Showbusiness isn’t for everyone . It takes an incredible amount of talent and an even greater amount of luck to be successful. It’s a daunting task and many quit before they even begin.
But lucky for us, these actors were able to persevere. Have a look and check out these 10+ actors who almost quit Hollywood before they made it big.
Gal Gadot
Gal wasn’t sure how much more rejection she could take. After years of waiting for the phone to ring, she finally told her husband that she’d had enough.
Then Gal got a phone call from director Zack Snyder that changed everything.
Jon Hamm
Jon approached his acting career with a degree of sensibility. He decided that if he wasn’t able to land a serious acting role by age 30 , that he’d quit acting on the spot.
He turned 30 on the set of We Were Soldiers .
Melissa McCarthy
Like her contemporary Jon Hamm, Melissa also gave herself a window of opportunity to seriously pursue acting; until age 30.
Luckily, she was able to achieve her dream and turned 30 while she was in the middle of filming Gilmore Girls .
Robert Pattinson
Robert’s Twilight audition was a scarring experience. According to him, it was the worst moment of his professional life.
He decided to stop torturing himself and quit acting. The next day, he got the call to play Edward Cullen.
Mark Ruffalo
In the wake of his brother’s murder in 2008, Mark became disenchanted with acting and was ready to walk away.
He wound up reluctantly accepting a role in The Kids Are Alright , which completely reshaped his perspectives.
Bradley Cooper
After his role was reduced on Alias , Bradley went against the advice of his friends and peers and quit the show.
He wound up seriously injuring himself just days later and developed a serious addiction to Vicodin. Bradley was determined that the industry simply didn’t want him, and that’s when he landed the audition for Wedding Crashers .
Henry Cavill
After years of trying and failing to secure lead roles, Henry was incredibly close to packing everything in.
Can you imagine if we’d never got the chance to see Henry emblazoned with the giant S on his chest?!
Chrissy Metz
Before landing her breakthrough role on This Is Us , Chrissy was broke and contemplating moving back home.
She’s since been nominated for two Golden Globes as well as an Emmy Award for her deeply emotional portrayal of Kate Pearson.
Millie Bobby Brown
When Millie Bobby Brown was unable to land her dream role on Game of Thrones , she became jaded and fed up with acting.
Thankfully, Millie persevered and just a few short months later was able to book her gig on Stranger Things .
William Jackson Harper
Without Chidi , The Good Place would most definitely have been “The Bad Place.”
William tried for years in vain and swore that he’d only do one more pilot season. Lucky for us, it just so happened to be the year that he was offered the part.
Amy Adams
Did you know that Amy Adams has been nominated for six Academy Awards?
That’s beyond impressive. And if it weren’t for Amy landing her breakout role in Junebug , we may never have had the chance to bear witness to any of it.
Elizabeth Olsen
Elizabeth Olsen is the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. After seeing how her family was portrayed in the media and what her sisters were subjected to, Elizabeth decided she wanted nothing to do with acting.
Fortunately for Marvel fans around the globe, she changed her mind.
Chris Hemsworth
Can you imagine anyone on this planet not wanting Chris Hemsworth? I sure can’t. But early on in his career, it was rejection after rejection.
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Ironically, his younger brother Liam was being considered for the part of Thor before Chris swooped-in and stole the show.
Jenna Fischer
After more than seven years of trying to make it big in Hollywood, Jenna decided that enough was enough and planned to move back home to Missouri.
She was convinced at the last minute to stay by her acting coach, who begged her to audition for The Office .
John Krasinski
John and his mother had a deal that he’d give acting a serious shot for 2-3 years. As the deadline approached, John called his mother dejected and prepared to come home — only she refused to come and pick him up!
Roughly three weeks later, John booked The Office .
