a man named Stark, who had the uncanny ability to size up clients visually. It has even been rumored he slept in a coffin for a bet once.

Geena Davis was a dummy

Before her role in Tootsie, Davis modeled clothing alongside Ann Taylor's mannequins to pay her rent. She got the job because of a window display where mannequins ate plastic food while seated at a table. As I stared at the window, there was one empty chair. She sat in the empty chair at the retail store against the advice of her coworkers.

In time, a crowd gathered to determine whether the gorgeous actress was real. My movements would be robotic whenever my attention seemed to be drifting. However, someone commented that the dummy hadn't been plugged in, so it's not an electric one. To make the ruse more convincing, she attached a little wire down her leg the next time she sat at the mannequin table.