15 Big Characters Who Started Small

It's hard to make it in show business. It can be cruel and unforgiving. Most of the time, 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 via fate and cosmos.) This biz is so competitive and cutthroat, sometimes even the fictional characters themselves have to follow this start-small-end-big career path. If you are a character created as a bit part, most of the time that's it -- but, much like in real life, if you make the most of your moment and manage to impress your bosses, they might end up giving you another spotlight, then another, and maybe even your own show. 

We've collected these underdog stories, so you can vicariously live the success of people who don't even exist.