20 Actors Who Had To Wait DECADES Before Hitting Big
These actors got their big breaks later in life.
We all know that Hollywood is a tough, unforgiving racket and certainly not an industry for the weak of stomach, especially as it pertains to actors.
Talent is ultimately only one of the possible requirements for success - many great actors are never truly recognised in their lifetimes, while mediocre performers can strike it big through luck, timing, connections, or just being very, very good looking.
Every jobbing actor out there is just desperate to get their big break - the role that'll make them asked-for by producers and filmmakers, and perhaps even mean that they won't need to audition in future.
And while this might happen to a lucky actor after a few years of hard graft, the reality is that many extremely talented performers don't smash through that glass ceiling until they've been on the job for decades.
That's absolutely true of these 20 actors, each of whom spent 20, 30, even 40 or 50 years chipping away at their craft before finally gaining mainstream recognition.
It shouldn't have to be this way, but most of these actors certainly made the best of their late-blooming success...
20. Christoph Waltz
Let's kick this list off with one of the all-time examples of an actor finding global fame later in life.
Christoph Waltz came to global prominence courtesy of his ultimately Oscar-winning role as Austrian SS officer Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.
The film released in 2009, when Waltz was 53 years of age, and prior to this he was a total unknown to international audiences outside of his native Austria.
And yet, prior to this Waltz worked in German television and theatre for more than 30 years, his first screen credit being in 1976.
But Waltz certainly made the most of his later career break, soon enough earning a second Oscar in his next collaboration with Tarantino, Django Unchained, and later starring as a new iteration of Blofeld in the James Bond franchise.
Considering the specificity of the Hans Landa role, requiring a challenging command of several languages, it ultimately felt like everything happened precisely as it needed to for Waltz.