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SUCCESSFUL ACTORS WHO STARTED THEIR CAREER LATER IN LIFE

WHO SAYS YOU CAN’T TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS?

By Riesa Pascal

We so often hear about child stars who successfully transition into successful adult actors that it can be easy to forget that this is not everyone’s story. Here are six renowned actors who gave up unrelated careers to pursue acting in their adult life and managed to make a name for themselves.

Ken Jeong Ken Jeong had an interest in comedy from a young age, but his early career path led him to become a licensed physician. Though he practiced medicine by day, Jeong moonlighted as a comic by night and eventually took his talents to Los Angeles where he continued to work as a stand-up comedian, actor, and doctor. After scoring several small roles, Jeong's medical background came in handy when Judd Apatow needed an actor who had medical knowledge for his 2011 romantic comedy, Knocked Up. At 39 years old, the role proved to be a game-changer and Jeong quickly became a household name landing numerous other hilarious roles in The Hangover series, Community, and more.

Danny Glover Though Danny Glover acted throughout college in the 1960s, he decided post-graduation to work for the city of San Francisco as an evaluations specialist and program manager. A call to take up acting struck Glover in his late 20s and led him to set his sights on Hollywood. His breakthrough role came in his early 30s when he was cast in Steven Spielberg's Academy Award-winning drama, The Color Purple. In 1987, Glover became a household name when he co-starred opposite Mel Gibson in the actioncomedy Lethal Weapon, which turned into one of the most successful franchises of the 1980s and '90s. Glover also appeared in Predator 2 and Angels in the Outfield and remains an active actor today.

Wanda Sykes The daughter of an Army colonel, Sykes worked as a procurement officer with high-level clearance at the National Security Agency after graduating college in Washington, D.C. However, Sykes knew she had a talent for making people laugh and often performed as a standup comedian while working at the NSA. Sykes's first opportunity to truly pursue show business came as a writer and performer on The Chris Rock Show in her late 30s which even earned her an Emmy Award. Sykes also landed impressive gigs on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, MonsterIn-Law, and even ABC's hit comedy, Black-ish among other hits. Today Sykes continues to be one of the top female stand-up comics in the country. Terry Crews In 1991, Terry Crews was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams to play defense, but he ultimately played for several different teams over his five seasons of professional football. After making the difficult decision to retire at the age of 30, Crews fell into a depression before picking himself back up and deciding to try his hand at acting. He landed a series of small roles before securing his breakout role as the ex-con Damon Pearly in Ice Cube's cult hit, Friday After Next. Crews continued to show off his comedic skills on the big screen in the films White Chicks and The Longest Yard. Today, Crews is a household name with a starring role in the long-running sitcom, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and several memorable commercials for Old Spice.

Mr. T Before he was a 1980s pop-culture sensation, Mr. T was just Lawrence Tureaud. His football talent as a youth earned him a university scholarship to play at Prairie View A&M University, but he was ultimately expelled after just one year. Tureaud then served as a military policeman in the Army. In the 1970s, he worked as a nightclub bouncer in Chicago and developed his Mr. T persona. At the age of 30, Sylvester Stallone saw Mr. T in a televised strongman competition and cast him as the trash-talking boxer Clubber Lang in Rocky III. The movie became a huge box-office hit and his famous catchphrase, "I pity the fool," became a part of the '80s lexicon. In 1983, Mr. T landed the role of B.A. Baracus on The A-Team and became so popular that he even got invited to the White House to meet Ronald Reagan… talk about a successful career transition!

Jon Hamm Never thought I’d be jealous of a random high school in St. Louis, but I was after I found out that handsome Missouriborn actor John Hamm spent two years teaching high school drama there after finishing college! Maybe enough students (and their moms) told him he looked like a movie star, because in the mid-1990s he decided to head to Hollywood with the dream of becoming an actor. It wasn’t smooth sailing right away though and Hamm had to pick up waiting tables to make ends meet. Finally, at the age of 36, Hamm won his breakout role as Don Draper on the hit AMC drama Mad Men, eventually going on to even win an Emmy Award for his performance.