It's rare, if not impossible, that a celebrity lands one gig and then they never have to work again. While being in the limelight indeed seems more fun than working a "9-5" job, it also means that you have to find work consistently. Stars are always searching high and low for their next big break and stream of income.
Some celebrities become humbled. One minute they're all anyone can talk about, and then the next, they end up in a "What Are They Up To Now?" video or article. Some of these stars had to go back to working regular jobs because they struggled to find work. Others merely stepped away from the spotlight and decided that living an average life was more appealing to them. Let's see which celebs chose to or had to work a regular job after being famous.
10 Al Green Is Now A Pastor
R&B singer Al Green is known for hits such as Let's Stay Together and Love and Happiness. It's not uncommon for R&B singers to discover their love of music from church or return to church music after deciding to leave the secular world. In 1973, Al Green became a born-again Christian a year before his former lover poured scalding-hot grits on him and committed suicide due to finding out about his infidelity.
He already believed that he had strayed from recording righteous music, but this incident drove him to become a minister. While Green is a fully-ordained pastor, he started touring again after a while because he wanted the younger generation to experience his music.
9 Phoebe Cates Owns Blue Tree Boutique
Phoebe Cates was most known for driving teenage boys crazy in Fast Times at Ridgemont High and gave up on the spotlight to focus on raising a family. Since 1989, she's been married to Oscar-and-three-times-Tony award winner Kevin Kline. She founded Blue Tree in 2005, which is a boutique in New York City. The boutique sells items such as jewelry, clothing, antiques, and perfumes.
Kline helped come up with the name, which referenced the blue trees in Fauvist paintings. "Blue trees" seem out of place in the forest, and Kate's shop appears out of place in East New York City. The New York Times referred to Blue Tree as "a little oasis" with prices that benefit "ladies who lunch."
8 Vanilla Ice Works For Capitol Lighting In Florida
The single Ice Ice Baby was inescapable in the 90s and topped the charts. After a short-lived music career, Vanilla Ice tried his hand in jet skiing and Motocross before being involved in drugs and facing a collapsing career. Vanilla Ice also had an appearance on Dancing with the Stars. Now, Vanilla Ice is a lighting salesman. It also appears as if Vanilla Ice is getting back into performing and touring again.
7 Reggie Hayes Worked As A Bouncer And A Furniture Mover
Reggie Hayes is best known for his role as William Dent on the UPN/CW show Girlfriends playing the best friend and love interest of Joan, played by Tracee Ellis Ross. Hayes revealed to the Chicago Tribune that he wasn't "Matt Le Blanc" or one of the other cast members from Friends, so doors didn't open, and he was "just another guy".
He tried being a bouncer, but everyone would try to take pictures with him, and they knew he was soft-spoken, so it didn't work out too well. He also tried being a furniture mover, but he was in his 40s, and his back strength wasn't like it was before. It's unclear what Hayes is up to right now, but he is happy that Girlfriends came to Netflix. Hopefully, Netflix cut him a big check.
6 Jon Gosselin Now Works At A Healthcare Facility
Jon Gosselin is the ex-husband of Kate Gosselin. The two were on TLC's reality TV show John & Kate Plus 8. The show followed what it was like to raise eight children. Kate Gosselin had twins Mady and Cara and sextuplets Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah, and Joel. According to ET, Jon Gosselin now works as an IT director at a healthcare facility. His job is to show doctors how to use telemedicine. It also appears as if Jon Gosselin's girlfriend Colleen Conrad has him grinning from ear to ear.
5 Michael Maronna Is Now An Electrician
Michael Maronna is now an electrician, but not in the way that you may think. He works as an electrician on movie and TV sets. Technically, he didn't stray that far from being near the industry that made him a star.
Maronna is best known for his role as Big Pete in Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Pete & Pete. One of his last appearances was his appearance as himself in The Adventures of Pete & Pete 20th Anniversary Reunion. After studying filmmaking at Purchase College, he decided that he genuinely loves the electrical aspects of filmmaking and has worked on the sets such as Marvel's Luke Cage.
4 Danny Tamberelli Is Now A Doting Father And Musician
Danny Tamberelli played Lil Pete in The Adventures of Pete & Pete and is also known for being on All That. He is now the bassist and vocalist for the rock band Jounce. Also, Tamberelli married author Katelyn Detweiler in 2018 and, on June 14, 2019, they had a son named Alfred, whom he affectionately calls Alfie. He also hosts a podcast called Nostalgia Personified with his former TV brother Michael Maronna.
3 George Foreman Pitches Low-Fat Cooking Grills
If you've casually scrolled through TV commercials in the past 15 years on so, you've probably seen the George Foreman grill being advertised on television. Former professional boxer George Foreman turned his love for cooking in the kitchen into something truly marketable. He's one of those celebrities known for rebranding themselves. Foreman also made more as an endorser than as a boxer. He earned between $240-$250 million on his grills.
2 Karyn Parsons Now Runs The Sweet BlackBerry Foundation And Publishes Children's Books
Karyn Parsons, who played Hilary on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, appeared on HBO Max's Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion. However, she's not acting nowadays. Parsons is focusing on being a philanthropist. She founded The Sweet BlackBerry Foundation, which focuses on bringing little-known stories of African American achievement to children everywhere. She published How High The Moon in 2019 and Flying Free in 2020.
1 Geoffrey Owens Worked At Trader Joes
In 2018, Geoffrey Owens, who played Elvin on The Cosby Show, was job-shamed after being spotted working at Trader Joe's. Hollywood peers such as Tyler Perry, Nicki Minaj, and Terry Crews came to his defense. Perry invited Owens to work on his show The Have and Have Nots. Minaj sent him $25,000. Owens also had an Instagram series called Shift Happens that focused on essential workers, which was indeed befitting. He also played Daniel Warren on Power Book II: Ghost.
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