Celebs That Ended Up In Totally Regular Jobs

Freddie Prinze, Jr. was every '90s and early '00s teenage girl's dream man, with his most notable movies including, "I Know What You Did Last Summer," "She's All That," and "Scooby-Doo," where he got to star alongside his wife and fellow actor, Sarah Michelle Gellar. While he still does some acting here and there, having done voice over work for the Disney XD series "Star Wars: Rebels," and rejoining the cast for the revival of "Punky Brewster," he's switched up careers entirely.

These days, Prinze's primary job has been working as a chef. In 2016, People reported that the star was releasing his first cookbook entitled "Back to the Kitchen," and shared, "I got my first acting job six months into culinary school, and I was thinking, 'Wait, they're going to pay me what?' The per diem back then was more than I was making a week at the restaurant I worked at, so I was gone." He added, "But it was something I always wanted to do. Cooking was something my mother and I always did together.'"

The actor had also told GQ that same year that he wanted to be a "stay-at-home dad" for his two kids. Prinze and Gellar are parents to a daughter named Charlotte, born in 2009, and a son named Rocky, born in 2012. Prinze shared, "I wanted to cook breakfast and dinner for my kids every day."

Tiffany Darwish, better known as just Tiffany, was a 1980s sensation, with her stunning face, fiery red hair, and catchy cover of "I Think We're Alone Now." These days, instead of shooting music videos in malls, she hawks vintage clothes in her shop, Tiffany's Boutique, in Nashville, Tennessee.

She told the New York Daily News, "I was a shopaholic as a teenager. I've been collecting vintage pieces for 10 years now [for my] tiny little store." She added, "I'm still involved in the music industry, so I'm always traveling. And shopping!" Tiffany talked more about her boutique and her inspiration behind it to People, sharing, "I thought, 'Wouldn't it be cool to open up a boutique that is a little bit of glamour, and a little bit different?' I'm a real girl. I get it. I gain weight, I lose weight. My styles change. My goal is to provide fashion for real women — any size, any age.'"

Tiffany never really left music and had released several albums in the '90s and 2000s, but they never amounted to the same success as her debut record, which featured the above-mentioned tune "I Think We're Alone Now." She has released a total of eleven full-length albums, with her latest entitled "Shadows," which debuted in 2021.

"Mean Girls" star Jonathan Bennett went from smooching an in-her-prime Lindsay Lohan to becoming a spin instructor. In 2013, BuzzFeed reported that the erstwhile Aaron Samuels was a staffer at Flywheel in Los Angeles, where he reportedly specializes in encouraging aspiring stars in his classes. Are you suddenly interested in working out again?

ABC News reported that the actor's bio for his new gig read, "Behind the pedals, Jonathan brings to the cycling world his positive attitude. He strives to bring out the best in all riders, leaving them feeling accomplished and ready to face the day."

We hate to break it to you, but Bennett eventually bounced back into showbiz when he became the host of "Cake Wars" on the Food Network. Grool, indeed. He also starred alongside Hilary Duff in the 2019 horror film "The Haunting of Sharon Tate," and took up roles in several holiday Hallmark movies, including "Christmas Made to Over" and "The Christmas House." Bennett is also keeping busy with his new podcast "PRIDEcast," which launched in May 2022. He shared on Instagram, "PRIDECast is your weekly dose of love, laughter, and hopefully a little inspiration for our entire LGBTQIA+ family."

Charlie Korsmo, who starred as Robin Williams' son in 1991's "Hook," left Hollywood as a teen. He later admitted to the New York Daily News that he just wanted to be a kid, stating, "At 13, I realized I didn't have any friends my own age." He decided to do what any other normal teenager would be doing at his age — going to school to get his degree.

The Daily News reported that Korsmo earned a degree in physics, and later served as an advisor for the Department of Homeland Security after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. He attended Yale Law, then became a lawyer and professor, working at Case Western Reserve's School of Law in Cleveland, Ohio. Korsmo revealed that his acting experience actually helps him on the job. "As a professor you are on your feet in front of a crowd a few hours a day," he said, adding, "It's not quite the same as being an actor, but the experience takes away some of the nervousness."

According to ABC News, before Korsmo enrolled in college, he briefly returned to his acting roots when he starred in the 1998 film "Can't Hardly Wait" alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt. His last acting credit, as of this writing, is 2018's "Chained for Life."

While Kate Gosselin continued her reality TV stardom with "Kate Plus 8," ex-husband Jon Gosselin opted for a more low-key life post-divorce. The former TV patriarch wound up working as a DJ as well as a cook at T.G.I. Fridays. In 2016, he told ET that the latter was just a hobby. According to Jon, "I only work there eight hours a week, because I like to do it. Why can't I work at a restaurant? I like to cook. My buddy needed help so I said. 'OK, why not? I'll sauté!'"

However, Jon reportedly quit Fridays soon after a photo of him at the eatery was widely publicized. "I'm not going to work there anymore because now the trust and the teamwork is gone," he told Dallas radio station 103.7 KVIL FM (via Page Six). "Because now someone took a picture of me and sold it to TMZ. Thanks a lot, man! Now I gotta go through all of this stuff and now I gotta leave a job that I was passionate about," Jon further shared.

Page Six later reported that, after his brief time as chef at T.G.I. Fridays, Jon gave stripping a try to make extra cash in 2017. According to his LinkedIn, Jon also worked in I.T. for several years, with his most recent job listed at Amazon, as of this writing, where he's worked as an I.T. Support Associate II.

"American Pie" star Chris Owen still acts, but he also reportedly waits tables at a high-end sushi eatery to pay the bills.

According to Daily Star, photos were taken of Owen working as a waiter at the Los Angeles restaurant Sushi Roku. "Life doesn't always go the way you planned," he admitted to the New York Daily News. "I love acting and this job lets me stay in the fight." Though big roles may not be racing his way, Owen's apparently made a lasting impression as Chuck Sherman in the "Pie" franchise. "I get recognized a lot," he said. "I walk up to the table and see the look in their eyes. ... People get excited and it feels good. I like connecting with people for that brief moment in time."

Owen, aka "The Sherminator," appeared in three movies in the "American Pie" franchise — and a reported "American Pie 5" might be in the works. Actor Tara Reid, who starred as Vicky in the films, told ET in 2021, "It might happen. OK, I can't tell you when, because I don't really know when, because we have to get all the actors and at the same time to get our schedules together." Interestingly, Owen and his "American Pie" co-star were both in the 2018 in the comedy "The Last Sharknado: It's About Time."

Soul singer Al Green has won 14 Grammys, sold millions of records, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll, Gospel, and Songwriters Halls of Fame. While he still records and performs occasionally, he left the bulk of his past as a crooner behind to devote his life to religion in the late '70s. After being attacked by an angry lover in 1974 (she then died by suicide in his home), he grew more serious about his spirituality. Green became a Baptist preacher in Memphis, Tennessee, where he's served at the Full Gospel Tabernacle for more than 40 years.

When asked about his career change, Green told The Memphis Commercial Appeal in 2016, "I done did a lot of stuff, man. There's some things I'd like to do, maybe [play] three or four cities of the United States and then go back to the house and read some more of the [Bible]. I'm not hankering for anything, not really."

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

Like her husband, Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar transitioned from acting into the food business. The "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star co-developed a non-GMO, organic baking mix company called Foodstirs in 2015.

The mom of two told People, "I always joke with my kids like being an actor is a very abstract job. For the longest time my kids, because my kids are still little, they thought I got my hair and makeup done for a living and thought that was a job." She added, "Now they watched us have an idea, create it, make it a tangible product and now when they go to the stores that we shop in all the time, they see it on the shelves, and that's incredible to me. It kind of blows my mind."

Gellar also told CNBC that her celebrity was a "double-edged sword" when she launched her own business. While one might think being famous would give an entrepreneur a leg up, the actor argued that fame comes with "more eyes on us and more anticipation of failure." Gellar added, "It certainly helps to have my platform to spread the word, but it takes that much more to be accepted as a serious businesswoman."

Andrew Shue starred on "Melrose Place" from 1992 to 1999, and, after leaving the primetime soap, he turned his efforts online. The actor, who's married to ABC News anchor Amy Robach, founded CafeMom, one of the early so-called mommy blogs, in 2006.

"As rewarding and rich as that time of life is, being a mom can be isolating because no one has any idea how overwhelmed each mom is, how conflicted they are about performing all their roles well," he told NJ.com. "Moms don't think they do anything well." Aside from wanting to help mothers at a difficult time, Shue admitted he was tired of the Hollywood grind, saying, "I didn't like having to promote myself and to constantly make myself interesting to people."

In addition to his successful website, Shue also co-founded Do Something, an organization for young people that empowers them to take action on issues that are important to them. In 2021, Shue and Robach became authors when they published a children's book called entitled "Better Together," which was inspired by their blended family.

After Geoffrey Owens was shamed by some for working at Trader Joe's, athlete-turned-actor Terry Crews rushed to his defense on social media. "I swept floors AFTER [playing in] the @NFL," Crews tweeted in response to a story about Owens' grocery gig. "If need be, I'd do it again. Good honest work is nothing to be ashamed of."

Indeed, Crews has had other jobs in between his football career and his acting roles, including co-founding a furniture design firm and a stint as a courtroom sketch artist covering a high-profile murder case in Flint, Michigan. Though he's wildly successful today, the entertainer has made it clear that side hustles have always been a part of his equation. During a sit-down on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Crews said that "humility gets you far," noting that he put his artistic talents to use while playing in the NFL: "It would literally take me about two months to do a painting, and they would give me like five grand, and I would survive off that. My whole family survived off that."

Mike Vitar played Benjamin Franklin "Benny the Jet" Rodriguez in "The Sandlot," as well as Luis Mendoza in "D2: The Mighty Ducks" and its sequel "D3: The Mighty Ducks." However, he left Hollywood in 1997, when he was 19 years old, with Variety reporting that Vitar became a firefighter in Los Angeles.

The '90s movie star ran into legal trouble when he, another off-duty firefighter named Eric Carpenter, and a third pal named Thomas Molnar were accused of beating Samuel Chang, a college student who was handing out candy in Carpenter's neighborhood on Halloween, in 2015, per the Los Angeles Times. Chang wound up in the intensive care unit. Vitar and his buddies reached controversial plea deals that kept them out of prison. Vitar reportedly pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery and received three years of probation and community service. He was suspended for six months from the fire department before returning to work, as reported by The Times.

Vitar appears to be laying low ever since leaving showbiz behind, but he did meet up with his "Mighty Ducks" co-star, Marguerite Moreau, for a 20-year reunion back in 2014.

In the first season of "American Idol," the now-ubiquitous Ryan Seacrest had a co-host: comedian Brian Dunkleman. Dunkleman didn't come back for the subsequent seasons of the singing competition juggernaut and, at the time of this writing, works as an Uber driver in Los Angeles.

Dunkleman's career shift was first reported by TMZ. The gossip rag unearthed documents from Dunkleman's divorce that revealed his source of income: He reportedly logs about 45 hours a week behind the wheel for the service, making about $800 to $1,000 a week. Dunkleman, who has a young son, told the site, "I chose to stop doing standup comedy and started driving an Uber so I could be there for my son as much as he needed after our life as we knew it was destroyed."

Former "The Cosby Show" star Geoffrey Owens, who was previously shamed for working at Trader Joe's, sent Dunkleman well wishes. "Hey, Brian! Geoffrey Owens here," Owens told People in a statement. "To say that I can relate to your situation is an understatement." He added, "There's a small amount of people who can truly understand what you're going through, and I'm one of them! Hang in there. And don't hide. Whatever you do, do it well and proudly. ... I think you're awesome, and I admire you!"

Stop, collaborate, and list it: Vanilla Ice went from a rapper to a house flipper. The celeb, whose real name is Rob Van Winkle, told CNBC in 2012 that his house-flipping business is just as lucrative as rap was for him back in the early '90s, and he's been chronicling his work on "The Vanilla Ice Project" on the DIY Network. "They're both pretty good, to be honest with you," he said of his current cash flow compared to when he was a rapper. "The great thing is I found another passion that does make money."

Vanilla Ice went on, "The short sales, the foreclosures are great, but tax auctions are even better," adding, "If no one's bidding against you and it's an absolute auction, you can steal the homes for pennies on the dollar." He said that, in addition to making green, his houses go green, too, telling DIY Life in 2020, "We create less of a carbon footprint. We use a lot of LED lights. ... We installed a tankless water heater outside. It costs less to run, and you never run out of hot water."

The star even wrote a book on how to get rich flipping houses, which, he said, he got into by accident. Vanilla Ice apparently bought an apartment in New York City's elite Greenwich Village, as well as a property in Los Angeles, in his early 20s, but sold them because he was never home — and made a sweet profit.

Karyn Parsons starred as Hilary Banks in everyone's favorite '90s sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and would later star in 1996's "Lush Life" and the early 2000s TV show "The Job." However, she eventually found her calling in an entirely new profession when she became a storyteller thanks to her non-profit Sweet Blackberry. 

Parsons created Sweet Blackberry, a company that teaches children about inspiring African Americans, after learning about Virginia slave Henry "Box" Brown from her mother. Brown escaped to freedom when he mailed himself in a wooden crate to Philadelphia. Having not known about his brave and harrowing escape, Parsons created children's books so that they too could learn about Brown and other African American achievements. Some of her books include the story of Garrett Morgan, a Black man who created the traffic light, Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to get her pilot's license, and Janet Collins, the first Black Prima ballerina.

"I wanted to make something really engaging and fun, kind of like a fairy tale story," Parsons told Blavity in 2019, adding, "The way we know fairy tales like the backs of our hands, like, why not take real people that have amazing stories and make these ... just as engaging for kids?" She has also written two children's books entitled "How High the Moon" and "Flying Free."

"Wizards of Waverly Place" actor Jennifer Stone, who starred alongside Selena Gomez in the Disney show, has been extremely busy fighting COVID-19 as a registered nurse. 

Stone became a nurse after she found out that she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. She shared with Beyond Type 1, "I felt like I found a balance that came to healthy place with [diabetes] — I am now ready to inspire other people and help make this world a more receptive place for this disease." The actor added, "I know how ignorant I was when I was first diagnosed; I want to help the world know more about the disease." 

In 2019, Stone graduated with a nursing degree and has since been working as an ER nurse. She later celebrated her accomplishments with a 2020 Instagram that read, "A very good friend of mine pointed out to me that today is #worldhealthday. It is also the day I went from a volunteer, then a student nurse, and now an RN resident. I just hope to live up to all of the amazing healthcare providers on the front lines now as I get ready to join them." In another 2021 post, the star shared the difficulties of jumping into her nursing duties right when the coronavirus pandemic hit: "I knew being a nurse wouldn't be easy, but I never could have anticipated starting at this pandemic, proportion. Last night was a rough one." 

Reed Alexander was in his teens when he got the role of Nevel Papperman in Nickelodeon's "iCarly," but his passions for acting were fading as he became more interested in the world of journalism. Looking at his LinkedIn, Alexander has got one impressive resume and has worked as a journalist for companies such as HuffPost, the BBC, CNN, and the Dow Jones. 

Now a financial reporter for Business Insider and adjunct professor at the University of Miami, as of this writing in 2022, Alexander told the Miami New Times how acting "wasn't enjoyable anymore" and how he'd made the difficult decision to leave it behind. "Even at 17 or 18, my decision to walk away from it made me question, well, who am I if I'm not an actor? I think just having the courage to leave situations is something a lot of people don't have," he shared. 

Although he's since been busy reporting the news, Alexander returned to the "iCarly" reboot for one episode in 2021.

Jamie Walters was part of the '90s global hit television series "Beverly Hills, 90210" and was also behind the 1992 song "How Do You Talk to An Angel," which once sat at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. However, Walters walked away from Hollywood and became a firefighter-paramedic in California.

Entertainment Weekly spoke to Walters in 2020 and learned that the actor works at the Los Angeles City Fire Department and has been saving lives for quite some time. He shared, "Oh yeah, I've been working with them for almost seven years. I'm in it for the long haul. ... Of course, when I was busy doing the entertainment stuff, I was like, 'Hey, I'm gonna keep doing this as long as the ball's rolling.' Then, I was in my late 20's, and I decided I really wanted to start a family and do some other things with my life."

In 2019, the cast of "Beverly Hills, 90210" came together for a reboot series entitled "BH90210," and Walters did come back for an episode, but the former actor appears to want to get back into music. Walters also shared with EW, "My music was what opened the door for me into the acting world. ... So I'm gonna keep playing music, and if nothing else, get it out there for my old fans." 

Erykah Badu found a passion for assisting soon-to-be mothers when she became a doula in 2001. Talking to People about the role, she shared, "I've always had a mothering nature. But I didn't plan on becoming a doula. I just wanted to care for my family and friends." After helping her best friend during a 52-hour labor, the singer realized, "When I saw the baby, I cried. I knew what I was supposed to do with my life."

Badu's duties as a doula are more than just talking to her clients to help ease their labor, however. She told People that she meets with her clients one month prior to the birth, where she sees with them weekly, comforts them throughout labor, even offering herbs to make tea from her own garden, and performs a healing practice called Reiki — all free of charge. She shared, "Nothing gives me more pleasure than being the welcoming committee for a mother's new joy."

According to BET, Badu was there for the birth of singer Teyana Taylor's second child after she had a home birth in 2020. Badu shared the news on Instagram along with a video of Taylor and Iman Shumpert's daughter, Rue Rose. "They did that. Thank you both for allowing me to assist. Love, proud Badoula — aka 'The welcoming Committee.'"