Grounded By Choice
Hollywood glamour meets everyday reality in the most unexpected ways. Some of your favorite stars have traded red carpets for work uniforms, at least part-time. These career choices arise for various reasons.
Dylan Sprouse
When paparazzi photos surfaced of Disney Channel heartthrob Dylan Sprouse working as a restaurant host in New York City, tabloids immediately assumed that another child star had gone broke. But the truth was far more refreshing as Sprouse took to Tumblr to set the record straight.
NYU Local no Vimeo, Wikimedia Commons
Dylan Sprouse (Cont.)
"I did not take this job because I've lost all my money. I am financially secure, and took this job as a way to primarily feed my overbountiful video game addiction”. By 2010, Dylan and his twin brother Cole were among the highest-paid Disney television child actors.
Piper's Picks TV, Wikimedia Commons
Kevin Jonas
The oldest Jonas Brother didn't just disappear into obscurity when the band originally disbanded in 2013. He grabbed a hard hat and became a licensed contractor. Kevin's construction journey began long before the band's breakup, but it was his dramatic career pivot that caught everyone's attention.
Christopher Simon from Pasadena CA, USA, Wikimedia Commons
Kevin Jonas (Cont.)
He founded Jonas Werner Fine Custom Homes with business partner Bill Werner, specializing in luxury home construction for high-end clients. The construction world got its most surreal moment when Kevin appeared on The Real Housewives of New Jersey as a contractor for Kathy Wakile's new home.
Digitas Photos, Wikimedia Commons
David Lee Roth
In 2004, the 48-year-old millionaire musician shocked dinner companions at the Four Seasons restaurant. Here, he revealed that he'd been living in a modest apartment on New York's Lower East Side and training as an EMT. Roth's medical background wasn't entirely new.
Anirudh Koul from Montreal, Canada, Wikimedia Commons
David Lee Roth (Cont.)
He'd worked as a surgical orderly in South Central LA after junior college in the early 70s. It is said that Roth was motivated to do this partly because his father was a physician, and he was exposed to medicine from an early age.
Abby Gillardi, Wikimedia Commons
Jeremy Renner
Jeremy Renner started his house flipping career back in 2002 with his family friend and fellow actor Kristoffer Winters. At the time, Renner was struggling financially while trying to launch his acting career and had only a few TV guest spots.
Eva Rinaldi, Wikimedia Commons
Jeremy Renner (Cont.)
Renner would don a tuxedo, hop into a limo, and stop at Starbucks to freshen up before heading to glamorous industry events, then return to his construction site. Since 2002, Renner and business partner Kristoffer Winters have flipped more than 20 homes in Southern California.
Allen Berezovsky, Getty Images
Jennifer Stone
When 20-year-old Jennifer Stone started experiencing blurry vision, extreme fatigue, and gained 60 pounds in three months, she had no idea this health crisis would completely redirect her life's purpose. The Wizards of Waverly Place star spent four years visiting different doctors.
Angela George at https://www.flickr.com/photos/sharongraphics/, Wikimedia Commons
Jennifer Stone (Cont.)
She was finally diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2013. This diagnosis inspired her to pivot from psychology to nursing. Working as an ER nurse at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, she gets recognized frequently despite wearing full PPE.
Junkyardsparkle, Wikimedia Commons
Nikki Blonsky
Roger Ebert once praised an 18-year-old newcomer, writing that "without somebody like Nikki Blonsky at the heart of the movie, it might fall flat”. He was referring to her breakout performance as Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 film Hairspray.
New Line Cinema, Hairspray (2007)
Nikki Blonsky (Cont.)
But the film industry's notoriously fickle nature meant that the lightning-in-a-bottle moment didn't translate to sustained stardom. By 2011, Blonsky had earned her cosmetology license and was working part-time as a hairstylist and makeup artist in her hometown of Great Neck, New York, between acting auditions.
SAMHSA from Rockville, Wikimedia Commons
Tony Danza
Who's the Boss? star faced his toughest audience yet when he walked into Room 230 at Northeast High School in Philadelphia for the 2009–2010 school year. At age 59, Tony Danza traded Hollywood for a classroom full of twenty-six tenth-graders who couldn't care less about his showbiz credentials.
ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons
Tony Danza (Cont.)
Danza got his teaching accreditation and continued teaching even after A&E's cameras stopped rolling for Teach: Tony Danza. He famously said, "After the show got canceled, I spent the rest of the year becoming the teacher my students deserved, because they only get to take 10th-grade English once”.
ABC, Teach – Tony Danza (2000)
Steve Buscemi
The day after September 11th, 2001, a familiar face appeared at Engine Company 55 in Manhattan's Little Italy. But this time, Steve Buscemi wasn't there for a movie role. The acclaimed actor, known for playing oddballs and gangsters, had served as an FDNY firefighter.
David Shankbone, Wikimedia Commons
Steve Buscemi (Cont.)
He took the civil service exam at 18 because his father believed in public service. For several days after 9/11, Buscemi worked 12-hour shifts alongside his former colleagues, digging through World Trade Center rubble searching for survivors, many of whom were fellow firefighters.
Rhododendrites, Wikimedia Commons
Geoffrey Owens
The photo that made headlines worldwide in 2018 showed a familiar face behind a Trader Joe's checkout counter in Clifton, New Jersey. Geoffrey Owens, better known as Elvin Tibideaux from The Cosby Show, was wearing a name tag and working as a bagger.
NBC, The Cosby Show (1984–1992)
Geoffrey Owens (Cont.)
The Yale University graduate, son of former Congressman Major Owens, had been working there for over a year when a customer photographed him and shared it online, sparking what he called “job shaming”. Owens quit immediately due to privacy concerns, but later addressed the incident on Good Morning America.
'Cosby' actor Geoffrey Owens on being job-shamed by CNN
Vanilla Ice
When Ice Ice Baby made Vanilla Ice a household name in 1990, Rob Van Winkle used his newfound wealth to buy properties across the country. But the moment he decided to sell those properties after years of touring, something remarkable happened.
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby (Official Music Video) by Vanilla Ice
Vanilla Ice (Cont.)
He said that he made millions and didn't even change the carpet or the paint. This accidental discovery launched a lucrative second career. Van Winkle's real estate empire has grown to an estimated $20 million net worth, built on flipping distressed properties in prime locations.
Rick Marshall, Wikimedia Commons
MC Hammer
The baggy pants and flashy choreography of "U Can't Touch This" made MC Hammer one of the pop culture phenomena of the early 90s, with his album Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em becoming the first hip-hop record to achieve diamond status.
M.C. Hammer - U Can't Touch This by MC HAMMER
MC Hammer (Cont.)
But by the mid-90s, the same rapper who once commanded $33 million annually found himself filing for bankruptcy after his popularity waned and expenses spiraled out of control. Therefore, Hammer made a dramatic career pivot that surprised everyone: he became an ordained preacher.
Brian Solis, Wikimedia Commons
Mara Wilson
The little girl who captured hearts as Matilda and charmed audiences in Mrs Doubtfire made an important decision to step away from the spotlight after her mother's demise during the filming of Matilda in 1996. Wilson took a 12-year break from acting to focus on something different.
20th Century Fox, Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Mara Wilson (Cont.)
This was writing and nonprofit work. While attending New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, she realized her true passion lay behind the scenes rather than in front of cameras. By 2013, Wilson was working for Publicolor, a New York City-based nonprofit organization dedicated to repainting public schools.
Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA, Wikimedia Commons
