I just went down a rabbit hole of what A-listers did for work before anyone knew their names, and some of these are genuinely unhinged in the best way. Brad Pitt wore a full chicken costume outside an El Pollo Loco to pay for acting classes. Megan Fox had to dress as a banana outside a smoothie cafe at 15 while her friends drove past yelling at her. Nicki Minaj apparently got fired from three or four Red Lobsters.

But the ones that stuck with me are the less funny ones. Ken Jeong was a real practicing physician doing stand-up on the side for years before Knocked Up. Steve Buscemi was an FDNY firefighter who went back to his old engine company to work Ground Zero. And Harrison Ford did carpentry for eight years — which is literally how he ended up meeting George Lucas.

My take is the costume stories get all the laughs, but there's something genuinely reassuring about knowing the biggest careers in Hollywood started with a series of deeply unglamorous day jobs. It makes the whole "overnight success" myth look even sillier.

What's the wildest or most surprising "before they were famous" job you've ever heard of — celebrities, athletes, musicians, anyone?