Celebs gotta start somewhere.
Unless they were born into Hollywood like the Kardashian-Jenners, they weren’t handed fame on a silver platter.
Instead, they had to work for it, taking whatever opportunity came their way. For some, this meant working on teen shows.
Yes, they were dramatic. But since these celebs are huge today, it was worth it!
1. Shailene Woodley on *The Secret Life of the American Teenager*
You may know her best from the Divergent series, but the actress actually got her start on the 2008 teen series.
Since she signed a six-year contract right off the bat, she soon found herself in a tough predicament.
That’s because she didn’t agree with the show promoting abstinence.
“There were a lot of things that were written into the scripts that not just me, but a lot of the cast, disagreed with,” Woodley told Bustle .
2. Blake Lively on *Gossip Girl*
Gossip Girl was the actress’s breakout role. She played Serena van der Woodsen for the entirety of the show.
She even met and dated her co-star, Penn Badgley, for three years, beginning in 2007.
3. Kristen Bell on *Veronica Mars*
When the actress starred on The Good Place , that wasn’t her first foray into television.
She starred as the main character on Veronica Mars for four seasons. The show was such a hit that fans even saved it from getting canceled twice .
4. Jessica Alba on *The Secret World of Alex Mack*
After she made her film debut in the movie, Camp Nowhere at 13 , she starred in the TV show, The Secret World of Alex Mack .
She played a mean girl named Jessica for three episodes.
5. Milo Ventimiglia on *Gilmore Girls*
Before he was making us cry as Jack on This Is Us , he was making us swoon as Jess on Gilmore Girls .
He played the bad boy character and Rory’s love interest during the second and third seasons.
RELATED STORIES
6. Gabrielle Union on *7th Heaven*
Union was one of many celebs who appeared on the popular show ( Leighton Meester was another ).
The Bring It On actress acted alongside Jessica Biel as Mary’s friend, Keesha Hamilton.
7. Jessica Biel on *7th Heaven*
Speaking of 7th Heaven , we can’t mention the show without bringing up Jessica, one of its main stars.
She played Mary Camden, undoubtedly one of the most popular characters of the dramatic series.
8. Chris Pratt on *The O.C.*
Parks and Recreation wasn’t the only TV show Pratt did before he became a movie star.
You might not have recognized him as Ché, Summer’s college friend on The OC . I mean, just look at that facial hair.
9. Olivia Wilde on The O.C
While she didn’t nab the role that she had originally auditioned for — Marissa — she did get to romance that character.
That’s because she played Alex, a bisexual character who dated both Seth and Marissa.
She told the *New York Times* that she was originally embarrassed of being on the show.
“I used to dismiss The O.C.,” she said .
“I’d be like, ‘I did a teen soap—what an embarrassment.’ And now I think, ah, that was really formative and I’m lucky I got to do that.”
10. Ashton Kutcher on *That ’70s Show*.
The actor became a household name thanks to his role as Kelso on the popular show for eight seasons.
In addition to starting his career, it’s even where he met his wife, Mila Kunis.
11. Anne Hathaway
While the show was canceled after only one season, Anne did star as one of the main characters. It was about a family living in San Francisco.
She acted alongside Jesse Eisenberg as one of the older siblings.
12. Sebastian Stan on *Gossip Girl*
He may play one of the good guys in the MCU, but he was nothing but a bad boy on Gossip Girl .
He played Carter Baizen, a bad boy who slept with Blair and dated Serena.
When the show celebrated its first anniversary, Stan celebrated in the most adorable way.
“It was the best of times and it was the best of times. Xoxo, Gossip Girl,” he captioned his video of him chugging wine while watching the pilot episode.
13. Armie Hammer on *Gossip Girl*
You’ve probably noticed a pattern by now: Gossip Girl kicked off a lot of careers.
Hammer is another one of those, as the Call Me By Your Name star played Gabriel, the con-artist who scammed Serena.
14. Krysten Ritter on *Veronica Mars*
Before she had her own show on Netflix, the star played secondary characters on several shows. This includes Gossip Girl , Breaking Bad , and Veronica Mars .
She played Gia Goodman, one of Veronica’s classmates.
15. Hilary Duff on *Gossip Girl*
Her role on the show was a far cry from her time on Disney’s Lizzie McGuire .
Hilary played Olivia Burke, a movie star who ended up dating Dan. At one point, she had a threesome with Dan and Vanessa…
16. Shia LaBeouf on *Even Stevens*
It’s easy to forget that Shia was once a Disney star. After all, he’s starred in some big films, such as Transformers and Holes , since then.
On the hit tween/teen show, he played the lead role as Louis Stevens.
