John Mahoney

Johny Mahoney took so long to make a name himself that his entire accent had changed. Born and raised in Manchester, England, Mahoney moved to the States as a young man for a better life. Shortly after, he took up acting, appearing in small plays. It wasn’t until 1993, at the age of 53, that he was cast as Martin Crane in the sitcom Frasier.

Kristen Wiig

Kristen Wiig had no interest in acting until her teacher encouraged her to pursue it. After college, she moved to Los Angeles and got involved with The Groundlings improv group. Wiig persisted through years of obscurity to finally land a role as a member of Saturday Night Live when she was 32.

Harrison Ford

Yes, that Harrison Ford! He starred in American Graffiti in 1973 but even that wasn’t enough to whet the appetite of audiences. It wasn’t until 1977, at the age of 33, that Ford became a global success as Han Solo in Star Wars. After that came Blade Runner and the Indian Jones franchise. Patience is a virtue!

Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler began her career as an improv comedian before she was scouted for Saturday Night Live at the age of 30. SNL turned out to be a stepping stone in the end, as Poehler moved on to film and hosting duties shortly after. Today, she’s one of the most in-demand female comedians out there.

Gene Hackman

One of Hollywood’s most recognizable actors, Gene Hackman struggled for years while trying to make it in Los Angeles. When it became clear Hollywood wasn’t for him, he moved to New York City, where he struggled alongside pals Dustin Hoffman and Robert Duvall. Eventually, at age 36, Hackman was cast in Bonnie and Clyde.

Tina Fey

Tina Fey is a comedy staple these days, with several acting credits and hosting appearances under her belt, but it took her a little bit of time to settle into the entertainment world. It wasn’t really until Mean Girls, which Fey wrote and co-starred at the age of 34, that she became famous.

Billy Bob Thornton

Billy Bob Thornton took up acting in 1981 after trying to make it as a musician and failing. After moving to Los Angeles, Thornton decided to write, direct, and star in his own movie in order to get the ball rolling. Sling Blade, which Thornton made when he was 39, finally woke up the world to the powers of Billy Bob.

Jane Lynch

Jane Lynch may be a master of dry-humored acting and cutting one-liners, but these skills went unappreciated until she was 43, and Best in Show cast her as Christy Cummings. Lynch was later cast in the musical TV series Glee, which introduced her to a whole new generation of viewers, all of whom fell in love with her biting verbal brutality.

Jessica Chastain

Fun fact about Jessica Chastain: she was trained at Juilliard thanks to a scholarship sponsored by the late Robin Williams! For a while, though, it seemed as though it would come to naught. Chastain was getting nowhere in Tinsel Town, and then she was cast in The Help and The Tree of Life back to back aged 34. And now look at her! Posing on the red carpet, and inexplicably getting her arms sniffed by Oscar Isaac.

Jon Hamm

It’s hard to imagine someone like Jon Hamm struggling to gain any work, knowing what a legend he is today. However, struggle he did, and for quite some time. Hamm had half a dozen TV credits to his name before landing the role of a lifetime on Mad Men in 2007, at which point he was 36.

Jayne Houdyshell

Jayne Houdyshell was getting along fine on the fringes of the limelight, doing plays in small regional theatres for over 25 years before she was given a shot at a role in Well, a 2006 Broadway production. The role changed Houdyshell’s life, allowing her to achieve international fame at the age of 53.

Jeremy Renner

Jeremy Renner struggled in Hollywood for years, doing mostly smaller jobs, including short films. Then along came Kathryn Bigelow who cast him in The Hurt Locker in 2009. His career soared after that, and nowadays Renner can count himself among Hollywood’s most in-demand actors.

Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman has always been old. He was born old! Although he gained some accolades for his work in Another World and the TV series The Electric Company, it wasn’t until his performance as Hoke Colburn in Driving Miss Daisy that he truly made it, and Freeman was 52 at the time.

Estelle Getty

Estelle Getty enjoyed a long and storied career, even if most of it was spent in the wilderness of bit parts on TV. It wasn’t until the arrival of The Golden Girls in 1985 that she went mainstream. Getty, astonishingly, was 62 at the time. Now that is a seriously long time to stay dedicated to the craft. Good for her!

Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais, like many actors before him, originally tried to make it as a musician. It wasn’t until his late thirties that he attempted to become an actor, writing The Office with Stephen Merchant. When it hit the air, Gervais was 40 years old, proving that it is never too late to get into comedy.

Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson is one of the most famous actors on the planet, but that wasn’t always the case. After taking up acting in the 1970s, Jackson spent most of his time doing stage productions. In 1994, he was cast as Jules in Pulp Fiction, bringing him the fame that has stayed with him since. He was 45.

Danny Burstein

Danny Burstein had all the training he needed to make it big in Hollywood but it took him a long, long time. Mostly known for his Broadway appearances, the actor was finally recognized by the wider world thanks to his portrayal of Aldolpho in The Drowsy Chaperone in 2006, when Burstein was 42.

Bea Arthur

Bea Arthur was working steadily right up until her death in 2009, but it took her a while to get going. The actress was 46 when her breakthrough came as Vera Charles in the 1966 Broadway production of Mame. After that, she enjoyed a long career that earned her nine Golden Globe award nominations.

Kathy Bates

Kathy Bates wasn’t a struggling actress in her youth; she just didn’t get any good parts. It wasn’t until 1990 when she was cast in the adaptation of Stephen King’s Misery opposite James Caan that audiences began to notice her. And what an introduction that was! Bates was 42 years old at the time.

Tim Allen

Tim Allen is an eternally middle-aged man, and it’s hard to imagine him having ever been any other way. The comedian and actor had to graft hard through most of his younger years before landing anything of note. He was 38 when Home Improvement came knocking, and that part eventually won Allen a Golden Globe.

Michael Caine

Have you ever seen a picture of a really young Michael Caine? Probably not. Even in the “younger” ones that exist, he still looks fairly long in the tooth – and that’s because he was. Everyone’s favorite butler played at being a starving artist in Paris for years before coming home to England and going mainstream with Alfie aged 33.

Burt Reynolds

Burt Reynolds wanted to be a football player during his youth and only attended acting classes to meet girls. After a decade or so of small parts in TV shows, he finally hit the big time with John Boorman’s 1972 classic Deliverance, when he was 36. Reynolds also found new audiences with Boogie Nights in 1997.

Christoph Waltz

If minor European stage and TV productions were your thing, you probably knew about Christoph Waltz before his overnight success with Inglorious Basterds in 2009. Much like Samuel L. Jackson, Quentin Tarantino saw something unique in Waltz and cast him as Col. Hands Landa. He has since won two Oscars.

James Gandolfini

The late, great James Gandolfini started acting in the 1980s but didn’t become the giant of the Mafia genre until The Sopranos came along in 1999. The HBO show skyrocketed Gandolfini to fame at the age of 38. That show, and the role of Tony Soprano, would not be the same without his talents.

Alan Rickman

On the brink of 30, Alan Rickman decided to join the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. For over a decade, he enjoyed various successes on the stage but he had his eyes set on Hollywood. At the ripe age of 46, Rickman was cast in his iconic role opposite Bruce Willis in Die Hard, and the rest was history.

Naomi Watts

British-Australian actress Naomi Watts acted in her fair share of American TV shows and films throughout the 1990s before David Lynch cast her in his 2001 flick Mulholland Drive. Overnight, Watts became a household name at the age of 31. She has gone on to earn two Oscar nominations since then.

Kathryn Joosten

Kathryn Joosten was no spring chicken when she decided to become an actor, moving to Los Angeles at the age of 56. Competing against those in a similar age group who had tons of experience, Joosten had to work extra hard to get a foot in the door, which she finally did with NBC’s The West Wing in 1999.

Jenna Fischer

Jenna Fischer, a talented actress, struggled in Hollywood for the best part of fifteen years, landing small bit parts along the way to pay the rent. It wasn’t until the American version of The Office cast her in 2005 that she lit up the small screen. Pam Beesly became an instant icon among fans of the show.

Michael Emerson

Michael Emerson spent the first half of his acting career doing local productions in Florida. In 2000, at the age of 46, he was cast as a serial killer in The Practice which finally pricked up Hollywood’s ears. He went on to star in Lost after that, winning himself two Emmy awards in the process.

Alexander Skarsgård

Alexander Skarsgard is still on the rise as we type these words but what really made his name after his humble Swedish beginnings was the HBO miniseries Generation Kill in 2008. At the time he was cast, Skarsgard had just turned 31. Offers began pouring in left, right, and centre after that.

Phylicia Rashad

For years, Phylicia Rashad dabbled in stage work on Broadway, enjoying varying degrees of success along the way, but it wasn’t enough. She knew she had to translate her talents onto the small screen, which she did in The Cosby Show. Phylicia was 35 when the life-changing offer came her way.

Judi Dench

Dame Judi Dench was well-known on the British stage years before Hollywood caught wind of her. It wasn’t until 1995’s GoldenEye that she broke through into the mainstream though. At the time, Dench was 61. She has gone on to win an Oscar since then, as well as earn a further six nominations.

Bryan Cranston

Everybody knows and loves Bryan Cranston today but it wasn’t so long ago that he was primarily known for a recurring role on Seinfeld as a dentist. Worldwide fame came at the turn of the 21st century when he was cast in Malcolm in the Middle at the age of 44. Then, of course, came the behemoth TV series Breaking Bad.

Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball may not be known by younger generations, given that she died in 1989, but for a good chunk of the 20th century, she was the biggest star on television. And it wasn’t until late on that she made a name for herself. When Ball was cast on the sitcom I Love Lucy, she was 40 years old.

Sean Connery

Sir Sean Connery is one of Scotland’s greatest acting exports, but he struggled throughout his twenties to make a mark on the film industry. When he was cast as the first-ever James Bond in Dr. No back in 1962, Connery was 32. He went on to star in a further six Bond films, right up until 1983.

Margo Martindale

Margo Martindale made her screen debut in 1990 but it wasn’t until 2004 that she made a real name for herself. Her performance as Big Mama in Broadway’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof came at the age of 53. Following that, she continued to snag big roles, mostly on TV and in film, including in Justified.

Melissa McCarthy

Melissa McCarthy is a huge name in comedy today but she spent almost twenty years grafting in small roles before her career took off. In 2011, she was cast in the enormously successful and controversial Bridesmaids. The performance gained McCarthy an Oscar nomination at the age of 41!

Linda Gray

Linda Gray spent a large chunk of her early career doing commercials and modeling. Things really changed for her when she was cast in a little-known show called Dallas in 1978. Gray’s status went sky-high immediately afterward, establishing her as one of the 1980s most iconic TV stars. Remarkably, she was 38 years old when she got the role

Sylvester Stallone

A classic rags to riches, against-all-odds story, Sylvester Stallone’s story is one of Hollywood’s best. Broke and desperate to enter the film industry, he wrote the script for Rocky, which was later picked up. Better yet, he managed to end up in the title role himself, achieving fame overnight in what turned out to be the biggest film of 1976, when he was 30 years old.

Ty Burrell

Ty Burrell, who began acting in 2000, had a few roles to put on his CV throughout the 2000s, but he was either fired from them or his character was killed off. He couldn’t have been luckier to find Modern Family in 2009 at the age of 42. Burrell has since said that he was happy to have gotten famous later in life as he was an “immature young man and would probably have gone off the rails.”