Before Saturday Night Live made him a star, Bill Murray was cutting his teeth at Second City in Chicago, brought in by his older brother Brian Doyle-Murray. In 1974, John Belushi recruited him to work on The National Lampoon Radio Hour, where he worked alongside Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, and Chevy Chase. It was basically a who's who of future comedy legends, all grinding it out before any of them had fully broken through. | © Sony Pictures Releasing
From the age of 10, Steve Martin worked at Disneyland for eight years, selling guidebooks, spinning lassos, and eventually demonstrating tricks at the Fantasyland Magic Shop. It was there that he became obsessed with Wally Boag, the resident comedian at the Golden Horseshoe Revue, whom Martin has called the first comedian he ever saw in person. He studied Boag's timing so closely that he would mouth the punchlines along with him, and has said that everything he learned about comedy started right there. | © GQ / YouTube
Before Mad Men made him one of the most recognizable faces on television, Jon Hamm spent years in Los Angeles waiting tables and working as a set dresser on adult films just to pay the bills. He kept auditioning through it all, even after his talent agency dropped him after three years of limited results. He was 36 years old when he finally landed the role of Don Draper, proof that sometimes the breakthrough just takes longer than expected. | © Lionsgate Television
Before Suits and before the royal wedding, Meghan Markle was teaching calligraphy, wrapping gifts, and binding books at her local Paper Source stationery store. It's about as far from Buckingham Palace as you can get, but it speaks to how grounded her pre-fame life actually was. Not every celebrity origin story involves working for another star, sometimes it's just a regular job at a craft store. | © Netflix
Before joining the cast of Girls, Allison Williams was working as Tina Fey's second assistant during the production of Baby Mama and 30 Rock. She landed the job through a connection of her father, news anchor Brian Williams. It's the kind of early Hollywood hustle that doesn't get talked about much once the bigger roles start coming in. | © Late Night with Seth Meyers / YouTube
Long before she became a Real Housewives fixture and built her Skinnygirl empire, Bethenny Frankel was working as a nanny for Kathy Hilton, looking after a young Paris and Nicky. The connection came full circle in 2020 when Frankel invited Paris onto her podcast, and the two laughed about the days when Frankel used to pick her up from school. It's one of those only-in-Hollywood backstories that's hard to make up. | © Call Her Daddy / YouTube
Before Keeping Up with the Kardashians turned the whole family into stars, Khloé Kardashian had a brief stint working for Nicole Richie on her podcast Emergency Contact. It's a lesser-known chapter in her pre-fame story, especially compared to her sister Kim's closet-organizing days. Clearly, the Kardashian sisters had a thing for working with other celebrities before becoming celebrities themselves. | © Vanity Fair / YouTube
Before landing her career-defining role on Scandal, Katie Lowes was working as a nanny for actress Connie Britton. The arrangement didn't last long. Lowes was cast in the show not long after. Britton has spoken warmly about her, calling her a phenomenal person and admitting she really wanted to keep her as a nanny, which is a lovely way to lose an employee. | © TheEllenShow / YouTube
Long before Modern Family made him a household name, Eric Stonestreet was working security at a Garth Brooks concert back in 1995. It was about as entry-level as it gets, but the story has a nice ending. The two recently crossed paths backstage at a show and took a photo together. Not a bad full-circle moment for a former security guard. | © Graham Bensinger / YouTube
Long before Zac Posen became one of fashion's most recognizable names, he was babysitting a young Lena Dunham and walking her to school every morning. He would even do her hair for the subway ride. The two clearly stayed close, Posen went on to design her red carpet looks years later, which is a pretty sweet full-circle moment. | © NBC News
Before the Kardashian empire took over reality television, Kourtney Kardashian was working as her mother Kris Jenner's personal assistant. She's spoken about the experience in interviews, saying it taught her a lot about what it means to be in charge. Jenner, for her part, called her daughter a great student, which tracks, given how Kourtney eventually built her own brand from the ground up. | © TheEllenShow / YouTube
Before her breakout role in Step Up, Jenna Dewan was working as a backup dancer for Justin Timberlake. The professional relationship didn't stay strictly professional for long: the two dated for a period of time as well. Dewan has said they're still on good terms, which makes it one of the more amicable entries on this list. | © Jennifer Hudson Show / YouTube
While working at a theater in Massachusetts early in his career, Kiefer Sutherland occasionally found himself looking after a young Gwyneth Paltrow, whose mother, Blythe Danner, was also working there at the time. It wasn't exactly a formal arrangement: he's described it as watching her for an hour or two here and there. Still, the idea of a future Hollywood star babysitting another future Hollywood star is a fun piece of trivia. | © The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon / YouTube
Long before she became a household name, Kim Kardashian was working as Paris Hilton's personal assistant and closet organiser, a job she'd apparently gotten quite good at. The two had been friends since childhood, which is how Kardashian landed the gig in the first place. She went on to organise closets for Serena Williams, Cindy Crawford, Nicole Richie, and Lindsay Lohan as well, which in hindsight reads like a very glamorous early resume. | © Call Her Daddy / YouTube
Before Kanye West became a superstar in his own right, he was working as a producer for Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records label. The two had a solid friendship and working relationship at the time, with West behind the boards, crafting tracks for the label. It's one of those origin stories that feels almost hard to believe now, given how massive both of their careers eventually became. | © Kanye West / YouTube
Before the fame, the red carpets, and the million-dollar paychecks, even some of Hollywood's biggest names were running errands, answering phones, and taking orders from other celebrities. These are the stars who got their start working for someone just as famous, or even more so.
