Actors Who Wound Up In Normal Jobs

Lots of celebrities will regale interviewers and talk show hosts with stories of their best or worst jobs as aspiring actors. Even stars who seem to be born for the silver screen have come from humble beginnings, such as Margot Robbie's experience slicing bread at Subway before she started dominating the box office. Bryan Cranston also has an endless amount of stories about the odd jobs throughout his life pre-"Malcolm in the Middle," from being a security guard to performing weddings as an ordained minister. 

For those who aren't in the entertainment industry, it may seem like all it takes is one acting role to set you up for a lifetime of luxury. In reality, the opposite is true. Most actors struggle to make a living in Hollywood compared to the very few who become mainstream celebrities, as evidenced by the consequences of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike putting union members out of work. More often than not, these working actors end up back where they started before their big breaks, returning to an average civilian life and working in regular jobs. 

While some actors may find joy in eschewing the A-list lifestyle for something simpler, others actually ended up in careers outside the entertainment industry by virtue of their success. These 20 memorable performers may still have a foot in the door of the acting world, but nowadays, their focus is on taking jobs that are a far cry from being Hollywood stars. 

'80s rom-com fans love "Sixteen Candles," the 1984 film from John Hughes which jump-started the careers of Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall as members of the "Brat Pack." However, one actor has faded from the limelight in the 40 years since the film's release: Michael Schoeffling, who starred in the film as Jake, the love interest of Ringwald's Samantha Baker. Although he followed up "Sixteen Candles" with appearances in "Vision Quest" in 1985 and "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken" in 1991, Schoeffling made the bold choice to abandon his acting career in pursuit of a much more humble profession.

After his final film appearance in '91, Schoeffling left Hollywood with his wife to open up a furniture store in Pennsylvania. The company has done pretty well, opening up several locations throughout the state, as well as in Florida. As for his acting career, Schoeffling has made no return, not even to give an interview or attend a screening of one of his films in the years since they premiered.

Even before his official retirement, Schoeffling told The Los Angeles Times about his passion for woodworking in 1990, saying, "The thing about furniture that's much better than acting is that it's just me. There's no director, no script — the concept is me, unless a client wants something." While it's a shame that the once-burgeoning movie star left the entertainment industry, his legacy as Jake in "Sixteen Candles" is far from a thing of the past. 

Not everyone who starred on one of the biggest shows from the Disney Channel went on to become a huge superstar like Selena Gomez. For instance, Jennifer Stone was in the cast of "Wizards of Waverly Place" alongside the future "Emilia Perez" actress as Harper Finkle, the best friend of Alex Russo. Her acting career never outshined her Disney Channel origins, as she made appearances in original moves like "Dadnapped," as well as a brief guest starring role in the animated series "Phineas & Ferb." However, Stone's future ended up leading her to much more important pursuits.

In 2020, Stone shared on social media that she had finished nursing school and finally become a registered nurse right as COVID-19 had broken out nationwide. Talking to Teen Vogue about her commitment to helping frontline workers in the middle of the global pandemic, Stone said, "It's very different and it's an odd time to start working, but I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to actually be able to help." 

Her commitment to the world of healthcare didn't stop there. In 2022, Stone partnered with Medtronic Diabetes to help raise awareness about advanced ways to help patients with type 1 diabetes, which she was diagnosed with in 2013 and sparked her interest in studying nursing. She may not be appearing in the new reboot of "Wizards of Waverly Place," but that's because she's too busy doing something much more heroic in the real world. 

Anyone who grew up watching "iCarly" on Nickelodeon probably still has dreams of Nevel Papperman and his indignant promise that Carly and her friends would "rue the day" they crossed him. However, revenge is at the bottom of the list of priorities for Nevel's actor, Reed Alexander, whose promising career was put on hold while he attended New York University to study digital media and earned a graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University. 

After a few stints at The Wall Street Journal and CNN, Alexander got a job as a correspondent for Insider, covering not just entertainment news but world news, politics, and mental health. As Alexander told Lithium Magazine, he's not entirely removed from his past as Nevel Papperman, but believes that investigative journalism is "the identity that I affiliate with the most. But who I am is nuanced, and one very important layer that brought me here is [being] an actor who portrayed this character on a show that meant a lot to many people."

That's not all Alexander has been involved with in the years since child acting. He reprised his role as Nevel Papperman in two episodes of Paramount+'s "iCarly" reboot, and also published a cookbook in 2013 focused on eating healthy. Since 2022, Alexander has also been teaching journalism at the University of Miami, adding yet another bullet point on his ever-growing resume. 

Kay Panabaker had a lot of promise as a performer in the 2000s. She started out her acting career on the WB drama "Summerland," in which she played the whip-smart Nikki, whose boyfriend Cameron is played by a then-unknown Zac Efron. After winning a Young Artists Award in 2005 for her performance as Nikki, Panabaker's acting career continued with a six-episode stint on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," a lead role on the ABC dramedy "No Ordinary Family," and a lead role in the 2009 remake of the 1980 musical "Fame." 

However, rather than pursuing a career as an actor, Panabaker took a sharp right turn after she started attending UCLA in search of a different life. Surprisingly, Panabaker has quite the knack for education, having graduated as her high school's valedictorian at 13, and earned her bachelor's degree at UCLA before she turned 18. It didn't take long for Panabaker's return to school to help find her a new passion: animals. 

As she told Naperville Magazine about her decision to leave Hollywood, "I no longer had that love, that passion [for acting] ... I was 21 at the time ["No Ordinary Family"] ended. I spent a couple years after that in LA, still auditioning, but the passion wasn't there." After enrolling in a zoology program in Gainesville, Florida, Panabaker got a job as an Animal Keeper at Disney World Orlando, where she still works to this day. 

Jonathan Taylor Thomas's tragic true life story may come as a surprise to those who fell in love with the actor in the '90s. He's best known as the voice of young Simba in Disney's "The Lion King," while also starring in over 170 episodes of the ABC sitcom "Home Improvement" as Randy, the mischievous son of Tim Allen's Tim Taylor. However, like many before and after him, Thomas didn't love the life of being a child star, and instead took the opportunity to attend Harvard University in 2000. 

Thomas' acting jobs were few and far between in the 21st century, including several guest spots on Allen's follow-up sitcom "Last Man Standing," as well as appearances in "Smallville" and "Veronica Mars." Thomas graduated from Columbia University in 2010, but hasn't appeared on-screen since 2015. What he's been doing since, surprisingly, isn't too far from the entertainment industry.

In 2017, Thomas was voted to become a board member of the SAG-AFTRA union, alongside the likes of Martin Sheen and Regina King. He ran for re-election and retained his seat in 2019, a position he still holds to this day. Aside from that job, Thomas has been enjoying a more peaceful life, telling People Magazine, "It was a great period in my life, but it doesn't define me. When I think back on the time ... I focus on the good moments I had, not that I was on a lot of magazine covers."

You may not recognize Mara Wilson today, but you would definitely recognize her younger self. The actress had a fruitful movie career as a child actor, with her first film appearance in 1993's "Mrs. Doubtfire." However, Wilson is likely much more recognizable in the titular role of 1996's "Matilda," which co-starred Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman. But it wasn't long before the well began to dry up, causing Wilson to re-consider her film career and take a step back to consider a different path, starting with graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

The following years saw things really improve for Wilson, between performing in theater, writing her own plays, and even publishing a memoir about her life as a child star. As she described on her blog in 2012, she's not envious of her famous past, writing, "I don't have any plans to pursue film acting ... Yes, I do still act sometimes. But when I do, it's with people I know and trust, people who respect me as a person and appreciate what I have to offer."

She still dabbles in voice acting from time to time, appearing in "BoJack Horseman" and "Big Hero 6: The Series," but she mainly focuses on writing books and the occasional op-ed, where she's voiced her thoughts on the media's treatment of child stars. She also frequently narrates audiobooks and lends her commentary to several podcasts, which you can follow on her Instagram.

Once upon a time, this actor was "a sophisticated sex robot sent back in time to change the future for one lucky lady." Or at least, that's what his character Chuck "The Sherminator" Sherman claimed to be in the iconic 1999 comedy "American Pie." Chris Owen had a promising acting career, appearing in the 1999 drama "October Sky," 2003's "National Lampoon's Gold Diggers," and every sequel to the "American Pie" franchise, including the direct-to-video movie "American Pie Presents: Band Camp." 

More recently, Owen was spotted working as a waiter at a sushi restaurant in Santa Monica. As Owen told the NY Daily News, "Life doesn't always go the way you planned ... I love acting and this job lets me stay in the fight." The actor has seen some more frequent work with films like "The Last Sharknado: It's About Time," "Money Game," and "The Epidemic." He even made an appearance at various fan conventions throughout the 2020s, most recently at the Pittsburgh Comic-Con in December 2024, proving he's still more than proud of his role as the Sherminator. 

When "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" was released in 1982, boys around the world became enamored with Phoebe Cates. For better or worse, her iconic scene in the film was described by Rolling Stone as "the most memorable bikini-drop in cinema history," though by the end of the 1980s, she was already looking for a way out of Hollywood. In the '90s, she had a string of box office bombs, as well as her first pregnancy forcing her to miss out on a starring role in "Father of the Bride." 

It should come as no surprise, given how her career post "Fast Times" and "Gremlins" was panning out, that Phoebe Cates quit Hollywood to raise a family with her husband, actor Kevin Kline. Her final film role before retirement was in 2001's "The Anniversary Party," co-written and co-directed by her "Fast Times" co-star and friend Jennifer Jason Leigh. 

Nevertheless, Cates has stayed quite busy outside of her acting career. In 2005, she opened a boutique store, Blue Tree, in New York City, where she currently lives with her husband and children. Not only is the store still around to this day, but Cates has even been spotted working the counter in recent years.

It can often be hard to escape from the shadow of an iconic role, but Frankie Muniz has had no trouble. The actor's big break came as the titular character in the Fox sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle," which ran from 2000 to 2006. The show received numerous nominations at the Primetime Emmys, with Muniz nominated once, Bryan Cranston nominated three times, and Jane Kaczmarek and Cloris Leachman both nominated for every season, with Leachman winning twice. 

Although his performance was certainly memorable, when Muniz looks back on his days as a child actor, there's not much he can remember. After suffering several concussions throughout his life, Muniz discovered he was suffering from aura migraines, which has caused gaps in his memory and the inability to distinguish dreams from reality. Thankfully, he still keeps in touch with his TV family.

Shortly after the end of "Malcolm in the Middle," Muniz pursued a different line of work: race car driving. After competing in the late 2000s, Muniz made his debut as a stock car racer in 2021, and in 2024, he was announced to be driving full-time for the NASCAR Truck Series in 2025, telling People Magazine, "I don't want to say it's a long time coming, but this has been a dream of mine for forever ... I want people to know that I've literally dedicated my life to this." However, he's still open to the idea of returning to acting. 

Few people have done as much as Bridgit Mendler has in 32 years. She got her start in acting at 11 years old, appearing in the Disney Channel's "Wizards of Waverly Place," "Good Luck, Charlie," and "Lemonade Mouth." As a side-gig, like many other Disney Channel star, Mendler pursued a career in pop music, resulting in her debut album, "Hello My Name Is..." charting on the Billboard 200. 

As if all that wasn't enough, Mendler had also been pursuing a bachelor's degree in anthropology at the University of Southern California throughout the early 2010s, but dropped out in 2016. In 2018, she joined the graduate program at MIT specializing in media arts and sciences, which she graduated from two years later. Even then, she still wasn't done with education, pursuing a PhD at MIT and earning yet another degree from Harvard Law. 

In 2020, she founded a satellite startup called Northwood Space, which she started exploring as a new career path during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with Naomi Scott for Hero Magazine, Mendler said, "I think I started to feel a bit of that disconnect with what I was doing in my day-to-day, in entertainment and started to put out feelers into more of the research domain ... I grew up with parents who said, 'Do something in your life that matters.'" By the look of it, Mendler sure did listen. 

"Two and a Half Men" may have changed Charlie Sheen forever, but it also did so for Angus T. Jones, who at 10 years old was cast in the CBS sitcom as Jake, the son of Jon Cryer's character. By the time he was 17, Jones was the highest-paid child actor on television at the time, earning $300,000 per episode. 

A few years later, the actor's life took a drastic turn when he became involved with the Forerunner Christian Church, denouncing the show by saying, "I don't want to be on ["Two and a Half Men"]. Please stop watching it and filling your head with filth," (via The Hollywood Reporter). By 2014, Jones had officially departed from the show, aside from a cameo during the series finale in 2015. Jones later apologized for his harsh remarks about the show, blaming it on a brief fatalistic view of the world. 

The years after saw Jones go down a much different route than child stardom as he partnered with Justin Combs, son of P. Diddy, to become president of entertainment for Tonite, an event production company. Although Jones recently reunited with Sheen and "Two and a Half Men" creator Chuck Lorre in a cameo for the Max comedy series "Bookie," the former sitcom actor seemingly has no plans to return to Hollywood. 

Amanda Bynes is another child star whose career took an unexpected turn as she entered adulthood. She debuted on the Nickelodeon sketch series "All That," later getting her own series, "The Amanda Show." Her film career included hits like "She's the Man," "Hairspray," and "Easy A," but in the 2010s she made headlines for a series of mental health episodes, placing her in a conservatorship in 2013. The conservatorship was officially terminated in 2022, but Bynes suffered another psychotic episode in 2023 after agreeing to appear in an "All That" reunion panel. 

As it turns out, there were a lot of disgusting moments behind-the-scenes of "The Amanda Show," exposed by "Quiet on Set," a docuseries released in 2024. Sadly, Bynes isn't the only child star who suffered from a toxic work environment. Thankfully though, things seem to be getting better for Bynes after she announced on Instagram that she was taking a step back from the limelight to become a manicurist and settle into a normal, steady job for the first time. 

Bynes has continued to share updates about her journey via social media, having re-enrolled in school to pass the board exam for a manicurist license. However, returning to acting is unlikely after her self-image was hurt by "Easy A," admitting in 2018, "I was convinced that I should never be on camera again and I officially retired on Twitter, which was, you know, also stupid," (via IndieWire).

Kal Penn is most recognizable as one half of the "Harold & Kumar" duo, but he also made appearances in TV shows like "House" and "How I Met Your Mother." Many fans may be surprised to learn that in 2009, Penn was hired as an associate director of the White House's Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs in Barack Obama's administration. 

Penn admitted in his 2021 memoir, "You Can't Be Serious," that he actually got his first White House job with the Obamas by applying online rather than leveraging his celebrity status. As he wrote of his interview with adviser Valerie Jarrett, "As the interview wrapped up, I needed to settle any jitters I had about the reasons for my employment once and for all. 'Valerie ... can you assure me I'm not being hired just because I'm a recognizable actor?' 'I can assure you,' she smiled politely, 'that you're being hired in spite of it,'" (via The Hill).

Penn left the position in 2010 to return to acting, which ironically included playing a White House staffer in the thriller series "Designated Survivor." Penn was re-hired during Obama's second term as part of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. He resigned from the committee in 2017, protesting Donald Trump's remarks on the Charlottesville riots. 

It's been a good couple of years for Pamela Anderson, with her recent film "The Last Showgirl" attracting Oscar buzz for the former "Baywatch" star. This is coming off her acclaimed Broadway debut in "Chicago" in 2022, as well as a 2023 Netflix documentary, "Pamela, a Love Story." Amidst all the recent success in spite of Anderson's turbulent life story, it may shock some fans that, for a brief moment, Anderson took on a side-gig of dog-walking.

During her run on Broadway, Anderson was separated from her four dogs living in Canada, but remedied this by offering her services as an unpaid professional dog-walker. Speaking to the New York Post, dog owner Jonathan Walland praised Anderson's treatment of his Irish setter, Dash, saying, "Pam got wonderful reviews playing Roxie Hart in 'Chicago' — but Dash is her biggest fan." If you were living in New York in 2022, chances are you may have walked past Anderson and Dash in Central Park on any given weekday. 

Anderson likely won't be setting up shop as a professional dog-walker anytime soon, given she has a lot on her plate between awards season appearances and upcoming projects like Akiva Schaffer's "The Naked Gun" and Karim Aïnouz's thriller "Rosebush Pruning." Gone are the days where you rarely hear from Pamela Anderson anymore.

While his twin brother Cole Sprouse was involved in the craziest things to ever happen in "Riverdale," Dylan Sprouse was on a much different path in life. The two brothers got their start on the Disney Channel show "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," but later attended New York University. Cole went on archaeological excavations in Bulgaria prior to joining "Riverdale," while Dylan studied video game design, but surprisingly found himself doing something competely different by the end of the decade.

In 2018, Dylan opened All-Wise Meadery, a craft mead company in Brooklyn, New York. As he told Vanity Fair, "I think that if you are an actor, or you are an entertainer, and you don't invest money in something that is more stable than the commission job that is acting, then you are a fool." Right Dylan was, as All-Wise Meadery grossed over $1 million in 2019 alone, although their physical locations ended up closing due to the pandemic. 

Dylan hasn't strayed far from Viking cuisine — he also co-founded a protein-based Icelandic yogurt company called Thor's Skyr with Hafþór Björnsson (who you may remember as The Mountain from "Game of Thrones") and restauranteur Unnar Danielsson. Of their partnership, Danielsson praised Dylan's authentic love for Nordic culture, which has seemingly kept the company in business to this day. Maybe there's a chance for the brothers to reunite for "Suitelivet til Zack og Cody." 

Speaking of Vikings, you may remember Katheryn Winnick from her breakout role as Lagertha in the History Channel series "Vikings." Few female characters on television have kicked as much butt as Lagertha, and it's all thanks to Winnick's deep background in martial arts. She received her first black belt at the age of 13, and by her early 20s, she was operating three tae kwon do studios in Toronto, Canada. That background even led her to Hollywood, teaching martial arts on movie sets before her first role at 17. 

Although she's now been nominated at the Critics' Choice Awards for her performance on "Vikings," Winnick hasn't left her martial arts background in the past. In 2015, she opened "WIN KAI Women's Self Defense," a training initiative to teach women self-defense for free. As Winnick said on Live with Kelly and Ryan, not only is she also a certified bodyguard, but claimed, "Every set that I go to or am a part of, I teach the crew members and the other actors [self-defense], ... I think it's really important." 

As if "Vikings" wasn't enough proof that Winnick isn't somebody you should mess with, she's also been involved in combating the war in Ukraine. In 2022, she started "The Winnick Foundation" to fund the needs of Ukrainian survivors, and is an ambassador for UNITED24's fundraising efforts. Amidst all this work, Winnick paused her break from TV for "Big Sky," a crime drama series on ABC. 

Geoffrey Owens graduated cum laude from Yale University, starred in "The Cosby Show" from 1985 to its finale in 1992, and has made several appearances in shows like "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "That's So Raven." And yet, the internet was surprised to discover that in 2018, Owens was working as a cashier at a Trader Joe's in New Jersey. Many celebrities came to Owens' defense from social media "job-shaming," but the publicity ended up being quite good for his career. 

Shortly after the news went viral, Tyler Perry offered Owens a recurring role in his OWN drama "The Haves and the Have Nots." However, Owens told the "Big Tigger Morning Show" that he had actually quit his job at Trader Joe's by then, saying, "It was strange because someone had been in the store taking pictures ... And I was like, well now that this is breaking, I'm not going to feel comfortable working in this store wondering who's around with a camera."

Although Owens has since made appearances in films like "Ezra" or TV shows like "Mythic Quest," he claims to still struggle making a living as an actor, and has even gone back to Trader Joe's to ask for more hours. It goes to show that being a working actor isn't always as glamorous as it seems. 

Drew Barrymore has spent an incredibly long time in Hollywood. She made her acting debut before she was even one year old in a TV commercial, but her breakout role was as Gertie in "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial." She immediately became one of the biggest child stars of the 1980s, even hosting "Saturday Night Live" at 7 years old. However, the life of a child star wasn't all glitz and glam for Barrymore, between stints in rehab for substance abuse and self-harm as well as a rebellious streak in her teens that severely damaged her public image. 

At 15 years old, Barrymore successfully petitioned to become emancipated from her parents and declared a legal adult. As she recounted in her memoir "Wildflower," she moved into her own apartment and got a job at a nearby coffeehouse, writing, "I wasn't great at my job. I wasn't really great at anything. I had only done two things: acted and had wild life experiences. But neither of those prepares you for the real world," (via The Guardian).

However, the coffeehouse job ended up introducing Barrymore to a best friend and future co-star: Cameron Diaz. The years after saw Barrymore rehabilitate her public image, eventually becoming a bankable star yet again with films like "The Wedding Singer," "Donnie Darko," and "50 First Dates." Since 2020, she's been hosting "The Drew Barrymore Show" on CBS, which is about to enter its sixth season in 2025. 

Matthew McConaughey started out as a comedy actor with "Dazed and Confused" and "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," but his career took a surprising dramatic shift in the 2010s with his Oscar-winning performance in "Dallas Buyers Club," an Emmy-nominated performance in the first season of "True Detective," and Christopher Nolan's sci-fi drama "Interstellar," re-defining him as an actor.  

However, as he opened up about in Interview Magazine with Glen Powell, he needed a two-year break from Hollywood to re-evaluate his career choices, saying, "I had long talks with my wife about needing to find a new vocation. 'I think I'm going to teach high school classes. I think I'm going to study to be a conductor. I think I'm going to go be a wildlife guide.'" He found that new vocation in 2019 as a professor at his alma mater, The University of Texas at Austin, teaching film, commercials, and acting. 

As of 2024, McConaughey is still actively teaching classes, with high ratings on RateMyProfessor.com. In his "Script to Screen" course, McConaughey takes students all the way from the very first script of a project to the finished product, interspersed with anecdotes and life lessons he's learned throughout his career. He hasn't fully left Hollywood behind, either, lending his voice to Netflix's "Agent Elvis" and taking over Kevin Costner's role in the "Yellowstone" television universe. 

Simply put, Audrey Hepburn is one of the most iconic actors in the history of cinema. She rose to prominence after starring in "Roman Holiday" with Gregory Peck, winning her numerous accolades, including the Academy Award for best actress in 1953. Hepburn went on to be nominated four more times for films like "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "The Nun's Story," while also nabbing Tony Awards for her work on Broadway. However, as the years went on, Hepburn's acting career waned in favor of humanitarian work.

In 1989, the same year as her final film appearance in Steven Spielberg's "Always," Hepburn became the Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, having been involved in the organization since the end of World War II. She traveled the world, dedicating herself to helping sick and needy children, saying of a trip to Ethiopia that she "witnessed how much is being done to help and how just a small amount of aid can assist in treating the sick, irrigating the land and planting new crops," (via UNICEF).

For her work across the globe with UNICEF, Hepburn was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H.W. Bush in 1992. A year later, she passed away at 63 years old, leaving behind a legacy not just in film, but in the world as we know it.