Gene Hackman worked as a field radio operator in the United States Marine Corps for almost 5 years before landing his breakout role as Buck Barrow in "Bonnie and Clyde" at the age of 37 for which he received an Academy Award nomination. This opened the door for Hackman to appear in multiple successful projects such as "The French Connection" which earned him his first Oscar. Hackman has been nominated for five Academy Awards in total, winning another for best supporting actor in Unforgiven. In addition, Hackman has won three Golden Globes  and two BAFTAs.

The late Alan Rickman is a familiar face to all but before his standout roles as Hans Gruber in "Die Hard" and the poisonous potions master Severus Snape in the "Harry Potter" franchise, Rickman ran his own graphic design company alongside his friends. Rickman trained in multiple theatre schools and was cast in 1985 as Vicomte de Valmont in "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" for which he received a Tony Award. Following this success Rickman appeared as the iconic villain Hans Gruber of "Die Hard" and his screen acting career took off.

Jon Hamm spent his 20s and 30s waiting tables to make ends meet while he struggled to gain work as an actor. His persistence paid off eventually however, when he was cast in NBC's drama "Providence" garnering him a small amount of attention but it wasn't until 2007 when Hamm secured a role in "Mad Men" as advertising executive Don Draper. Hamm was selected from a pool of 80 actors and won a Golden Globe for his performance in the series. He has also received 8 Emmy Award Nominations for his work in "mad Men" and "30 Rock".

Closely surviving a "Saturday Night Live" budget cut and working odd jobs to pay the bills amongst pursuing her acting career, Kristen Wiig was struggling. After the budget cut in 2006 Wiig became a full member of the repertory cast and was responsible for creating a series of hysterical characters including the Target Lady, the neurotic Penelope and famed impersonations of Nancy Pelosi, Suze Orman, Liza Minnelli, and Michele Bachmann. She earned an Emmy award nomination for her work on the live comedy show. This set her career alight and she went on to star in films such as “Knocked Up” and “Bridesmaids” which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

It's hard to believe that Hollywood hardman Jeremy Renner was a struggling actor working part time as a make up artist in order to make ends meet. Renner took on many small roles but it wasn't until 2009 at the age of 38, Renner landed the lead role in Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" as Sergeant William James. The success of the film catapulted Renner into stardom as he went on to land a recurring role as Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and starred in another blockbuster hit "The Bourne Legacy".

The late great James Gandolfini began his career on stage, relatively well established in that field and performing alongside other now successful actors like Jessica Lange and Alec Baldwin. It wasn't until Gandolfini was 38 that he landed his  breakout role as mob boss Tony Soprano in HBO's hit show "The Sopranos", a role he reprised for 8 years and won 3 Emmy's, a Screen Actor's Guild Award and a Golden Globe. He went on to appear in several hit films including Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty". Gandolfini's final film performance was in "The Drop" alongside Tom Hardy.

For the majority of her life, Kathryn Joosten worked as psychiatric nurse in Chicago. in 1982 at the age of 42 she began acting in her community theatre and would partake for the next 17 years before landing her career defining role as Mrs. Landingham in "The West Wing". Her performance on the show garnered her great critical acclaim and she was later cast in the hit ABC drama-comedy "desperate Housewives" as Karen McClusky for which she was nominated for 2 Emmy awards. Joosten reprised her role in "Desperate Housewives" for several years until the on screen death of her character, coincidentally she passed away herself twenty days later.

He's one of the most memorable actors to portray Santa Clause in cinematic history, not only that he is the voice of one of animations most iconic heroes, Buzz Lightyear but before his success Tim Allen was a semi-struggling comedian performing on the late night circuit. It wasn't until he landed a role on the hit TV series "Home Improvement" that Allen launched his career and landed roles in the "Toy Story" and "Santa Clause" franchises.

Film without Samuel L Jackson seems hard to believe, appearing in some of the industries most successful films from "Star Wars" to a string of Tarantino hits. Jackson actually worked as a social worker before he decided to pursue acting, taking on small roles in films like "Goodfellas", "True Romance" and "Jurassic Park". However, at 45 Jackson was cast in Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" as Jules Winnfield for which he received an Academy Award nomination. Jackson has gone on to appear in several Tarantino projects including "Django Unchained" and most recently "The Hateful Eight". Jackson remains a huge name with significant box office power attached to his credit and continues to appear in large projects such as his recurring role as Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Committed to her art, Kathy Bates spent most of her life acting small roles on stage and screen without losing faith in that breakthrough role which came to her in the form of Annie Wilkes in Rob Reiner's adaption of Stephen King's "Misery". This role garnered Bates great critical acclaim, winning her an Academy Award. Bates' success assisted in landing her the role of Molly Brown in “Titanic”, Libby Holden in “Primary Colors”, Miss Hannigan in Disney’s remake of “Annie”, as well as remarkable television appearances in “Six Feet Under”, “Two and a Half Men", “Harry’s Law" and most recently as one of the co-stars of “American Horror Story".

Probably the most high profile actor on this list, Morgan Freeman, with his voice of velvet, has acted since he was nine years old but didn't start making waves in Hollywood until the 70s and 80s, appearing in the popular soap "Another World". Freeman made his breakthrough as Hoke in "Driving Miss Daisy", a role he originated on stage and went on to appear in an endless stream of box office hits. It still took Freeman until 2004 before he was awarded his first Oscar for "Million Dollar Baby"

The new comedy queen on the block, Melissa McCarthy has only recently made it big when she starred as a supporting role in "Bridesmaids", from there she has been cast in multiple comedies as both supporting and lead roles. Appearing alongside Jason Bateman in "Identity Thief" and Sandra Bullock in "The Heat" securing McCarthy as a comedy whirlwind and has driven her into lead roles in films like "Spy" and "The Boss"

At one point in his career Sylvester Stallone was in fact homeless and struggling to find work. With $50 to his name, sleeping in the New York Port Authority because he was unable to pay rent and even resorting to shooting pornography, Sly's rise to fame is true rags to riches story. At 30 Stallone sold his script to the studios for a little film called "Rocky", initially he turned down the money they offered and told them he would only let them produce the film if he was cast as the lead. The studio reluctantly agreed and Stallone went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for his performance of the now iconic character. His performance skyrocketed him to fame and landed him roles in other successful franchises such as John Rambo in the "Rambo" series.

Hearthrob, leading man and hired to build cabinets for George Lucas. The most famous smuggler in the galaxy was in fact cast in his most iconic role after George Lucas asked him to feed lines to auditioning actors for "Star Wars". Lucas was so impressed with Ford that he subsequently cast him in the lead as Han Solo. Ford went on to appear in countless successes including the "Indiana Jones" franchise solidifying his position as one of Hollywood's most recognisable faces and bankable stars.

43 was jane Lynch's golden age for her career when she landed her big break in the mockumentary "Best in Show" where she played a butch lesbian dog handler alongside her trophy wife Jennifer Coolidge. The director Christopher Guest remembered Lynch from a "Frosted Flakes" commercial she was cast in back in the 90s and chose her for the role. Following her success in "Best in Show", Lynch took on several roles in high profile films such as the Store Manager in Judd Apatow's "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" alongside Steve Carell and other hollywood, comedy icons. However Lych garnered greatest success as Sue Sylvester, the harsh gym teacher in the hit show "Glee" which secured her an Emmy Award.