They started from the bottom and eventually managed to summit the mountain. Celebrities were not always celebrities (at least back then you had to work for it), and some of them had rather interesting jobs before they got their first big break.

1. Chevy Chase

Before rising to stardom as an actor and comedian, Chase held down a wide range of normal person jobs. At different points in his younger years, he worked as a cab driver, construction worker, wine salesman, motorcycle messenger, and of course as a truck driver. Imagine getting a cab ride from Chevy Chase.

2. Liam Neeson

We all remember Neeson for his iconic roles, specifically when he played Oskar Schindler in the Oscar winning film Schindler's List and more recently from his starring role in the Taken series. But while he was back in Ireland, before he had risen to fame as an action star, he worked as a forklift operator at the Guinness Brewery, and also as a trucker.

3. James Cameron

Before the world famous director would go on to make movies like Titanic and Avatar, he was in college majoring in physics. He was working as a truck driver in order to support his hobby of making films, and after seeing Star Wars he decided it was time to take his chance so he quit trucking and jumped into film making.

4. Sean Connery

Sean Connery, the Scotsman who played the original British super-spy James Bond, was actually already a tough S.O.B, before he broke into the film industry. He was the son of a truck driver, and after he left her Majesty's Royal Navy, he went into the family business. Luckily for us, he decided to pursue an acting career as well.

Isn't it surprising to see who people were before they got wildly famous? Keep reading to see who else drove the big rigs before making it big.

5. Viggo Mortensen

Mortensen was literally all over the map before becoming a famous actor. He was born in New York, raised in Argentina, moved back to New York, and then took off to his father's homeland in Denmark. It was in Denmark that he worked as a flower salesman and truck driver in Copenhagen. Weird...

6. Richard Pryor

Richard Pryor died as one of comedy's most iconic legends. He was controversial before it was "cool" to be so. But before he was rocking sold out shows all over the continent, he was a truck driver, a factory worker, and was even in the army for a little while. He was tossed out of the army for stabbing another soldier during a random fight.

7. Rock Hudson

The original "beefcake", Rock Hudson was grinding it out as he tried to make a breakthrough in Hollywood. He just up and moved to Hollywood with hopes of becoming a star, but as with most aspiring actors, he found out that it wasn't going to be that easy. He worked as a truck driver throughout the city, and he would often park his truck outside of Hollywood movie studios during his off time.

8. Elvis Presley

The King of Rock and Roll wasn't always the king. In fact, he wasn't much of anybody before making it as a musician. Back in the mid fifties, Elvis worked as a long haul driver for the Crown Electric Company, making around $1 per hour, just trying to grind out an existence. He once had a band member tell him to stick to trucking because he would never be able to make it in the music industry. Boy, wasn't that guy's face red a few years later.

It just shows you that sometimes you have to grind through crap in order to make your dreams come true.