10 Movie Actors Who Were Discovered In Unusual Ways

4. Alden Ehrenreich Was Discovered By Steven Spielberg At A Bat Mitzvah

Vin Diesel Fast and Furious
Lucasfilm

Another Han Solo actor who got his big break in an unusual fashion, Alden Ehrenreich had no idea that a random home video he made with his friend would one day catch the attention of the legendary Steven Spielberg.

The video - which Ehrenreich has since described as "a piece of sh*t" - consisted of the young lad trying on his female friend's clothes, and then making up a song. In other words, they were both just messing around, with no real goal in mind.

From here, the two friends decided to play the video at an upcoming bat mitzvah, which turned out to be a really good decision on their part, because guess who happened to be attending this exact same event? That's right - Steven freakin' Spielberg.

Spielberg must've noticed a glimmer of talent somewhere within this strange home video, because afterwards, he invited Ehrenreich to meet with him to discuss future opportunities. From here, the actor was cast in 2009's Tetro - directed by Francis Ford Coppola - before portraying Han Solo in the 2018 Star Wars prequel.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.