Top 10 Actors Who Got Normal Jobs

MsMojo

These actors went on to accept roles as normal workers. For this list, we’ll be looking at performers who stepped outside of Hollywood to find success.

Transcript

00:00 10.

00:25 Eric Von Detten

00:27 After Eric Von Detten's career began on the popular soap opera Days of Our Lives, it only

00:32 took off from there.

00:33 The budding young actor nabbed roles in pretty high-profile fan favorites.

00:43 Not only did he play the villainous Sid in the first Toy Story, but he also starred in

00:48 Princess Diaries.

00:57 Throughout the mid-90s and early 2000s, Von Detten kept fairly busy with live-action and

01:03 animated roles, but he eventually chose to retire from acting in 2010.

01:16 The Princess Diaries star is now married with children and currently works for a brokerage

01:20 firm.

01:21 As of 2023, his last role was a grown-up Sid in Toy Story 3.

01:27 9.

01:28 Jeff Cohen

01:29 For 80s kids, the Goonies was peak cinema.

01:34 The action-adventure comedy featured a young cast of future superstars.

01:38 Jeff Cohen stood out by playing the role of Lawrence "Chunk" Cohen.

01:42 During the classic film, the character was definitely a scene-stealer.

01:50 After the film put him on the map, he made a number of small appearances on TV.

02:03 But Cohen later found himself truly drawn to legal pursuits and earned a law degree

02:07 from UCLA.

02:09 After deciding to pursue entertainment law, Cohen became a big player in the industry.

02:15 In fact, he even helped his Goonies co-star, Kee Hwee Kwan, appear in Everything Everywhere

02:20 all at once.

02:21 8.

02:22 Phoebe Cates

02:23 Long before Phoebe Cates was lighting up the silver screen in the 1980s, she was already

02:38 destined for showbiz.

02:40 The daughter of a Broadway and television producer, Cates began her career modeling

02:44 and dancing.

02:45 But after an injury, Cates focused on modeling before eventually finding her way to acting.

02:55 From Fast Times at Ridgemont High to Gremlins, Cates created a big name for herself.

03:01 She also married actor Kevin Kline in the 80s before the two started a family in the

03:06 90s.

03:07 Years later, Cates drifted away from the camera and in 2005, she opened a boutique in New

03:13 York City called Blue Tree.

03:15 As of 2023, it still operates on Madison Avenue.

03:19 7.

03:20 Jennifer Stone

03:21 As a child star, Jennifer Stone acted in projects like Secondhand Lions and Without a Trace.

03:27 However, she is best known for portraying Harper Finkel on Disney Channel's hit series

03:32 Wizards of Waverly Place.

03:43 At age 20, Stone was diagnosed with diabetes.

03:53 This medical knowledge changed her personal and professional life.

03:57 Stone stepped back from acting and ultimately decided to pursue a nursing degree.

04:02 She currently works as an ER nurse in California.

04:08 However, she still keeps a foot in the door of showbiz.

04:13 In 2019, she starred and co-wrote the film The Inbetween.

04:18 6.

04:19 Jamie Walters

04:21 In the 90s, Beverly Hills 90210 was one of the hottest series on television.

04:27 Jamie Walters was just one of the strong members of the ensemble.

04:37 In season 6, he joined the series and portrayed Ray Pruitt, a bad boy musician with anger

04:42 issues.

04:47 Like his on-screen counterpart, Walters also played music and released three studio albums

04:52 between 1994 and 2002.

04:55 Eventually, he parted ways with the music and television industry and became a firefighter

05:01 paramedic.

05:02 His former co-stars persuaded him to make an appearance on BH90210 in 2019, where he

05:08 played himself.

05:10 5.

05:11 Stacey Keenan

05:12 Throughout the 80s and 90s, Stacey Keenan was a fixture of the television sitcom genre.

05:22 Working on My Two Dads and Step by Step, she was building quite the career for herself.

05:28 After Step by Step ended, she focused on her academic career, earning a BA in Art History

05:33 in 2002.

05:35 Over a decade later, she set her sights on law school and afterwards became a deputy

05:40 district attorney in Los Angeles.

05:43 In 2021, she also added educator to her resume by returning to her law school as an associate

05:49 professor.

05:50 4.

05:51 Danielle Spencer

05:52 As a former child actor, Danielle Spencer began her journey into show business back

06:04 in the 1970s when she took acting classes.

06:08 Her studies paid off when she was offered the role of Dee Thomas on the ABC comedy What's

06:13 Happening.

06:14 The series was eventually cancelled after three

06:20 seasons.

06:21 After leaving the country for a while, she returned to the States to attend college.

06:26 Spencer then decided to pursue veterinary medicine.

06:29 However, her career as a vet didn't stop her from continuing to act.

06:34 She appeared in the 80s reboot What's Happening Now.

06:37 She also played a vet in the Oscar-winning 1997 rom-com As Good As It Gets.

06:43 3.

06:44 Eric Estrada

06:45 Best known for playing Officer Francis "Ponch" Poncherello on the television series Chips,

06:50 Eric Estrada took his role to the next level.

06:57 The New York City-born actor became a police officer and an investigator.

07:02 He even relocated to the state of Virginia to pursue his crime-fighting passion.

07:07 However, Estrada fans know that he did not totally give up his showbiz pursuits.

07:15 He continues to act, having worked on shows including My Name is Earl and Adventure Time.

07:23 He also enjoys participating in reality television.

07:26 Most recently, the actor-turned-officer made a quick appearance on Fox's The Masked Singer.

07:32 2.

07:33 Mara Wilson

07:34 For 90s kids, Mara Wilson was a staple of childhood cinematic classics.

07:42 From Matilda to Mrs. Doubtfire, she was one of the biggest child actors of the time.

07:49 Although she cultivated a healthy filmography, she pivoted away from acting in the 2000s.

07:55 Instead, she focused on other artistic avenues in theater and more.

08:07 As a writer, she has written for various outlets.

08:16 In 2016, she published a book called Where Am I Now?

08:20 True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame.

08:23 Luckily for fans, she has gotten steady work in voice acting and has made the occasional

08:28 cameo on shows like Broad City.

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08:50 1.

08:52 Dylan Sprouse

08:53 Although he is widely known as an actor, Dylan Sprouse is no one-trick pony.

09:06 The former The Suite Life of Zack and Cody star happens to be an entrepreneur.

09:11 Sometime after earning a degree in video game design from New York University, Sprouse started

09:16 working at a brewery.

09:18 This job fueled his desire to open one of his own, and thus All Wise Meadery was born.

09:29 Sprouse also co-founded Thor's Skier, a dairy product with Icelandic roots.

09:34 Whether he's on set or brewing up his next venture, for Dylan Sprouse, life is definitely

09:40 sweet.

09:45 Do you agree with our picks?

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