12 Celebrities Who Were Told They’d Never Make It

These celebs were ridiculed when they first started out in Hollywood. The skeptics might have cracked the jokes then, but we know who got the last laugh!

Kate Winslet

"When I was younger, when I was 14, I was told by a drama teacher that I might do OK if I was happy to settle for the fat girl parts."

Sally Field

"[My agent] said, ‘Well that’s ridiculous. You can’t do that, you can’t get into film. You’re not pretty enough. You’re not good enough.’"

Reese Witherspoon

"All I heard was, 'No, not right--not tall enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough.' But I didn’t really care about their opinions. I’m stubborn."

Oprah Winfrey

After being fired as a news anchor for being "too emotionally invested" in her stories, she was called "unfit for TV news" by her boss.

Meryl Streep

A director asked his son in Italian, "Why do you bring me this ugly thing?" Streep replied in Italian, "I’m sorry I’m not beautiful enough to be in King Kong."

Nia Vardalos

"This agent I was once working with said, 'You are not fat enough to be a character actress, and you’re not pretty enough to be a leading lady.'"

Maggie Gyllenhaal

"When I was starting out, I used to hear 'no' a lot and still do. And, 'You're not sexy enough. You're not pretty enough.'"

Winona Ryder

"I was mid-sentence when the casting director said, 'Listen, kid. You should not be an actress. You are not pretty enough. You should go back.'"

Gisele Bündchen

"I remember some people telling me my nose was too big or my eyes were too small, that I could never be on a magazine cover."

Shakira

Her music teacher said she sounded "like a goat." The singer said, "It sounds comic now, but back then it was very traumatizing."

P!NK

"A ‘girl like me’ is someone... who has had people tell me from day one, 'You’re never going to get magazine covers because you are not pretty enough.'"

There are many celebrities who grew up poor--some of whom will totally shock you! Read on for A-listers who you'd never guess have true rags-to-riches stories.

NEXT: 12 Celebs You'd Never Guess Grew Up Poor