▲A young Stone left school to work as a model, then quickly became one of the biggest stars of the '90s, featuring in movies like 'Basic Instinct' and 'Casino.'

▲It was reportedly one successful Coca-Cola audition that led to more modeling work, including for Tommy Hilfiger, and Tyrese Gibson soon garnered enough attention to succeed in both music and acting.

▲A fresh-faced Momoa won Hawaii's Model of the Year in 1999, and now he’s the powerful warlord Khal Drogo as well as Aquaman.

▲Four years before beginning her acting career at 15, Seyfried was a model, appearing in printed ads for clothing companies like Limited Too, and being featured on three covers of the 'Sweet Valley High' novel series.

▲Harmon started modeling as a child, and in 1987 she won a Seventeen modeling contest. After enjoying a successful modeling career, she welcomed international fame for her roles in 'Baywatch Nights' and 'Law & Order.'

▲Pattinson's early modeling career reportedly only lasted four years, from ages 12-16, and apparently ended because he started to look more masculine.

▲Before being cast for 'The Cosby Show,' the young talent modeled in advertisements for products like Ritz crackers and Jell-O.

▲Kutcher's entire course shifted when he was approached by a talent scout at a bar. After that, he began modeling, only to narrowly lose in the competition for "Male Model of the Year" to…

▲Between playing college football and landing a role on 'All My Children,' Duhamel had a brief but successful modeling career (at least more successful than Kutcher).

▲Cameron Diaz started modeling when she was 16, soon became a Seventeen cover girl, and continued to model for a few years before auditioning for 'The Mask.'

▲Before 'High School Musical' changed everything, Bleu's first claim to fame was when he was just two years old, in advertisements for Hasbro and Nabisco, and later Macy's and Gap.

▲Before 'The Blue Lagoon,' Shields gained attention as a teen from her provocative Calvin Klein ads. She was so comfortable in front of the camera since she'd actually started modeling when she was just 11 months old.

▲LiLo's career began when she was three, and she accumulated a large portfolio of over 60 different commercials, including Calvin Klein’s children’s range, before she moved into acting full-time.

▲Tatum's first experiences in front of a camera came with clothing lines such as Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, and Abercrombie & Fitch. He went from stripping, to posing, to being a movie star!

▲Before 'Kill Bill,' there were just her killer looks. Thurman began her career as a fashion model at 15, posing for Glamour magazine and earning a cover spot on British Vogue twice. When she was 17, she made the transition to acting with her film debut, the teen thriller 'Kiss Daddy Goodnight.'

▲In 1987, at the age of 12, Jovovich was already being photographed by Herb Ritts for the cover of Italian magazine Lei. She then starred on the cover of Seventeen at 13 years old, and that same year she made her feature film debut in 'Two Moon Junction.'

▲Panettiere's first gig as a model came at the tender age of 11 months, in a commercial for a Playskool toy train. She began her full-time acting career not too long after, when she was five years old, playing Sarah Roberts on 'One Life to Live.'

▲If you can believe it, Tom Hardy entered and won a 'Make Me a Supermodel' competition on UK's Channel 4 program 'The Big Breakfast,' while he was studying at drama school. He was "20 years old, 5 ft 10 in, eyes: blue/green, star sign: Virgo."

▲Heigl's young modeling career kicked off when she was just nine years old, earning US$75 an hour posing for catalogs, and later appearing in a national television ad for Cheerios cereal. She also landed the cover of Seventeen when she was 16, though she'd had one foot in Hollywood by then.

▲Before her film debut in 'Once Upon a Time in America,' Connelly appeared in print and television ads, including as a catalog model for children’s fashion.

▲Even though she was nominated for a Golden Globe at the very young age of 12, Dunst had already been cultivating a talented reputation since she was three years old, modeling for children's fashion. She even worked with a young Lindsay Lohan!

▲The 'Lost' star moved to Los Angeles after dropping out of college and began a successful career as a runway and print model, for brands including Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein, and Donna Karan. After landing a role in the Aerosmith video for 'Cryin,' he jumped right into TV.

▲Under her mother's direction, Jolie tried modeling during her high school years, which actually turned out to be hugely unsuccessful (can you believe it?). After studying to be a funeral director, Jolie turned to acting, and thank goodness.

▲While the 'Gossip Girl' star had a difficult start, being born to an incarcerated woman, she and her siblings moved with their mother to New York City when she was 11, and she soon began working as a model. Meester booked a Ralph Lauren campaign, worked with then-photographer Sofia Coppola, booked commercials for Tamagotchi and Clearasil, and modeled for Limited Too alongside Amanda Seyfried.

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Long before she starred in 'Eurotrip,' Trachtenberg had spent years modeling. Her first appearance was when she was three years old, in a commercial for detergent.

▲Though best-known for playing Clark Kent on 'Smallville,' Welling was originally a construction worker who was discovered in 1998 at a party in Nantucket by a catalog camera scout. He then modeled for Tommy Hilfiger, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Calvin Klein, before making the successful transition to television in 2000.

▲Dornan started his career modeling for brands like Abercrombie & Fitch, Hugo Boss, and Armani, and later evolved into the Christian Grey that fans of 'Fifty Shades' know and love.

▲J-Law was famously discovered by a talent scout while on a family vacation. However before her Hollywood success snow-balled, she had a short-lived modeling career for Abercrombie & Fitch, for which she says they used none of the photos because she wasn't very good at it.

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There is nothing more elusive than cracking into Hollywood, and today's famous actors have taken so many different routes into the world of stardom that it's nearly impossible to plan a path. One common starting point, however, turns out to be modeling. Check out this gallery to see which stars got on-screen by first getting in front of as many cameras as they could find.