EXCLUSIVE: Celebrity 'Grind-to-Glory Index' Reveals the VERY Humble First Paychecks of Today's Biggest Stars — From Harry Styles' Bakery Job to Margot Robbie's Subway Gig
Some of these celebrities know a little bit about working for every dollar.
March 17 2025, Published 7:45 p.m. ET
While they may be drowning in cash these days, that wasn't always the case for some of today's biggest stars as they once found themselves in everyday jobs.
From Harry Styles to Margot Robbie to Tom Cruise and more, these famous faces were "just like us" at one point in their lives, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Styles worked at a bakery shop before he hit the big time.
A new list posted by BetMGM Casino notes the salaries of plenty of some of the most notable faces in the world, including the former One Direction singer.
Before he made it big with the boy band and as a solo artist, Styles was keeping it low-key and sweet while working at a bakery in Cheshire where he would reel in about $2,942 per year – however, he was just 16 years old at the time.
Styles' bank account has improved a tad as he's now worth about $120million.
Robbie was working at Subway and making $23,000 a year before becoming an A-lister.
As for now Oscar nominated actress Robbie, she was making close to $23,000 as a sandwich artist at Subway. Although times have changed as the Barbie actress now has a net worth of $60million.
Adele – today worth about $220million – on the other hand was reeling in just $8,000 a year as a cafe worker.
Meanwhile, Beyonce was making sure to make people's hair look just right when she was a hairdresser for a bit under $30,000 a year.
He was the highest paid actor in 2024, but the money wasn't always flowing in for Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson who was a pot washer making just $35,000 for his services.
The same can be said for megastar Cruise who was pulling in just under $50,000 as a waiter. He's now worth close to $600million.
As for his fellow A-lister Brad Pitt, the F1 star was making just $30,000 as a chicken shop mascot.
"Man's gotta eat," Pitt said about that particular job during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2019.
Brad Pitt was a mascot for a chicken restaurant before becoming one of Hollywood's biggest stars.
Before she took over the world at Rachel Green on Friends, Jennifer Aniston was making about $50,000 as a waitress.
"I was a terrible waitress,” the actress once told Stephen Colbert during an episode of The Late Show. “I was a hostess, then they finally allowed me to be a waitress.”
Aniston – who is worth close to $320million – had plenty of experience, however, when she portrayed a waitress with 15 pieces of flair in 1999's comedy Office Space.
Jennifer Aniston is now worth about $320million, despite being a waitress at one point.
Zendaya is one of the hottest stars at the moment – with roles in the Dune franchise and the upcoming The Odyssey – but she was pulling in just $25,000 a year as a child model before making it big.
The same goes for for Rachel McAdams and her McDonald's job where she made under $25,000.
She recalled: "(I worked at McDonald's) for a good three years. I was not a great employee; I broke the orange juice machine one day."
Today he is one of the richest men in the world – with a net worth in the hundreds of billions – but Amazon founder Jeff Bezos once worked at McDonald's as well.
Bezos said: "You can learn responsibility in any job, if you take it seriously. You learn a lot as a teenager working at McDonald’s. It’s different from what you learn in school. Don’t underestimate the value of that!”
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Jeff Bezos worked at McDonald's before his Amazon fortune.
Tesla founder and "First Buddy" Elon Musk was making it a slight over $30,000 as a boiler room cleaner. Today? He's the richest man in the world.
