People Are Talking About Popular Actors Who Were Genuinely "Discovered" Without The Help Of Nepotism And Money

Recently, Reddit user Certain_Guitar6109 asked about "actors that were truly 'discovered.'" They elaborated, "I'm wondering what actors out there were truly 'discovered' by someone in the industry and how? Not actors who made their way through family connections or that simply worked their way up, ones that were completely unknown but someone saw their talent and they made it big from that." Here are the best and top-voted responses:

1."Charlize Theron famously was discovered while arguing with a bank teller over an out-of-state check. She wasn't getting anywhere in LA at the time when she moved there in 1994. Talent agent John Crosby was behind her in line, cashed her check for her, and gave her his card."

closeup of her
Dimension Films

2."Edward Furlong was discovered at a Boy’s Club in Pasadena, California. No prior acting experience or ambition."

a preteen edward in a movie

TheBadSpy

"Yeah I remember the casting agent saying he stood out to her for being effortlessly cool. Which let's face it, back then, he certainly was."

ShameDoe

Cbs Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images

3."Danny Trejo. He boxed in prison and was an Alcoholics Anonymous and/or Narcotics Anonymous sponsor for a guy doing this movie set in a prison. The guy calls Trejo and says that his sobriety is threatened by being on set around all this booze and drugs. When Trejo gets there, someone brings up that the lead actor needs more boxing lessons. The guy Trejo was sponsoring said, 'This guy Danny knows how to box.' So Trejo was hanging out on set and advising the lead between takes. The director spots him, likes his look, and asks him to stand in as an extra. Trejo takes his shirt off, revealing that big tattoo across his chest, stands in the background, and the rest is history."

closeup of him boxing
The Cannon Group, Inc.

4."Angus Cloud. He was just walking down the streets of Manhattan when someone who was casting for what turned out to be Euphoria approached him. He initially thought it was a scam."

closeup of him
HBO

5."Rosario Dawson was spotted by a pre-production group that was scouting locations for the film Kids while sitting outside her home in New York. Eventually, the film's writer and director approached her and asked her to audition for the film."

closeup of her
Shining Excalibur Films

6."Johnny Depp drove a friend to audition for A Nightmare on Elm Street. Wes Craven's daughter saw him just hanging around and insisted that her dad give the 'most beautiful boy I've ever seen' an audition."

young johnny with headphones in bed

Lady_von_Stinkbeaver

"The friend Johnny Depp drove to the audition was Jackie Earle Haley. Jackie didn't get the part, but ironically, he ended up playing Freddy Kruger decades later in the lambasted remake."

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New Line Cinema

7."Matthew McConaughey was discovered by the Dazed And Confused casting director in a hotel bar. He had only done a commercial before that."

him smiling in a car in the film
Universal Pictures

8."Haley Joel Osment was discovered in an IKEA with his mom. A casting director saw him and asked him to describe the biggest thing he’d ever seen. He described the Grand Canyon and they used him for a Pizza Hut commercial about big pizzas."

closeup of him in the commercial
Pizza Hut

9."Shelley Duvall was a waitress in Texas when she met Robert Altman at a party. He was fascinated by her appearance and personality, so she got on a plane to Hollywood that night to film Brewster McCloud. She’d never been out of Texas."

closeup of her
MGM

10."Chris Pratt was waiting tables at a Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant in Hawaii when Rae Dawn Chong discovered him and put him in a movie she was directing."

closeup of him in a movie

11."Mr. T was a bouncer who impressed Sylvester Stallone during his appearance on a TV show called Games People Play. Mr. T was part of an 'America's Toughest Bouncer' contest and he tossed two stuntmen about really easily."

closeup of him
MGM

12."Kelly MacDonald was working in a bar when friends gave her flyers advertising open auditions for Trainspotting."

closeup of her character in a school uniform
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

13."Dolph Lundgren had a master's degree in chemical engineering and was slated to begin a Fulbright scholarship at MIT but was discovered in a bar by Grace Jones and was hired as a bodyguard. Becoming a couple, they moved to New York where he got involved with modeling before switching to acting."

his character holding a gun
MGM

14."Jennifer Lawrence was on a trip to NYC with her family when some talent scout found her (when she was 14 years old) and asked her to start auditioning for talent agents."

her smoking and drinking coffee
Roadside Attractions

15."Jason Statham was a competitive diver when he was spotted by a modeling agency. He then went on to audition for Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels."

closeup of him in a film
Gramercy Pictures

16."Natalie Portman was discovered in a Long Island pizza restaurant by someone looking to cast for a Revlon campaign."

her holding a the filming mark
Patrick Camboulive / Sygma via Getty Images

17."Chris Klein. He was discovered by the director of Election, Alexander Payne, while still in high school. He was scoping out the area to film the movie and the principal introduced him to Chris, who had done a bunch of school plays, and cast him in Election."

closeup of him
Paramount Pictures

18."Topher Grace was acting in a school play when the creators of That '70s Show found him."

closeup of him in character

19."Steven Spielberg saw Alden Ehrenreich in a video skit taped for some bar mitzvah."

closeup of him in a uniform
American Zoetrope

20."Norman Reedus was partying in a bar, and someone asked him if he wanted to be in a play."

closeup of him wearing a workers apron in a film

21.Finally, "Harrison Ford moved to LA for a voiceover job which didn’t pan out, then worked as an extra for a while before giving up on acting to become a carpenter. He met a casting director through his carpentry work which led to him landing an audition for and being cast in American Graffiti."

closeup of him in a car

"Being in American Graffiti almost caused him to miss a chance at being cast in Star Wars because Lucas didn’t want to reuse actors from his previous work, but the casting director kept pushing him on Lucas and employed him to do carpentry work at the office where the casting was taking place. Lucas recognized him and pulled him in to feed some lines to other actors during auditions, and that was how he ultimately ended up being able to audition for the Han Solo role."

kermi42

Screen Archives / Getty Images

Note: some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.

Now it's your turn! Who's an actor you know of who was truly "discovered"? Tell us in the comments below and, who knows, maybe there'll be a part two!