Take heart, fresh-faced young actors who feel like you’re getting turned down right and left! Some of the biggest names in film and TV didn’t get their big breaks until they were old enough that any reasonable person would probably have opted for another career altogether. Playing the long game paid off for these folks in a big way, whether they found fame at 40 or at twice that age.
Bryan Cranston (born 1956)
Everything Cranston touches turns to gold these days (though the jury’s out about the forthcoming “Godzilla” film): He’s celebrating a Tony nomination for his latest turn as LBJ in Broadway’s “All the Way,” and still riding high from the acclaim (and three Emmys) he got for playing Walter White on “Breaking Bad.”
But Cranston didn’t really become a known name until 2000, when he got the role of the dad on “Malcolm in the Middle” — his biggest achievement before that was playing Jerry’s dentist, Dr. Tim Whatley, on “Seinfeld” in the mid-’90s.
Ray Romano (born 1957)
Romano worked in stand-up for many years, but was launched to mainstream fame with “Everybody Loves Raymond” in 1996, when he was almost 40. Now he’s killing it in “Parenthood,” which just saw its season finale, and he was recently cast in HBO’s 1970s rock drama from Martin Scorsese.
Louis C.K. (born 1967)
He may be one of the most well-known and -respected comedians on the planet now, but Louis CK toiled under the radar for many years before finding major fame with his FX series “Louie” in 2010. (His previous show for HBO, “Lucky Louie,” found a cult following but no audience big enough to save it from cancellation after one season.)
Harrison Ford (born 1942)
Ford got the part of Han Solo in “Star Wars” when he was 35. He spent his early adult life working as a carpenter. As he told a Reddit AMA recently, he was helping George Lucas as a stand-in during screen tests for actors auditioning for the sci-fi movie, and was stunned when Lucas offered him the part.
Jane Lynch (born 1960)
Lynch was familiar to comedy fans for a long time, for her supporting roles in “Best in Show” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” among many others — but she sprang to household recognition with the part of Sue Sylvester on “Glee,” at the age of 49.
Jon Hamm (born 1971)
Hamm has said he was about ready to hang it up when he got the call for the part of Don Draper in 2007, at age 36. He’d done plenty of time in smaller parts — including a job as a set-dresser on adult films in the late ’90s, a gig he has referred to as “soul-crushing” — and has said he was a “bottom of the list” candidate for the ad-man role.
Thankfully, those eight auditions he had to do to get the role paid off.
Michael Emerson (born 1954)
The actor studied theater and art in college but was unable to find work upon graduating and turned to retail, freelance illustrating and art directing instead.
But he found fame in his 40s, when he won an Emmy for playing a serial killer on “The Practice,” then moved on to become a popular character on “Lost” — nominated for Emmys every season he appeared on the show — and now stars on “Person of Interest.”
Billy Bob Thornton (born 1955)
The actor, who’s having a TV moment right now with his role in the series “Fargo,” found fame with his film “Sling Blade,” which he wrote, directed and starred in, in 1996, in his early 40s.
Judi Dench (born 1934)
Dench, nominated for a 2014 Oscar for her performance in “Philomena,” was known among the British theatergoing set for many years, but only became the indie-cinema darling Americans know her to be after being cast as M in 1995’s “GoldenEye,” in her early 60s, a role she would play in several subsequent Bond films.
Jeremy Renner (born 1971)
The “Avengers” actor didn’t find serious fame until the age of 38, when he starred in “The Hurt Locker” in 2008, although he did get critical notice for his portrayal of the notorious serial killer in 2002’s indie film “Dahmer.”
Ken Jeong (born 1969)
“Dr. Ken,” as he’s known, was really a doctor until his breakout role in “The Hangover” in 2009, which allowed him to parlay his hobby of comedy into a full-time gig. Now he’s making a medical comedy about his life for NBC. Its title? “Dr. Ken.”
Samuel L. Jackson (born 1948)
Jackson was a character actor in film and TV — receiving critical acclaim for performances like the one in Spike Lee’s “Jungle Fever” in 1991 — but got his big break at the age of 45 in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction,” in 1994.
June Squibb (born 1929)
Squibb, 84, just celebrated her first Oscar nomination for her sharply hilarious turn in “Nebraska,” but she’s been acting since her 30s, largely in supporting roles in films such as “Scent of a Woman” (1992) and “About Schmidt” (2002), in which she played Jack Nicholson’s wife.