1) Vin Deisel offered a part in a play after breaking into a theater
Vin Deisel (born Mark Sinclair Vincent), as it is with all of us, did some stupid things. One of them being he and his brother and a few friends broke into a theater. However, instead of calling the police, the artistic director offered them the opportunity to try out for the play. Deisel got a part and continued to pursue acting. Later his mother gave him a book that encouraged him to make his own movie...so he did. It was highly received and after Spielberg saw it, he got a part in Saving Private Ryan.
"Mark's first break in acting happened by chance, when at the age of seven he and his friends broke into a theater named "Theatre for the New City," which was produced in Greenwich Village, to vandalize it. To their surprise, a woman stopped and offered them each a script and $20, on the condition that they would attend everyday after school. From there, Mark's career progressed from the New York repertory company run by his father, to the Off-Off-Broadway circuit."
"It was Vin's mother who gave her desperate son a book by Rick Schmidt called "Feature Films at Used Car Prices." The advice within the book later on led Vin to take control of his career and make his own movies."
-Vin Diesel: Fueled For Success
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2) Sylvester Stallone started out in soft core and sold his dog before selling his script for Rocky
Stallone, desperate, made $200 for two days work on soft core movie. While working odd jobs and including cleaning the lions cages at the central park zoo and ushering at a movie theater, he had an interest in writing and created a screen play featuring a boxer trying to make it big. The screenplay had some momentum, but Stallone held to his guns and demanded the lead role. He got it, the rest is history.
"After graduation, Stallone eventually went on to college. First, he attended the American College in Switzerland where he studied drama. Stallone then went to the University of Miami, again choosing to focus on the dramatic arts. He left school before completing his degree to go to New York City to pursue an acting career."
Screen Actors Guild: Sylvester Stallone
Stallone offered 300,000 for the script but he wouldn't sell it if he couldn't play Rocky
This was after he sold his dog because he couldn't afford dog food
(16:16)
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3) [Christopher] Ashton Kutcher: teenage vandalism, contemplated suicide, bar tender then model
Born Christopher Ashton Kutcher, he had a difficult childhood with a combination of not fitting in partially because he was confident, outgoing and coming off as arrogant and wanting to be the center of attention with the added stresses of having a brother with cerebral palsy. Kutcher later majored in biochemical engineering with the purpose of helping to find a cure. The stress of his home life lead to a suicide attempt, but thankfully was thwarted by his father. Later he was discovered by a talent scout at a bar who hooked him up with his first modeling job.
"After graduating in 1996, Kutcher went to the University of Iowa to study biochemical engineering. He joined a fraternity and continued his partying ways for the first few months before hitting the books. In addition to his studies, Kutcher held a number of odd jobs to pay for school, including sweeping up cereal dust at a General Mills factory."
"But one night, in a moment of extremely bad judgement, Christopher and a friend decided to sneak onto the high school campus in teh middle of the night and get drunk."
-Ashton Kutcher: The Life and Loves of the King of Punk'd, Page 33
"Christopher and his cousin sneaked back into the high school on a mission to steal a copy of the test."
-Ashton Kutcher: The Life and Loves of the King of Punk'd, Page 34
"He has an older sister, Tausha, and a fraternal twin, Michael. Michael Kutcher has cerebral palsy and is a spokesman for Reaching for the Stars, an advocacy organization."
"This was a troubled time for Kutcher, largely due to his brother’s worsening health. At the age of thirteen, Kutcher attempted suicide by jumping from a hospital balcony, but his Father caught him before he could go through with it. When he was sixteen, Kutcher’s parents divorced, and during his senior year he and his cousin broke into their school at night, intending to steal money. Both were arrested and Kutcher was sentenced to three years’ probation."
"Although Michael's operation went smoothly, the seriousness of his condition had a profound effect on Ashton, who subsequently decided to enrol for a degree course in biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa, with the avowed aim of one day discover a cure for his brother's illness."
4) Harrison Ford started out as a carpenter,
offered the role of Han Solo, after only being told he couldn't get the part
George Lucas told Ford he couldn't audition for Han Solo because he wanted all new faces for his movie. But Ford read the part so well when helping to audition people, he gave it to him anyway.
"Frustrated with his lack of success as an actor, Ford became a carpenter to supplement in his income. George Lucas gave him his first important film role in his 1973 drama American Graffiti, but his career failed to progress much. He worked for Francis Ford Coppola as both a carpenter and an actor with small roles in The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979)."
Harrison Ford thought they should have killed off Han Solo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpaR3KDt_no
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8czqAf5qek&playnext=1&list=PL9DD11A5D553CA9E3&feature=results_main
Inside the Actors Studio: Harrison Ford says it was fun to play Han Solo, but it was weird
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqxzOLfZolM
Harrison Ford working as a carpenter, asked to read scripts and help cast for the parts...accidentally gets the part of Han Solo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjqaTHPHrxI
Because George Lucas wanted only new faces, he didn't allow Harrison Ford to audition for the part, but brought in to help audition the parts for Luke and Leigh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoQ1mOrV8Nc
(25:30)
5) Sean Connery
Sean Connery (James Bond) started out as a body builder to impress the ladies. While flexing his muscles, a dude offered him a role in the South Pacific musical, and although he couldn't dance or sing...he looked damn good.
"For months, he skimped and saved every shilling to become a member of the Dunedin Weightlifting Club. "It was not so much to be fit but to look good for the girls," he once admitted. The local ladies were impressed—but so were his fellow gym mates, who nominated him for the Mr. Universe contest. So, in 1953, Connery traveled the nine hours to London, where the competitions were held. He boldly introduced himself to the contest judges as "Mr. Scotland, pointedly flexing the ample muscles on his 6-foot 2-inch frame. He was chosen third in the tall men's division and given a medal—but that wasn't all. A local casting director in attendance liked the hammy Scottish kid and asked him to join the chorus of a new musical, South Pacific, playing on Drury Lane, in London's theater district. "I didn't have a voice, couldn't dance," Connery admitted. "But I could look good standing there.""
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