Even the greatest of actors usually have to start off in small films that nobody ever sees of cares about. In fact, many actors have to strive for many, many years before they ever get anywhere - not everybody can be Marlon Brando or James Dean and shoot to instant fame and glory. The five actors on this list are five of the biggest movie stars in the whole world over the last 20 years, and each of them had very humble beginnings before being paid ludicrous salaries. For young actors, they look at the stories of actors like the ones on this list and realise that persevering and auditioning endlessly can eventually lead to meaningful parts. Great actresses like Naomi Watts and Amy Adams had to wait years for their coming out party because that's the way the business goes most of the time. Actors generally have to mature a little before they get any great parts as there isn't a whole host of interesting parts for young actors and actresses in film, and actors typically improve with experience, especially if they aren't trained. Every film is a learning experience for an actor, even if it's a rubbish one that nobody sees, and sometimes, you have to take the trash to get to the gold.
5. Angelina Jolie - Lookin' To Get Out
Before she became one of the most famous women on the planet, Angelina Jolie was a one-time child actress in Lookin' to Get Out. Jolie landed the part in the film presumably due to her father, Jon Voight, being the lead in the 1982 picture. She in fact plays the daughter of Voight's character in a tiny role right at the end of the film that in reality has her as nothing more than an extra, though she is credited. Directed by the formerly acclaimed Hal Ashby, Lookin' to Get Out was made during his period of incredibly erratic behaviour and he eventually pushed the studios too far as he spent months attempting to edit a single sequence. Whilst the movie signalled that Ashby's career was entering a downward spiral, it was just the start for Jolie and her first tiny step in world domination. And though it would be 11 years before she appeared on film again, it wouldn't be long before she went on her meteoric rise to the top.