Before the Oscar winner made it big, she initially tried to break out on VH1’s “In Search of the Partridge Family” in 2004, when she was among hundreds of actors who went through a series of grueling auditions to nab a spot in 2005’s “The New Partridge Family.” The “La La Land” star obviously had the chops to make it to the end when she scored a role in one episode of the subsequent series.
Before the star became known as Aria Montgomery in “Pretty Little Liars,” the actress found her start in 2003 on the singing competition, “American Juniors,” a spin-off of “American Idol.” Though she effortessly pivoted into acting, Hale’s singing competition background wasn’t entirely a bust. In 2014, she released her first album, Road Between, which quickly climbed to the top of the country charts.
Before the singer locked down her role as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, she actually auditioned for a spot in another girl group, which she later won. The process was televised on the reality show “Pop Stars,” where Scherzinger got her start in the music biz by scoring a place in the early 2000’s girl group, Eden’s Crush.
Before she started wielding a sword as Mulan on ABC’s “Once Upon a Time,” the actress was just a cast member on Season 14 of MTV’s the “Real World,” where she lived with a bunch of strangers and was portrayed as a responsible college student. She hasn’t dropped the squeaky-clean image since.
As a 25-year-old, the “Mad Men” star apparently had a problem with the ladies—which is why his first TV appearance was on the ’90s dating show, “The Big Date,” where he was turned down by a woman named Mary Carter. Better luck next time, Jon.
Prior to the actress scoring a role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black,” she tried out to be P. Diddy’s hostess on the first season of VH1’s “I Want to Work For Diddy.” Despite getting cut in eighth place, we’re sure the Emmy nominee isn’t mulling over it.