Some celebrities come by fame naturally. Many are born into it and have never known what it’s like to experience life outside of the limelight.
But then there are those who don’t fit the mold of a legacy celebrity ; who were discovered totally by chance and accident. Have a look and check out these 10+ celebrities who were discovered in strange ways.
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Zac Efron was discovered after performing in a play at age 11.
The performance was a PCPA rendition of “Gypsy,” and even though Zac had no formal training to speak of, he was still able to land the part.
He then went on to receive a guest spot on the WB series Summerland and soon became a series regular.
Sofia Vergara planned on being a dentist before being discovered at the beach.
According to the Modern Family star, the thought of acting had never even crossed her mind.
Were it not for a chance encounter with a photographer, Sofia would have never booked her first Pepsi commercial.
Chris Pratt was a waiter in Maui before his big break.
Chris was working at the Bubba Gump restaurant in Maui, struggling to find work as an actor — and living in his van.
One of the restaurant guests, who also happened to be a director, told him he was cute, and four days later Chris landed in Los Angeles.
Charlize Theron was throwing a tantrum inside a bank when a talent agent changed her life.
As Charlize tells the story, she was attempting to cash a cheque from a modeling job, but due to the fact that it was an out-of-state cheque — the bank wouldn’t allow it.
A talent agent who was inside saw the entire ordeal go down and promptly told Charlize that she should pursue acting.
Chloe Sevigny was skateboarding on the streets of NYC when she was approached to be a model.
Chloe was spotted by a fashion editor who asked whether or not she’d be interested in modeling for Sassy magazine .
Not even two full years later, Chloe was cast in her first film role, Kids .
It all started with a Pizza Hut commercial for Haley Joel Osment.
Haley told Vulture that “Just from that commercial, the casting director for Forrest Gump got in contact with us and I was reading with [director Zemeckis and Tom Hanks pretty soon after that,” Haley said. “It all kind of snowballed from there.”
Mandy Moore owes her success to varsity football.
Mandy told Into The Gloss about how she used to sing the national anthem at high school football games.
“At one of the events, two guys approached my parents and me to ask if I had any desire to record in a studio and cut a demo.”
Vin Diesel traded a life of crime for a life on the big screen.
Vin and his group of friends were caught breaking into their local theater, with the intent to vandalize it.
They were caught by a director who instead of calling the police, decided to give Vin and his friends $20 and cast them in her upcoming production.
Ashton Kutcher entered a contest.
The former star of That 70s Show was in a bar when he was approached by Mary Clarke, co-founder of the Mother Model Management agency.
She implored Ashton to enter a fresh faces talent competition and the rest is history.
Natalie Portman caught her big break while at a local pizza parlor.
Natalie had just come from dance class and was happily enjoying a slice alongside her mother when she was approached by a modeling agent .
Natalie was flattered but asked instead to be put in touch with an acting agent.
Justin Bieber was discovered completely by accident.
Music manager Scooter Braun was just starting out when he accidentally came across a video of Justin singing in a church.
He began calling every school in the district until he finally found Justin and his mother.
Jennifer Lawrence was stopped on the middle of the street in New York City.
Jennifer was stopped on the street by a talent agent who had asked to take her picture; Jennifer was only 14-years-old at the time.
From there, she went on to do a cold-read for a Reese commercial and nailed it.
Rosario Dawson was hanging out on her stoop when her entire life changed.
Rosario’s fame skyrocketed after she appeared in the 1995 cult classic, Kids .
She was sitting on the front steps of her house when director Larry Clark and writer Harmony Korine just so happened to walk by.
Tracy Chapman’s music was stolen!
When Tracy was away at Tufts University, she became friends with a man by the name of Brian Koppelman. Brian wound up stealing one of Tracy’s demo and sent it to his music producer father.
Not long afterward, Tracy was signed to Charlie Koppelman’s label.
Charlie Hunnam was discovered in a shoe store while Christmas shopping.
A production manager for a popular North England TV show also happened to be in the store at the exact same time as Charlie.
Hunnam blew her a kiss as a joke, at which point she asked if he’d ever considered a career in acting.
