Actors you didn't know started out as models

Katherine Heigl - 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.

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Jason Momoa - 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.

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Uma Thurman - 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.'

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Ashton Kutcher - 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…

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Josh Duhamel - 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).

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Sharon Stone - 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.'

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Tom Hardy - 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."

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Hayden Panettiere - 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.'

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Josh Holloway - 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.

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

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Angelina Jolie - 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.

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Leighton Meester - 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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Brooke Shields - 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.

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Jamie Dornan - 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.

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Kirsten Dunst - 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!

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Amanda Seyfried - 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.

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Tom Welling - 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.

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Cameron Diaz - 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.'

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Tyrese Gibson - 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.

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Jennifer Connelly - 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.

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Angie Harmon - 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.'

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Channing Tatum - 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!

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

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Milla Jovovich - 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.'

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Lindsay Lohan - 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.

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Corbin Bleu - 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.

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Michelle Trachtenberg -

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.

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