20 Actors Who Had To Wait DECADES Before Hitting Big

5. Ann Dowd

The legendary Ann Dowd came to prominence off the back of her searing performance in the 2011 thriller Compliance, which in turn led to her becoming one of the most prolific character actors of the 2010s, with an Emmy-nominated performance in The Leftovers and Emmy-winning turn in The Handmaid's Tale.

Dowd was 55 when Compliance premiered, and though few filmgoers were aware of her until that point, she'd actually been working as an actor for roughly 30 years before her breakthrough.

Dowd started acting on stage in the early 1980s and had her first screen role in 1985, after which she spent literally decades working as a character actor before finally getting some well-earned recognition.

Curiously, when Dowd was a struggling actress in her 30s and lamenting her lack of opportunities, a voice told her that her time would come in her mid-fifties - and that it certainly did.