We only recognize these celebs from a certain point onward. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the celebrities who didn’t enter the spotlight until later in life.
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00:00 "It's time. Do the dance."
00:04 Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the celebrities
00:08 who didn't enter the spotlight until later in life.
00:11 "My job is routine. I have virtually no social life and nothing interests me.
00:16 My life has just become dull and boring."
00:18 10. Ricky Gervais
00:21 "I've never been a good drinker, see that might be sad."
00:29 He's been such a prolific comedian for so long that it's hard to imagine him doing
00:32 anything else. However, Ricky Gervais once had a very different career goal in mind.
00:38 His original aspiration was music, which led to him creating a new wave duo called Siona
00:43 Dancing. Although they didn't top the charts, they encapsulated the 80s perfectly. After
00:49 that fell through, he exited the limelight for a few years before pivoting to writing
00:54 and comedy.
00:55 "People think I'm embarrassed about how I looked then. No, I'm embarrassed about how
00:59 I look now."
01:00 By the time The Office premiered in 2001, he was 40. From there, he flourished and has
01:06 since created other programs and hosted several prestigious events. He's even maintained a
01:11 good attitude about his humble beginnings and isn't afraid to crack a joke at his own
01:16 expense.
01:17 "And people say, 'Oh, if you gave up beer and pizza, you'd live longer.' But I only
01:22 want to live longer to eat more pizza and drink more beer."
01:26 9. Ellen Albertini Dow
01:28 Pursuing acting post-retirement is a feat that not many can pull off. However, Albertini
01:33 Dow was too busy working as a teacher to make time for the silver screen.
01:38 "Now, please, take a bite so that I can watch you enjoy. That's my favorite part."
01:45 "Oh, okay."
01:46 Fittingly, she taught acting classes for several years before deciding to enter the business
01:50 herself.
01:51 She landed her first gig at 72, and she didn't stop there.
01:56 By the time she took to the mic in 1998's The Wedding Singer, she was in her mid-80s.
02:00 "I said hip-hop, I hit it to the hip-hip to the hip-hip-hop. You don't stop the rock to
02:01 the bang-bang-boogie, stay up from the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie to the beat."
02:09 She even appeared in several prolific television shows, such as Seinfeld. She had a love for
02:15 the craft, and she continued to perform until her death in 2013, at 101 years old.
02:22 She's the ultimate proof that age doesn't have to be a barrier in the entertainment
02:26 industry.
02:27 "How are the lessons going?"
02:28 "Well, I think I'm starting to get the hang of it."
02:31 "Yeah, she's starting to scare in less and less people when she sings."
02:35 "Oh, Robbie, you're so funny."
02:37 8. Stan Lee
02:39 Even the most accomplished man in comics had a humble beginning. He started out at a lower
02:44 level position at Timely Comics as a young man.
02:48 "Uh-oh, somebody's been a bad lizard."
03:04 He was halted in the 1940s when he joined the military and served in World War II. He
03:09 did everything from fixing important equipment to writing manuals. While serving, he continued
03:14 to write stories for Timely.
03:16 "Don't make me come down there, you punk."
03:19 By the time Lee started shaping Marvel as we know it, he was just about to hit his 40th
03:23 birthday. He entered the public sphere later in life and became the face of the company
03:28 in his 50s. From that moment on, his public perception as an older man was sealed. His
03:34 cameos in later Marvel films cemented that image for generations to come.
03:40 7. Anthony Hopkins
03:46 He's been in the film business for so long that it's hard to believe he started so
03:51 late.
03:52 "You use Evian skin cream. And sometimes you wear all-editor. But not today."
04:02 He had always had a love for the arts. He got his start early on with the Royal National
04:07 Theatre. However, those plays never truly broke out to a wide audience, leaving him
04:12 in relative obscurity for years. Hopkins wouldn't see film success until 1980, when he was 43.
04:20 Since then, he's taken on his most compelling work to date, from Silence of the Lambs to
04:25 The Father. Both performances brought him the Academy Award for Best Actor, the latter making
04:30 him the oldest man in history to win in that category. Despite his advanced age, he hasn't
04:36 slowed down, and we couldn't be more grateful.
04:39 "What are you going to have?"
04:40 "Small whiskey."
04:41 "Well then I'll have the same."
04:42 "Two! Splendid! Two small whiskeys, coming up!"
04:47 6. Judi Dench
04:48 Many entertainers worry that when they get older, the good parts will stop being offered
04:52 to them. The complete opposite happened to Judi Dench. She had her start in live drama,
04:58 performing both plays and musicals. Everything changed in 1995, when she took on the role
05:03 of M in the James Bond franchise.
05:05 "Are these pictures live?"
05:06 "Unlike the American government, we prefer not to get our bad news from CNN."
05:11 She was in her early 60s at the time, and she enchanted viewers with her effortlessly
05:16 cool demeanor. The portrayal immediately launched her into superstar status, and she continued
05:21 to play the director for two decades.
05:23 "I've just been reviewing Bond's tests. Seems you've passed. By the skin of your teeth.
05:29 You're back on active service."
05:31 Although she exited the series in 2015, Dench didn't stop there. She continued to act well
05:37 into her 80s, and still has the ability to command an entire audience with just her presence.
05:43 "Before a cat will condescend to treat you as a trusted friend, some little token of
05:54 esteem is needed, like a dish of cream."
05:58 5. Helen Mirren
06:00 "Well, I hope you're finding everything to make his lordship stay more comfortable. I
06:04 hope we haven't forgotten anything."
06:05 "I can't believe you forget much, Mrs. Wilson."
06:10 "No, not much."
06:13 Like many actors on this list, she got her start in theatre. Mirren first found slight
06:18 fame on the stage, where she specialized in Shakespeare. She also lent her skills to a
06:23 few filmed projects in the late 1960s as a younger woman. However, her breakout role
06:28 came over a decade later, when she was already in her mid-30s.
06:32 "The toss between Burnsall Church and George Clooney, I know which one I'd rather wake
06:37 up looking at."
06:38 Her star continued to grow as she branched out into television in the 90s, as she hit
06:42 a new stride in the new millennium. She won her first Academy Award in 2007, when she
06:48 was 61. Since then, she has taken on countless different genres, and even played one of the
06:53 most memorable characters in 2023's Barbie, just short of her 80th birthday.
06:59 "Not stereotypical Barbie. Pretty."
07:02 "Note to the filmmakers, Margot Robbie is the wrong person to cast if you want to make
07:06 this point."
07:07 4. Bea Arthur
07:08 "Honey, I dreamt I gave birth to the most beautiful baby, with an 8-foot stainless steel
07:15 umbilical cord."
07:17 She lived a whole life before she even thought about getting in front of a camera. Arthur
07:21 didn't start out in the arts. She joined the Marine Corps Women's Division, and served
07:25 during World War II. Following the war, she tried her hand as a medical technician. However,
07:31 she quickly lost passion for that and pivoted to performing.
07:34 "There was no fun in my life. Have you ever felt like you're stuck in a rut, going through
07:39 the motions with no joy or pleasure or excitement?"
07:42 She was 49 when America first saw her as Maude in All in the Family. Her comedic prowess
07:48 made them fall in love immediately. Her most lauded works soon followed, and she continued
07:54 to make people laugh well into her 60s. She isn't the only golden girl to enter the limelight
07:59 later in life. Co-star Estelle Getty didn't get her big break until she was 62.
08:05 "Sophia, your daughter is one of the most beautiful people I've ever met."
08:10 "Boy, you writers never stop using your imagination."
08:13 3. Patrick Stewart
08:14 "Captain, what is your status?"
08:17 "We are conducting energy output studies of the Macquarie Quasar. All systems normal,
08:23 the ship is fully operational."
08:24 While the roles he took on later were larger than life, they didn't start out that way.
08:29 Stewart worked hard for years before ever being recognized. He worked in the theatre
08:33 and on television, taking small roles and building a name for himself. By the time he
08:37 accepted the part of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, he was already middle-aged. While he had reservations
08:44 about science fiction, it catapulted him into superstardom. From there, he dropped his qualms
08:50 and took on another sci-fi project in the 2000s, X-Men.
08:54 "When I was a boy, I discovered I had the power to control people's minds, make them
08:59 think or do whatever I wanted. When I was 17, I met a young man named Eric Lencher.
09:06 He too had an unusual power."
09:08 He played the Professor for over 20 years, and he still looks the same as the day he
09:13 first started. His contemporary, Ian McKellen, has had a similar career arc, and they're
09:19 both still thriving today.
09:21 "I'm looking for hope. I will bring you hope, old friend. And I ask only one thing in return.
09:33 Don't get in my way."
09:34 Number 2. Morgan Freeman
09:36 "So how about it? Feel like living on the edge? Beautiful, isn't it?"
09:51 With his iconic voice becoming a staple of modern cinema, it's hard to believe he didn't
09:55 reach the mainstream until his 50s. The first part of his adulthood was spent in the Air
09:59 Force, where he served for four years. Freeman then became a dancer. While he did well there,
10:05 he knew he wanted to branch out into acting as well.
10:07 "Yeah, these walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em."
10:16 He eventually found a role on The Electric Company, where he built up his reputation.
10:21 He kept acting steadily until his work finally broke through to the general public. By the
10:25 mid-1990s, Freeman was a household name. He's only become more sought after as he's gotten
10:31 older, and has continued to lend his voice and effortless charisma to various projects
10:36 to this day.
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11:05 1. Maggie Smith
11:14 From day one, it was clear she was meant to be a star. She got her start young, taking
11:19 to the stage to perform various plays. She quickly rose the ranks and became one of the
11:23 most prolific performers, winning awards at a young age. She received accolades early
11:28 on in her career when she won an Academy Award for 1969's The Prime of Miss Jean Brody.
11:35 However, the characters she has taken on later in life have become what she's truly recognised
11:51 for. Her work in the Harry Potter franchise alone has cemented her legacy across generations.
11:58 She's proved that you can still teach an old dog new tricks, still taking on new movies,
12:03 even as she's approaching her 90th birthday.
12:22 Which celebrity's younger self surprised you the most? Let us know in the comments below.
12:27 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms Mojo. And be sure
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