First jobs and summer internships are notoriously bad; you’re at the bottom of the corporate barrel and your “pay” (if it exists) barely covers subway fare and lunch. The good news: everyone’s been there. If these celebs could go from waitressing and dressing as chickens to mega-stardom, then even the worst of your first jobs can be seen as learning experiences that you’ll one day write about in your memoirs. Just keep telling yourself that…
Jennifer Aniston—Telemarketer
If you hung up on a telemarketer in the early nineties, you may have ruined pre-Friends Jen’s day. But don’t worry, Karma’s got it covered—these days you’d end up paying her for 10 minutes on the phone.
Madonna—Dunkin Donuts Clerk
Madonna is many things, but a donut virgin is not one. The icon worked at the popular donut franchise as a teenager to make extra cash. (Looks like even young Mad knew she needed dough in a material world.)
Brad Pitt—Giant Chicken
Pitt may go down as the most attractive human chicken in history. In between acting jobs, limo driving and refrigerator moving, Brad donned a giant chicken costume to lure passersby into El Pollo Loco on Sunset Boulevard. But don’t feel too bad for Brad…now he’s making the big bocks, I mean bucks.
Victoria Beckham—A Sperm
Yes, you read correctly. Posh Spice made her small-screen debut as a roller-skating sperm in a BBC sex-ed production called Body Matters. She’s still a sex symbol, but now it’s less literal…
Kanye West—Employee at The Gap
Kanye got his start like most hard-edged, gangster thug rappers…folding sweaters at The Gap? Now it’s clear why he’s such a trendsetter, although we still can’t see his trademark glasses making it into Gap stores next to the khakis.
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Julia Roberts—Ice Cream Scooper
Julia’s big-screen break as a small-town girl working at a pizza shop in the film Mystic Pizza propelled her to stardom, but long before she was serving slices on screen she was scooping ice cream behind a counter. Surrounded by ice cream all day? As far as paths to success go, not such a Rocky Road.
Rachel McAdams—McDonalds Employee
The first script McAdams had to memorize went something like this: “Would you like fries with that?” But what’s truly impressive is that Micky-A worked at Micky-D’s for three whole summers in an effort to make bank. Eventually, Rachel graduated from the Golden Arch to the Golden Globes…not bad.
Cindy Crawford—Corn-Shucker
The question “Is there anything Cindy Crawford can’t make sexy?” is finally answered in the affirmative thanks to one of her first jobs: shucking corn at a fair in Illinois. As a college freshman, Cindy agreed to shuck corn to make some extra cash; today, (luckily) her workout videos are the corniest part of her career.
Hugh Jackman—Clown
It’s rarely a compliment to call a celebrity a clown, but Hugh Jackman might disagree. The X-Men star made cash performing at children’s birthday parties before he hit it big. We have to wonder, did he have a clown name? (If his performance in Superman Returns tells us anything, was it Floppy?)
Matthew McConaughey—Chicken Coop Cleaner
During time spent in Australia, McConaughey put bread on the table by cleaning coops. If the hard labor contributed to his perfect physique, we’re eternally grateful to those dirty chickens!
Collegiettes, what was your first job? Tell us about it (and any job horror stories) in the Comments section below!