Late Bloomers: Celebrating Actors Who Found Fame Later In Life

When you see the annual "30 under 30 lists" or listen to the charts, it may feel like everybody at the peak of showbiz is getting younger and younger. But some of the biggest names in the business got started a lot later than you might think. From those who headed to Hollywood in their 30s to stars who nabbed their big break in their 50s, plenty of actors will make you consider that career change. Here are 20 actors who got their start a bit later than the teen idols and drama school kids they star alongside.

Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson is one of the most recognizable stars in Hollywood, but it wasn't until he was in his mid-forties that he hit the big time. After a series of smaller roles in films like Coming To America and Do The Right Thing, he got his breakthrough in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever (1991) at the age of 42. He then reached an even bigger audience at the age of 45 with the role of Jules Winnfield in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994). Blockbuster roles in the Star Wars prequels and the Marvel Cinematic Universe followed.

Alan Rickman

The late, great Alan Rickman, trained as a stage actor and a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, landed his first cinema role in one of the greatest action films ever made, Die Hard, as the villainous Hans Gruber. He was 42 years old at the time and went on to have roles in the Harry Potter franchise and films including Love Actually.

Betty White

Betty White's career has spanned eight decades, and while she found success in her 30s in the sitcom Life With Elizabeth, her most famous roles came much later. White was 51 when she started appearing on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, 63 when she starred as Rose on The Golden Girls, and 88 when she joined the cast of Hot In Cleveland.

Christoph Waltz

Waltz was a jobbing actor in Europe since his mid-20s, but it wasn't until Quentin Tarantino cast him as Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds that he hit the big time. He was 53 years old when he starred in the film, for which he gained an Oscar nomination, and has gone on to play Blofeld in the James Bond films.

Melissa McCarthy

While McCarthy had a role in the beloved sitcom Gilmore Girls, it wasn't until she starred as one of the titular characters in Mike & Molly at the age of 40 that her star truly began to rise. Then, at the age of 41, she was cast in the comedy Bridesmaids, which catapulted her into being known as one of the funniest women in Hollywood. Big screen capers including Spy, The Heat, and Ghostbusters have followed.

Morgan Freeman

Freeman starred in numerous successful stage productions and children's television series before his big break came with Street Smart, for which he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He was 50 years old at the time, and two years later, aged 52, he got an Oscar nod for Best Actor for Driving Miss Daisy. Freeman has since starred in huge films like Se7en and The Dark Knight, and is known for having one of the most distinctive voices in Hollywood.

Gene Hackman

Hackman and his classmate Dustin Hoffman were famously voted "least likely to succeed" by their peers at the Pasadena Playhouse. While Hackman began pursuing an acting career in the mid-50s, it wasn't until 1967 that he landed his breakthrough role in Bonnie and Clyde, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was 37 when he landed the role, and his career has now spanned six decades.