20 Celebrity Photos Taken Before They Were Famous

Most of us can spot our favorite celebrities from a mile away. We’ve become so familiar with their faces after seeing them so many times in TV shows, movies, interviews, and photos, among others. So it’s always refreshing when we see their images way before they were household names that we know them to be.

That’s exactly what you’ll see in this compilation of pictures from the past.

Check out the images below and try to see if you can name all these popular people before we reveal who they actually are in the captions.

Ready? Go start scrolling now!

#1.

Robin Williams as a senior year high school student back in 1969. He was 18 years old at the time.

#2.

Keanu Reeves circa 1984. When he was younger, Keanu wanted to be a professional ice hockey player but later decided he’s going to be an actor instead – which is a good thing! It would be hard to imagine anyone playing his role in movies such as Point Break, Speed, The Matrix, and the John Wick series.

#3.

Morgan Freeman has always been an acting prodigy, debuting as an actor at age 9 and then winning a statewide drama competition at 12. Meanwhile, this picture was taken between 1955 and 1959 when he was serving in the United States Air Force.

#4.

Way before Joe Biden entered politics, he was a class president and a basketball player. He even joined a football team as a college student. In 1973, became a senator and then became Barack Obama’s vice president in 2009.

#5.

Jim Carrey back in the 1980s. Because of financial struggles, he and John, his brother, had to take up odd jobs. He would later gain fame as a comedian in Toronto, Canada which would lead to him getting a role in the TV show Living Color. He would later rise to fame in Hollywood after starring as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask – both movies were released in 1994.

#6.

We know her from films such as 1975’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show, 1987’s The Witches of Eastwick and 1988’s Bull Durham. Meet actress Susan Sarandon back in 1963. She was 17 at the time.

#7.

To Game of Thrones fans, he is Tyrion Lannister! Way back the early 80s, Peter Dinklage was a fan who found inspiration from Sam Shepard’s True West play that he later took up drama at the Bennington College.

#8.

A 1974 picture of Tom Hanks before he became the big-time actor we have all grown to love. He made his acting debut on stage in the 1977 production The Taming Of The Shrew.

#9.

Circa 1987, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was only 15 years old – and he was already pretty massive at the time! He would later achieve global popularity as a professional wrestler and then as a Hollywood actor.

#10.

Before recruiting drummer Dave Grohl and recording the smash-hit Nevermind, Nirvana released their debut album Bleach in 1989. This band picture was taken in 1990.

#11.

Sean Connery joined the Royal Navy as a 16-year-old young man. This is a picture of him in 1946.

#12.

At 16 years old, Angelina Jolie was already a head-turner. She grew up watching movies with her mom and that led to her developing a passion for acting.

#13.

A picture of Christoph Waltz taken in 1975.

#14.

Will the Real Slim Shady please stand up? Marshall Mathers a.k.a. Eminem back in the 1980s.

#15.

Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, Lady Gaga eventually rose to fame with her song Just Dance and Poker Face. This was her photo in the 2000s before she became a popular celebrity.

#16.

We all know him for his feel-good reggae songs and his trademark dreadlocks! This was Bob Marley in 1964 around the time he released his song “Rude Boy.”

#17.

A picture of Christian Bale in 1990. He took inspiration from Gary Oldman and later became famous for being a versatile actor himself.

#18.

Jennifer Aniston circa 1986 rocking a witch costume for Halloween.

#19.

In 1965, Tommy Lee Jones played basketball for St Mark’s School of Texas as an offensive guard.

#20.

Before he was a multi-awarded director, Quentin Tarantino worked as an aerospace industry recruiter. He later worked in a video store where he watched lots of movies that sparked his interest in someday creating his own films. This was him in 1983.