15 Brazilian celebrities who worked in other professions before achieving fame

Many celebrities we see in the media were once anonymous struggling to achieve success. Before fame, while looking for the best opportunity to be recognized for their talents, these artists were seen acting in other professions. Showing versatility and determination, they dedicated themselves intensely to other trades, without ever losing sight of the dream of pursuing an artistic career.

O incredible.club decided to gather 15 stories of celebrities who, before becoming famous, had to work in other professions unrelated to the artistic career they currently pursue. Check out!

Valesca Reis Santos, better known as Valesca Popozuda, became famous when she launched in 2013, the hit “Kiss on the Shoulder”. At the beginning of her musical career, Valesca tried to reconcile two jobs: during the day she worked as a gas station attendant in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro and, in the early hours, she sang at funk dances. With the shows increasing and no regular sleeping hours, the singer chose to follow her passion, funk, and abandoned her job as a gas station attendant for good. On her social network, the funk artist recalls the times when she worked at a gas station and expresses gratitude saying: “I was a gas station attendant and I am very proud of my former profession! I always thank God for helping me both before and after!🇧🇷

Luan Santana’s first job was as a telephone operator at a gospel radio station in Maringá (Paraná). The work, which was unpaid, was soon replaced, when Luan began to dedicate himself to a singing career. Gradually, Luan conquered the Brazilian stages, breaking audience records in the cities where he performed. In 2019, the singer’s name entered the history of national music when his song “When a bad beat” was the most played on the radio in 24 hours.

Before gaining the spotlight as an actor and singer, Fábio Júnior worked, along with his brothers, as a newspaper and magazine delivery boy at his father’s newsstand. Passionate about music, still with his brothers, Fábio was part of a musical group that even performed on the Chacrinha program. Success came years later, when Fábio Júnior decided to pursue a solo career. Today, the eternal heartthrob who, in addition to being a singer is an actor, collects awards for the expressive number of sales of his records in Brazil and, still accumulates participation in soap operas. Away from soap operas for 21 years, he returns to acting, and now in theaters, in “A Sogra Perfeita”, a film scheduled for release in April 2020.

Parallel to her modeling career, Grazi Massafera worked as a manicurist in a beauty salon, without even imagining that one day she would be an actress. Dedicated to beauty pageants, she won “Miss Paraná” in 2004. Seeking fame, the following year, in 2005, she participated in the 5th season of reality show Big Brother Brazil.

Grazi’s charisma and beauty caught the attention of global soap opera producers, leading her to be invited to participate in several serials. Despite criticism at the beginning of her career on the small screen, the former model did not give up and continued to study dramaturgy. Free of labels and proving her talent, Grazi managed to stand out and, in 2015, she was nominated for the International Emmy for best actress for her role as Larissa in the soap opera “Verdades Secretas”.

Returning to her origins, the actress has already revealed that, whenever possible, she puts her old profession back into practice, and does her own nails.

Born in Manaus (Amazonas), Malvino graduated in accounting sciences and started working as a bank clerk. At the same time, in his free time, the heartthrob won the spotlight by participating in fashion shows. Soon, new job opportunities as a model emerged that required Malvino to move from Manaus to São Paulo. Arriving in São Paulo, in addition to modeling, Malvino embarked on an acting career and, in his first role on the small screen, appeared in “Cabocla”, a global soap opera in 2004. Since then, Malvino has consolidated his space in dramaturgy, acting in successful soap operas. , being his last work in “A Dona do Pedaço” (2019) in which he played Agno Aguiar. For his performance in the soap opera, Malvino was nominated for the “Best of the Year” award in the “Best Supporting Actor” category in 2019.

With the dream of becoming an actor since he was a child, Murilo Benício left at the age of 18, heading to California, United States, hoping to find work opportunities in the world of cinema. However, in the face of refusals and, in order to stay in the foreign country, Murilo worked as a pizza delivery boy and waiter. It was upon returning to Brazil that the doors to stardom opened. Thus, at the age of 21, Murilo debuted on the small screen in the soap opera “Fera Ferida” (1993). Since then, Murilo has been featured not only in soap operas, but also in cinema, collecting awards such as “Best Actor”. Currently, the actor is on the air in “Amor de Mãe”, a soap opera shown in prime time by Rede Globo.

Dominating several fighting styles, such as Taekwondo and Muay Thai, Anderson Silva is considered one of the best fighters in UFC history (Ultimate Fighting Championship🇧🇷 Before reaching that prestige, Anderson considered becoming a soccer player and working as a waiter at McDonald’s, but gave up on everything when he was convinced that his skills as a fighter would take him further. By investing in his fighting career, Anderson Silva reached international success and was considered “invincible” in tournaments for winning 17 consecutive fights (in a period of 7 years) and keeping his belt (middleweight) until 2013. Away from the octagons since May 2019, the fighter is recovering from a knee injury, suffered in the last fight, and should return in 2020 to the ultimate🇧🇷

Born into a family of musicians, Ivete Sangalo already showed, since childhood, a vocation for singing and as an instrumentalist. In adolescence, with the death of her father, who was a jeweler, Ivete’s family had to create other forms of subsistence; so Ivete’s mother began to prepare lunchboxes and her daughter was in charge of publicizing and selling them. After a long period selling lunchboxes, Ivete returned to her old passion, music, and started singing in bars and events, until in one of these presentations she was invited to join a new band in formation: Banda Eva. And so, Ivete’s reign at Banda Eva began, which lasted 6 years. After that, Ivete pursued a solo career, reaching the peak of fame. The singer from Bahia continues to this day releasing songs of immediate success, even being used as soundtracks for soap operas and to pack Brazilian carnivals.

In the photo above, the singer from Bahia relives the times when she helped to prepare and sell lunchboxes, on Rede Globo’s Video Show program in 2002.

Before forming the duo with Marrone, Vinícius Félix de Miranda, better known by his stage name Bruno, worked as a clerk at his father’s pharmacy. Aiming to pursue a musical career, Bruno was looking for a partner to form a duo until, through the singer Leonardo (at the time, he was in a duo with his brother Leandro), he was introduced to Marrone and the harmony between them was immediate. It was then that, in 1984, they consolidated the duo, but national notoriety came in 2001, with the release of the acoustic CD and DVD, which were a sales success. They also made history in country music by winning the first gold DVD in Brazil (more than 25,000 copies sold). Currently, the duo has several national and international awards, including a “Latin Grammy” in 2002.

Dalton Vigh has acted in several soap operas, the first being in 1995 in “Tocaia Grande” and currently on air in “As Aventuras de Poliana”. Despite the great phase in his career, Dalton Vigh found himself involved in other trades, before dedicating himself exclusively to dramaturgy. At 18, he moved to the United States and there he studied English and worked as a waiter. Here in Brazil, among the jobs, is teaching English at a private school for about 3 years.

For five years, Léo Santana led Parangolé, a Bahian pagode band, which propelled him to fame. As hit “Rebolation”, the Bahian singer and the band ended up at the Guinness Book with the most played song in the world in 2010. Today, in a solo career, Léo continues to be successful, being frequently nominated in awards that highlight him among the best singers of the year. Considering Léo Santana’s successful career, it’s hard to imagine him in any profession other than singing, but the reality is that before becoming famous, due to lack of opportunities in the music world, Léo worked in other segments, being one of these occupations, selling chicken on the beach.

Dreaming of becoming a professional volleyball player, he traveled to the United States in search of opportunities in the sport and to learn English. Despite his efforts, Rodrigo was unable to get into shape as a sportsman and decided to return to Brazil. Arriving here, he got jobs as a travel agent and a waiter, a period that allowed him to combine his savings and invest in another profession, acting. So he enrolled in a theater course. After participating in theater plays, Rodrigo got his first role on the small screen, in the soap opera “Meu Pé de Laranja Lima” (1998) shown by Rede Bandeirantes.

One of the highlights of Rodrigo’s career was when he played Raj Ananda in “Caminho das Índias” (2009), the first Brazilian telenovela to win the international Emmy Award, considered the Oscar of television. Divided between theater, television and cinema, the actor recently debuted in “Carcereiros: O Filme” (2019) and in 2020, he will be in the recordings of the series “O Anjo de Hamburgo”.

From a very young age, Edson showed his vocation to be an actor, so much so that his father suggested that he study theater. Raised in a family with no ties to the artistic world, Edson decided to invest in an acting career and, aged 17, entered the Institute of Dramatic Arts at the University of São Paulo. To pay for his studies, Edson worked as a realtor. At the age of 20, he had his first role in “Salário Mínimo” (1978), a telenovela shown by the extinct TV Tupi. Two years later, Edson made his debut on Rede Globo, the channel that consolidated him as an actor. In more than 40 years of career dedicated to dramaturgy, in