5 Celebrities Who Worked Minimum Wage Jobs

Minimum wage jobs. They aren’t always the most exciting or the most glamorous gigs, but they pay the bills (some of the bills, at least). Before you settled into your current career, you may have worked a minimum wage job or two. That experience likely prepared you for some tough work days at your current employer. Us regular folks have something in common with the world’s hottest movie stars and singers. Believe it or not, some celebrities have also had humble beginnings when it comes to work. Some of the biggest names in music, movies, and television have paid their dues in a minimum wage job. Here are a few celebrities who worked minimum wage jobs before they became famous.

1. Carly Rae Jespsen

Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly Rae Jepsen | Source: Cindy Ord/Getty Images

Sleep may not have been much of a priority for this singer. Carly Rae Jepsen spent a lot of time working regular jobs before getting her big break in the music industry. The songstress told Seventeen Magazine she held eight minimum wage jobs prior to releasing her hit song “Call Me Maybe.” Jepsen said she was so broke back then that she partially paid her band in spaghetti.

2. Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt | Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

People Magazine’s former Sexiest Man Alive held a job that wasn’t so sexy. Before becoming a movie heartthrob, Brad Pitt juggled his share of odd jobs. The actor dressed up as a chicken for fast-food restaurant El Pollo Loco (not so sexy) and chauffeured a limo for a strip-o-gram service (a little bit sexy), according to Entertainment Tonight.

3. Nicki Minaj

Source: MTV

Nicki Minaj | MTV

Nicki Minaj worked at a few minimum wage jobs prior to become a chart topper. Minaj did stints as a customer service representative and as a Red Lobster waitress. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately considering her current job), she didn’t last long at the Red Lobster gig. Minaj eventually got fired after flipping the bird at a couple, according to her interview with GQ.

4. Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey | Bennett Raglin/Getty Images

Mariah Carey didn’t always live the glamorous life. Before she had makeup artists and hair stylists waiting on her hand and foot, she did her time as a salon assistant. The five-time Grammy winner once worked at a salon sweeping hair from the floor, according to celebrity website Juicy Celeb.

5. Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey poses for photographers in London

Jim Carrey | JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images

Jim Carrey probably held one of the most unglamorous jobs of all. The actor put his domestic skills to use and took on a job as a janitor so that he could help support his family. He and his family worked nights to clean an Ontario warehouse, according to CNN. He eventually dropped out of high school at the age of 16 so that he could work full time.

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