15 Big Characters Who Started Small

It's hard to make it in show business. You have to start at the bottom and, with a lot of luck, you'll be able to work your way up to a major role. (Alternatively, you can be born into Hollywood royalty. That works too, if you can manage it.) This biz is so competitive and cutthroat, sometimes even the fictional characters themselves have to follow this career path. If you are created as a bit part, most of the time that's it for you -- but if you manage to impress your bosses, they might end up giving you your own show. We've collected these underdog stories, so you can vicariously live the success of people who don't even exist.