Trending badgeTrendingPosted 54 minutes agoSubscribe to Screen Time NewsletterCaret Down19 Celebs Who Became Famous Much Later In LifeThere's no such thing as overnight success.by Jenna GuillaumeBuzzFeed ContributorFacebookPinterestLink Youth is a hot currency in Hollywood, which makes it all the more remarkable when celebrities find success later in life (even if that "later" would be considered young in other industries). Here are some celebs who prove that hard work pays off. 1. Pedro Pascal Don Arnold / WireImage, HBO Pedro Pascal is a hot commodity right now, at 50 years old - but he nearly quit acting multiple times throughout his 20s and 30s. It wasn't until he landed the role of Oberyn Martell on Game of Thrones when he was in his late 30s that his career really started to take off. 2. Leslie Jones Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images, NBC / NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Leslie Jones worked for years to build her stand-up comedy career before she scored a spot on the cast of Saturday Night Live at the age of 47 - becoming the oldest person to join the show as a cast member. 3. Morgan Freeman Anna Webber / Getty Images for AFI, Golan-Globus It seems like Morgan Freeman has been old his whole career - perhaps because he got his big break at age 50, in the movie Street Smart. Before that, he had primarily worked as a stage actor. 4. Jane Lynch Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for Tribeca Festival, FOX / FOX Image Collection via Getty Images Jane Lynch plugged away in minor roles for years and years in films like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, but only became a household name when she landed her breakthrough role of Sue Sylvester in Glee at the age of 49. 5. Samuel L. Jackson Monica Schipper / Getty Images, Miramax Samuel L. Jackson's roles were mostly small for the first part of his acting career, and his profile didn't increase until he was in his 40s. While he appeared in Jungle Fever, Jurassic Park and True Romance, it wasn't until he starred in Pulp Fiction at age 45 that he became a household name. 6. Alan Rickman Mike Marsland / WireImage, 20th Century Fox Alan Rickman was a graphic designer before he decided to pursue acting professionally in his mid-20s. He performed roles in theatre productions and TV for several years, but his breakthrough - and first film - role was as villain Hans Gruber in Die Hard, when he was 42. 7. Ken Jeong Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images, Apatow Productions Ken Jeong worked as an actual doctor for years, doing bit parts and comedy on the side, when he scored the role of an on-screen doctor in Knocked Up when he was in his late 30s. It was then that he transitioned from medicine to a full-time screen career. 8. Viola Davis Mondadori Portfolio / Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images, Miramax Viola Davis had a steady stage career and plenty of minor film and TV roles over the years, but her star really rose when she had a scene-stealing role in the movie Doubt at the age of 43. 9. Steve Carell Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images, CBS Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images Steve Carell worked steadily in comedy roles - mainly on late night TV - for years, but he hit the big time and became famous in his 40s when he starred in Anchorman, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and, of course, The Office. 10. Harrison Ford Emma McIntyre / Getty Images, Sunset Boulevard / Corbis via Getty Images Harrison Ford was famously working as a carpenter to support himself through his early acting career - right up until he landed his big break as Han Solo in Star Wars at the age of 35. 11. Kathy Bates Amanda Edwards / Getty Images, Castle Rock Entertainment While Kathy Bates already had a successful stage career and had had several on-screen roles, it was her breakout role in the movie Misery when she was 42 that really brought her widespread fame. 12. John Mahoney Kevin Winter / Getty Images, NBC John Mahoney worked as a teacher and then an editor of a medical journal before he decided to seriously pursue acting in his late 30s. He found success on stage before scoring some small but memorable TV and movie roles, and then achieving widespread recognition as Martin Crane in Frasier at the age of 53. 13. Bryan Cranston John Lamparski / Getty Images for Tribeca Festival, Fox Bryan Cranston steadily built up his acting career over the years, taking on plenty of small roles before landing the leading role of Hal on Malcolm in the Middle when he was in his mid-40s, which really put him on the Hollywood map. 14. Ty Burrell Araya Doheny / Getty Images, ABC Another actor made famous in a dad role, Ty Burrell was a largely unkown actor - having had a string of pretty minor roles - prior to being cast as Phil Dunphy on Modern Family, on which he became one of the standout characters. He was in his early 40s at the time. 15. Octavia Spencer Bravo / Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images, Touchstone In her early career, Octavia Spencer had many minor roles on screen, but when she starred as Minny in The Help she be