=Nearly everyone, at some point in life, has had a moment where the thought of being rich and famous, and what that would be like, has crossed their minds. On the flip side, many of the rich and famous actually spend time daydreaming about what it would be like to be anonymous again, without the pressure of the media, the pace, the travel. Continue reading to find out which celebrities opted out of the spotlight and went back to earning their living in ‘regular’ jobs.
Celebrities Who Now Work Normal Jobs!
Kirk Cameron
Kirk Cameron became really quite famous with his role in the hit 80s TV show Growing Pains. In fact, his work was so good he received two Golden Globe nominations for his performance. Since the show, Kirk decided to focus more time on his religion and is extremely active in his evangelical church. Ok, he didn’t completely shy away from the camera as he still acts today, as well as hosts some documentary shows, but he also co-founded the ministry ‘The Way of the Master’ with Ray Comfort. Cameron and his wife founded The Firefly Foundation for terminally ill children and their families.
Kirk Cameron
Mara Wilson
Mara Wilson was an extremely talented and successful child actress, giving outstanding performances in well-known films such as Matilda, Mrs. Doubtfire, and A Simple Wish, which were actually filmed within a few months/years of each other. Mara says she loved her time acting but decided pretty early on that she doesn’t want to continue into her adult life as an actor, and became a philanthropist and writer, and published a book about her experiences as a child actor, in 2016. Nowadays she is working for a non-profit organization, Publicolor, which intends to help disadvantaged youth have access to the arts.
Mara Wilson
Frankie Muniz
Frankie Muniz became quite well known with his outstanding performance in Malcolm in the Middle, for which he also received an Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Nominations. Frankie decided to leave the acting world for a few years when the show ended but has continued to act on and off since then. He has since tried his hand at writing and producing, as well as in various music groups, and even competitive car racing, and since 2018 he and his partner bought a small specialty shop ‘Outrageous Olive Oils & Vinegars’ in Arizona.
Frankie Muniz
Andrea Barber
Andrea Barber is in fact still acting, having returned to play Kimmy in the Netflix reboot of the hit show, Full House. But that is after taking quite a break into academia, where she got her B.A. in English from Whittier College in California, and later studied at the University of York. She also worked as the director of the international studies program at Whittier’s for a number of years.
Andrea Barber
Danielle Fishel
Danielle Fishel has been acting since she was 10, rising to fame at the age of just 12 when she played Topanga in Boy Meets World, the much-loved 90s show. After the show, Danielle appeared in some more films, as well as doing lots of voiceovers, spent time as a reporter for The Dish and Popsugar, and hosted a number of television shows, and in 2014 she featured in the Disney spin-off series, Girl Meets World until the show ended in 2017. Today she has her own vegan and cruelty-free hair care products called Be Free, that she launched in 2019.
Daniel Fishel
Freddie Prinze Jr.
If you grew up in the late 90s/early 2000s, you definitely remember Freddie Prinze Jr. as a heartthrob, having appeared in many ‘teen’ movies like Cruel Intentions and I Know What You Did Last Summer. He and Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy!) got married and found they had a joint passion in cooking, and Freddie made that his new career, having published his own recipe book which features many of his original family recipes.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Tony Danza
Before Tony Danza went into acting, where he is most well-known for his role on Who’s The Boss, he had made a name for himself as a professional boxer. He decided to become an education activist, and helped create the reality show Teach: Tony Danza. The show followed his experience as a teacher in a 10th grade English class in Philadelphia, where the aim was to show the state of the American education system, as well as making a point about teachers deserving more respect from students and the system.
Tony Danza
Steven Seagal
Before Steven Seagal made his acting debut in 1988, when his acting career really took off, with Above the Law, he was actually a martial arts instructor in Japan, who actually became the first foreigner to manage an Aikido Dojo in Japan! After acting in quite a number of successful films he retired from acting, and pursued a career in law enforcement and became a reserve deputy Sheriff in Louisiana. He is also a guitarist, and has performed on a number of the scores of his films, as well as releasing two studio albums. He has also been controversially involved in politics as well as environmental and animal rights activism.
Steven Seagal
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Just in case you didn’t grow up in the 1990s, Sarah Michelle Geller was Buffy in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, though she had quite a few roles before that, after which she also starred in a number of “teen” films including Cruel Intentions with her future husband Freddy Prince Jr. Although she has been in the performing arts since she was a child, she was also a competitive figure skater and a taekwondo black belt. Still acting today, Sarah co-founded Foodstirs in 2015, selling organic baking mixes and kits for kids, as well as co-authoring a cookbook with her husband.
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Peter Ostrum
Peter Ostrum actually only had one acting role, but it was an unforgettable one! Peter was spotted by talent agents when he was just 12, and was selected to play the adorable Charlie Bucket in the 1971 feature film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. After filming, Peter decided not to sign the three-film contract, and later pursued his studies in veterinary medicine at Cornell and became a practicing vet working mostly with horses and cattle.
Peter Ostrum
Helen Hunt
Born into a family in the arts, Helen Hunt has been in the entertainment industry since she was a child, with her first major acting role when she was just 10, and since then has an accolade of credits to her name as well as having earned a number of Academy Awards for her acting. Still acting today, she also works as a producer and has her own production company, Hunt/Travel Productions.
Helen Hunt
Nick Offerman
Nick Offerman, Ron Swanson in the hilarious TV series Parks and Recreation, has appeared on our screens in multiple roles. Offerman has been acting since college, later also working as a fight choreographer and master carpenter on set as part of different theater groups. Although he is still acting, Offerman is also a carpenter and craftsman, and builds all sort of things – even boats! He even released an instructional DVD in 2008 for Canoe building. He has also written three semi-autobiographical books, and continues to do comedy tours. Where does he find the time?!
Nick Offerman
Lark Voorhies
Lark Voorhies, another Saved by the Bell actor, who played Lisa Turtle on the show, who decided to turn her hand to writing, and to date, has published 3 books already! Lark has been subject to lots of speculation on her health, until she stated publically that she had been diagnosed with lupos, an autoimmune disease where the immune system attackes healthy tissue, often causing discoloration of the skin amongst other things. Voorhies has also spoken publically about her mental health and bipolar disorder.
Lark Vorhies
Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey is a world-famous actor since the 90s, with memorable roles in films such as Ace Venture: Pet Detective, and The Mask, to name but a few. But before he made it big time, he and his brother would work 8 hour shifts after school as guards and janitors at the factory their father worked at. Although not done with acting, since 2013, Carrey has turned his hand to writing, writing an award-winning children’s book and mid-2020 he published Memoirs and Misinformation: A Novel.
Jim Carrey
Brittany Ashton Holmes
Brittany Ashton Holmes was a child actress who became known after her role in Little Rascals as Darla. She decided she didn’t want to continue acting as an adult and is currently studying for a degree in political science in L.A., while working as a barista. What does Holmes have in store for her once she graduates? She hopes to become a successful and liberal politician. We hope that the Biden administration welcomes her with open arms!
Brittany Ashton Holmes
Vanilla Ice
Robert Matthew Van Winkle, better known as Vanilla Ice, is a rapper who became quite famous following a copyright controversy with David Bowie, over his hit song Ice, Ice, Baby. He also appeared on some reality TV shows in the early 2000s, as well as having a number of roles in films over the years, and still today. Nowadays, he still makes music, which is less mainstream but he still has quite an underground following. Since 2009, he has been in the real-estate business, hosting his own television show about home renovations, The Vanilla Ice Project, as well as publishing a book on the subject in 2011
Vanilla Ice
Kevin Costner
The award winning actor, film director, and producer, Kevin Costner is another much loved actor who has graced our screens since the 1980s. But before his acting career began, Costner was a marketing executive, but that only lasted 30 days. During that time he took acting classes five nights a week, after which he worked as a tutor, on fishing boats, a truck driver, and even a tour guide, as a way to support his acting dreams. Costner began investing in the development of oil seperation machines, which weren’t of much interest until the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010, when BP entered into a lease with the company, Ocean Therapy Solutions. Awesome. Costner is also a country rock singer and political activist. In 2004, he opened Tatanka: The Story of the Bison in South Dakota, which is an educational center to learn about America’s westward expansion and the native people.
Kevin Costner
Tom Selleck
Much loved actor, Tom Selleck has been on our screens since the 1970s, with his major breakout role in Magnum, P.I. in 1980 that ran for 8 years, since which, he has appeared in countless television series and films. But before stardom, Selleck joined the army upon being drafted to the Vietnam war where he served betwen 1967 and 1973. He began with just small parts in movies and some commercials Today, although he definitely has not quit acting for good, he is enjoying an extended break, and owns a 60-acre farm where he grows avocados, which is what he fills his time up with at the moment. He also played vollyball for years! Pretty cool!
Tom Selleck
Angus T Jones
Angus T Jones became a star with his role as Jake Harper in the hit US sitcom Two and a Half Men, where we all watched him grow up over his 10 years on the show. Towards the end of the 9th series of the show, Angus found his faith with the Seventh Day Advent Church and decided he no longer wanted to act in the show and wanted to get more involved with the church. Today, he is in the music event production industry.
Angus T Jones
Aubrey O’Day
Aubrey O’Day is a musician and actress who found fame as a member of the duo Dumblonde and girl group Danity Kane, which reunited in 2018, and she also later signed as a solo artist. Later she starred in a Broadway show and also did some modeling, until her career moved in the direction of reality TV, appearing in shows like Big Brother and Donald Trump’s The Apprentice. O’Day is also an avid activist, since her college days, for a variety of admirable causes.
Aubrey O’Day
Cote de Pablo
Cote de Pablo is the gorgeous Chilean-American actress and singer, best known for her role as Ziva David on NCIS. Since she left NCIS, she has had a number of acting roles as well released some hit songs. We love that she branched off into the musical world, and she does have some relatively enjoyable and catchy songs to her name. Pablo has returned to her role of Ziza David on NCIS recently, however, much to fans’ delight.
Cote De Pablo
Sharona Alperin
Sharona Alperin is the inspiration for the hit song My Sharona released by Doug Fieger. The song was inspired by Doug’s almost obsessive infatuation with Alperin, something that he made theatrically public. Nowadays she is a very successful realtor in Los Angeles. If we had one of the most famous songs ever written dedicated to us, and probably enjoyed much of its successes’ royalties, we would probably just sit around all day.
Sharona Alperin
Al Franken
Al Franklin was one of the first two writers recruited to write for Saturday Night Live. He decided to go with his passion for politics and ran for Senate in Minnesota, and won in 2009, and was re-elected for a second term in 2014, which he served until 2018. He has also written a number of books as well as acted in a number of films. Franken has had some interesting things to say about the Trump administration…
Al Franken
Liam Gallagher
Liam Gallagher is the singer and songwriter who co-formed the hit 90s band, Oasis, with his brother Noel. Today Liam has a production company, 1 Productions, and also started his own clothing line called Pretty Green, which was sold to JD Sports in 2019. Liam does make the occasional media appearance, even agreeing to be interviewed by a group of lively children in a hilarious and unusual interview for the serious rocker.
Liam Gallagher
Roseanne Barr
Roseanne Barr is most well-known for her hit TV sitcom Roseanne, which aired for nearly 10 years, winning an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award for her work on the show. Before that she was actually a stand up comedian Nowadays she is pursuing politics, even running for the presidential candidate for the Peace and Freedom party in 2012. While her current political ambitions have lost some of their previously enjoyed traction, she is still active in the political game.
Roseanne Barr
Jon Gosselin
Jon Gosselin is Jon of the TLC show Jon and Kate Plus 8. In 2009 the two got divorced and after trying a number of jobs he pursued his passion for music and is now a DJ in Atlantic City, his home town. But he has also been reported as working installing solar panels, and as a waiter. Today he is an IT technician. We are glad that he has managed to make a living for himself.
Jon Gosselin
David Carouso
The star of CSI: Miami appeared to avoid the TV screen ever since the show went down in 2012. Many speculated regarding the reason claiming he is too expensive to be hired, difficulty to work with, suffers from typecasting due to his police roles or maybe he is just had enough and decided to retire.
David Carouso
Chris Owen
Chris Owen is best known for playing “The Sherminator” in the American Pie franchise. Chris has actually been acting since he was 10! He is currently working as a waiter in an upscale sushi restaurant in L.A., saying that he loves acting and the job lets him stay in the game. While he has yet to use his hard-earned salary to productive gains in Hollywood, we are still hopeful for him.
Chris Owen
Ariana Richards
Ariana Richards began acting in 1987 when she was just 7 years old, and is best known for playing Lex Murphy in Jurassic Park. She acted for a number of years, and graduated with distinction from Skidmore College with a degree in Fine Art and Drama, and went on to focus on her art at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Today, Ariana is an accomplished painter in Oregon.
Ariana Richards
Tommy Rettig
Tommy Rettig is best known for his role on Lassie (1954-1957) when he was just 13. He later became became a motivational speaker, which inadvertently led him to become a database programmer, as well as author, until he died at 54 of a heart attack in 1996. His last notable appearance was in the 1991 reboot television show called The New Lassie. Sadly, Rettig’s life would be cut in half just a few years later.
Tommy Rettig
Mackenzie Rosman
Mackenzie Rosman was very young when she began playing Ruthie Camden in 7th Heaven. After the show ended she continued acting but intergrated becoming a dedicated philanthropist with a focus on helping children with cystic fibrosis. She is also a competitive equestrienne show jumper and has a great love for horses. With her love and dedication to animals and children in need, Rosman has an incredibly fulfilling and compassionate life ahead of her.
Mackenzie Rosman
Jonathan Bennett
Jonathan Bennett is the actor who played Aaron Samuels, Lindsey Lohan’s love interest in Mean Girls. There are plenty of former teenage girls who will swoon at the mere mention of the teenage heartthrob. He is still acting, and currently hosts The Food Network’s show, Cake Wars, and in 2019 released a pop culture type cookbook with celebrity chef Nikki Martin. Who would have thought that he loved cake so much?
Jonathon Bennett
Maia Brewton
Maia Brewton made her acting break with the film Adventures in Babysitting in 1987, and appeared in a number of other movies and shows after that, but since 1998 she graduated as an attorney. We are sure that her theatrical talents greatly help her in the courtroom, where often the most moving and convincing performance wins the day for attorneys. She was such an adorable little star in Adventures in Babysitting!
Maia Brewton
Leanna Creel
Leanna Creel is best known for playing Tori in Saved by the Bell. In 1994 she began taking part in the production side of things, and in 1998 she even started Ignite Entertainment, her own production company. She now runs Creel Studio, a food, travel and lifestyle production company. She is also a triplet! And married to Rinat Greenberg, with whom she has been with for over 10 years now.
Leanne Creel
Josh Saviano
Another child actor who decided to pursue political science as a study subject is Josh Saviano, who became famous for his role on The Wonder Years when he was a teenager. After graduating from Yale with a degree in Political Science, he studied law at Cardozo. Josh practised law for many years at Morrison Cohen LLP, until he started a law firm JDS Legal and Act 3 Advisors, a celebrity brand consultancy.
Josh Saviano
Jeff Cohen
Jeff Cohen played “The Chunk” in The Goonies, and after the film he got into shape and joined the high school football team. He went to Berkeley for college and then to UCLA to study Law, after which he founded Cohen Gardner LLP in 2002. He is also a writer. We can imagine that having The Chunk as your personal claim to fame has not been a walk in the park for Cohen.
Jeff Cohen
Taran Noah Smith
Taran Noah Smith became famous for his role on Home Improvement as Marcus “Mark” Taylor. In 2001 he got married, and he and his-then wife – both devout vegans – established their own non-dairy cheese manufacturer and restaurant called Playfoods. Today he also is a technical manager teaching people how to pilot submarines. What an awesome career path! We would love to take a few lessons from him one day.
Taran Smith
George Foreman
George Foreman was a very successful and famous boxer, a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. Pretty impressive! After he retired, he began promoting the George Foreman Grill, which became very successful, and has sold over 100 million units, earning George over $200 million! This career path certainly beats getting punched in the face for a living, but we will always remember his phenomenal achievements as a retired boxer.
George Foreman
Charlie Korsmo
Charlie Korsmo played Peter Pan’s son in Hook, as well as a number of other films until he retired from acting and went into Law after he got his first degree in physics, studying at MIT and then Yale. Charlie practices law for a while and worked for the government, and is now a Professor of Law at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Impressive! He has certainly not peaked yet.
Charlie Korsmo
Michael Maronna
Michael Maronna became well known in the 90s as the older Pete in The Adventures of Pete and Pete as well as roles in films like Home Alone. He stopped acting in 2004 and trained as an electrician, working on many popular sets like Nurse Jackie. Since 2013 he also co-hosts a podcast with his former co-star Danny Tamberelli. We will never forget the gawky and awkward character that he played in the Nickelodeon classic.
Michael Maronna
Linda Kozlowski
Linda Kozlowski got her big break when she played the female lead in Crocodile Dundee opposite Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee in 1986. The two became romantically involved after they met on set and got married in 1990, and had a son together. The two got divorced in 2013. This was an impressively long marriage for actors, and we hope that she finds new love soon. Linda continues to be a fantastic mother.
Linda Kozloski
Nikki Blonsky
Nikki Blonsky is best known for playing the lead role in Hairspray. Although she still has a passion for acting and singing she launched her own video blogging series in 2020. Despite having enjoyed several successful parts since Hairspray, this musical role was certainly her most notable performance and she was something of a one-hit-wonder. We really enjoyed her part in the fat-camp drama-comedy series Huge which aired in 2010.
Nikki Blonsky
MC Hammer
Stanley Kirk Burrell had a very successful career as MC Hammer, but he has also done quite a few other types of jobs. In the 1990s he was a Christian preachers on television, he was also executive producer of his own reality show, and is a record label CEO. In fact, he even established his own stables for racehorses, and in 2010 he started a mixed martial arts management company and a clothing brand, Alchemist Clothing. He has also secured status as a tech-media-mogul. Quite the multitalented!
MC Hammer
Tiffany Darwish
Tiffany Renee Darwish made it big in the 1980s until she left the spotlight and opened a vintage store in Tennessee, called “Tiffany’s Boutique”. Today she still makes music as well as appearing on some reality TV. This rather minor actress has a surprisingly large cult fan base, and we are not surprised, given how angelically gorgeous she is. Darwish tied the knot with Bulmaro Garcia in 1992, with who she had a son called Elijah Garcia with.
Tiffany
Kevin Kennedy
After Kevin Kennedy 20 years on the beloved British soap, Coronation Street, in 2003, he began writing and producing, as well as doing some theater. Kennedy also got busy creating a family and is married to a woman called Claire with who he has three children. He is also an avid Manchester City supporter and football fanatic in general. Together with his wife Clare, Kevin runs a social support organization that caters to many public needs.
Kevin Kennedy
Rebecca Ritters
Rebecca Ritters is famous Australia soap star. After she left Neighbours in 1999, she continued acting and even toured with the British Shakespeare Company playing the role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet in their open-air productions. Today she is a journalist for the Berlin paper, the Deutsche Welle. Ritters has an incredibly international career that has taken her from one country to another on a rollercoaster ride of career path changes.
Rebecca Ritters
Kevin Jonas
Kevin Jonas is the oldest brother of the Jonas Brothers band. In 2015 he launched a food searching app called “Yood” and has plans to continue a career in high-tech. While he may have failed to snag a famous Bollywood star, Kevin recently reunited with his brothers to bring their old band back together. They also filmed a detailed documentary that followed their band’s inception and rise to fame and glory.
Kevin Jonas
Jeremy Renner
Jeremy Renner is still acting but has also moved into theater, as well as a musician and writer. In 2017, he released a personal mobile app and today he also runs a successful business focused on house-renovation with his fellow actor and best friend, Kristoffer Winters. It is amazing how he managed to juggle incredible roles like the one that he enjoyed in the Marvel’s Avengers films with an elaborate and intensive construction company.
Jeremy Renner
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis is a talented and successful actor but decided to take a break from acting in 2017, with people hoping he will come back to acting soon! But before he became a full-time actor, he actually applied for an apprenticeship as a cabinet maker, but was, thankfully, rejected leading him to acting! Imagine if Daniel had spent his life creating cabinets (which we are sure would have been beautiful) instead of delivering his life-changing series of legendary performances.
Daniel Day-Lewis
Dylan Sprouse
Dylan Sprouse in best known for starring alongside Adam Sandler in Big Daddy. In 2011 he announced that he was leaving Hollywood to become a full-time student at New York University, where he developed a passion for brewing his own mead, later developing it as a business. Unlike many former child actors, Dylan managed to keep his head on his shoulders and did not fall into substance abuse or other types of destructive behavior.
Dylan Sprouse
Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu is not just an extremely talented and successful artist, but also an official doula – a woman that helps other women through pregnancy, birth, and post-birth. She has already assisted 40 women and loves it. More recently she has also certified as a midwife! If we were to go into labor, we would love to have such a phenomenal individual by our side – it would be incredibly encouraging.
Erykah Badu
Jack Gleeson
Jack Gleeson has had a number of acting roles, but you might know him best from his role on Game of Thrones as King Joffrey. He left acting to become a full-time student, though later realized he wanted to return to his true passion of acting. Being one of the most hated characters ever to appear in television must not have been easy for the young man, with plenty of people giving him pieces of their minds.
Jack Gleeson
Barbi Benton
Barbi Benton is probably most known for her days as a beautiful and much loved Playboy model. She graced the pages of the “gentlemen’s magazine” on numerous occasions. Barbi actually started her modeling at the young age of 16, but other than modeling she is also a singer and an actress, and actually has 5 albums recorded already. She is currently semi-retired from the entertainment world, doing some real-estate in California, to focus on her family.
Barbi Benton
Corey Harrison
Richard Corey Harrison, known as “Big Hoss” from the reality TV show “Pawn Stars”. The show turned him into a celebrity, but he still works a normal day job, managing the shop and its’ 30 employees. In season 6 of the show, he presented his father and grandfather an ultimatum; that he is leaving the job if they don’t give him a 10% stake in the company. They agreed on a 5% partnership for now with the promise of more in the future.
Corey Harrison
Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu made her breakthrough into a celebrity with her role on Ally McBeal, and was even nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. Since 2015 she has also been directing as well as getting involved with visual arts. While she has tried to make a comeback in acting a few times, mainly in television, her various productions have had a mixed reception and mediocre success rate. We really hope that Liu has more luck in the future.
Lucy Liu
Gary Dourdan
Gorgeous Gary Dourdan played Warrick Brown on CSI for 8 years, until his character was killed off at the beginning of season 9, devastating fans. He still acts and has appeared in a number of films and TV shows since 2008, but also spends his time as a classic car collector and a DJ. Dourdan is clearly just chasing his passions at this stage, making the most out of his many talents and hobbies.
Gary Dourdan
Elizabeth Berkley
Elizabeth Berkley became most well-known for her role in the hit show Saved by the Bell, where she played Jessie Spano, as well as appearing in a number of stage and film productions, such as Showgirls in 1995. After acting she turned to writing, and set up a self-help program online in 2011, which she then published in the form of a book Ask Elizabeth. There are many people that owe their happiness to Berkley.
Elizabeth Berkley
Danica McKellar
Danica McKellar is definitely the whole package – brains and beauty! She played Winnie Cooper in The Wonder Years, and was as intelligent and beautiful in real life too, graduating from UCLA with excellence. Math is her passion, and she has published six non-fiction books dealing with mathematics and even has her own show called Math Bites. We would love to be taught some math by her, but we doubt that we could keep up with the brainy beauty for very long.
Danica McKellar