For every star who became an overnight sensation there are many, many more who were anything but an instant success, with many household names taking more than a few knock backs before they got lucky.
Take Harrison Ford, for instance, who in showbiz terms was practically collecting his bus pass when he got his big break at the ripe old age of 31 in ‘American Graffiti’, after years of being told by film execs that he didn’t have what it takes to be a movie star.
Similarly, it took nine years and a chance meeting for the Farrelly Brothers to get anything onto the big screen, but they went on to become one of the most successful comedy writers and directors of all time thanks to their first smash, ‘Dumb And Dumber’.
And Lady Gaga might have appeared to spring out of nowhere to become a global musical force but she was actually signed by a US label and dropped before she’d had chance to release a note (or wear a meat dress).
And, famously, ‘Harry Potter’ author JK Rowling suffered a dozen rejections before a publisher saw the potential in the boy wizard, which went on to become the best selling series of books of all time.
Find out who else heard a whole lot of ‘no’ before someone, somewhere finally said ‘yes’ in our 'Stars Who Had To Wait For Fame' gallery below…