I LOVE stories of people overcoming obstacles, but I think there is a greater impact when it is a name everyone recognizes. Hollywood has a lot of great stories about people who overcame obstacles and the challenges that help them rise and keep going. enJOY.
Gustave Eiffel, the designer of the famed Eiffel Tower, was terrified of heights.
Roger Moore (James Bond) cannot pick up a gun without uncontrollably blinking.
Walt Disney, who gave the world Mickey Mouse, was indeed, afraid of mice. He was also fired at one point for “lackof imagination.”
The world famous minister, Joel Osteen, sells out places like Yankee Stadium and speaks live to 40,000 a week who visit Lakewood church every Sunday (the mega-church meets in Houston at the former Compaq Center). Osteen says the week before his first sermon in 1999 marked the worst days of his life. “I was scared to death,” he says. At the time he knew very little about speaking or preparing a message. In fact he was perfectly content to sit behind the video camera during his father’s sermons. When his father passed away, Osteen’s wife and family encouraged him to take the stage. Osteen did not overcome his fear for a long time. The conversations he heard didn’t help. “I overheard two ladies say, ‘he’s not as good as his father.’ I was already insecure and—boom—another negative label.” Words, he says, are like seeds. If you dwell on them long enough they take root and you will become what those words say you’ll become—if you let them. Osteen says negative labels—the ones people place on us and the labels we place on ourselves— prevent us from reaching our potential. (taken from forbes)
Albert Einstein– didn’t speak until he was four years old. He failed his college entrance exam.
Steven Spielberg had dyslexia that created struggles in school with learning, so because of his grades he was rejected multiple times by USC’s film program– You read that right. One of the most prolific filmmakers of all time, the man who brought us “Shindler’s List,” “Jaws,”“E.T.” and “Jurassic Park” couldn’t get into the film school of his choice.
Jim Carrey had to drop out of school at 15 to help support his family. His father was unemployed and the family had to start living in a van.
In 1985, Carrey made an audacious decision: He wrote himself a $10-million check for “acting services rendered,” dated it 10 years in the future, and kept it in his wallet. Call it a coincidence, but in November 1995, Carrey found out he was cast in the movie “Dumb and Dumber” for — you guessed it — $10 million.
Charlize Theron witnessed her mother kill her father when she was 15. “I don’t believe in charmed lives. I think that tragedy is part of the lesson you learn to lift yourself up, to pick yourself up and to move on.”
Tom Cruise Nominated for three Academy Awards and has won three Golden Globe Awards; As of 2012, Cruise is Hollywood’s highest-paid actor. Fourteen of his films grossed over $100 million domestically; twenty have grossed in excess of $200 million worldwide. He grew up in near poverty. The family was dominated by his abusive father, whom Cruise has described as “a merchant of chaos.”; He was beaten by his father, who Cruise has said was a bully and coward: “He was the kind of person where, if something goes wrong, they kick you. It was a great lesson in my life–how he’d lull you in, make you feel safe and then, bang! For me, it was like, ‘There’s something wrong with this guy. Don’t trust him. Be careful around him.”
Richard Branson (Virgin) has a lifelong dread of public speaking. When he launched Virgin in the early 80s, his mentor, entrepreneur Freddie Laker, told him he had to make himself the public face of the company. “I remember thinking, ‘That’s easy for you to say,’ because I was utterly terrified,” says Branson. The Resolution: Branson relies on a slew of mind games to get him through his numerous speaking gigs. He forces himself to imagine he’s in his living room, chatting with pals. He spends weeks writing and rehearsing seemingly off-the-cuff speeches. And he relies heavily on videos and Q&A’s to shift attention elsewhere. Branson’s methods have been so successful that now he delivers speeches on—you guessed it—“The Art of Public Speaking.” (taken from lifereimagined)
A little something more about Richard Branson– is the fourth richest person in the United Kingdom. He owns the Virgin group of brands, including a record label, an airline, and the mobile phone company. He also owns an island in the Caribbean.
As a child, though, he performed poorly on tests in school and struggled with dyslexia. Teachers and authority fi gures assumed he wouldn’t go very far, but Branson defi ed the odds, and attributes his success to his people skills – proving that street smarts can take you far. (masterschannel)
Today we know Emily Blunt as a Golden Globe and Screen Actor’s Guild winning actress. With several hit films under her belt, including the acclaimed A Quiet Place, Sicario, and the Girl on the Train, Emily Blunt is one of England’s most successful actresses with an estimated net worth of $110 million dollars.
But her glittering career almost didn’t happen. As a teenager, Emily developed a stutter so debilitating she could barely hold a conversation. So severe was her stutter, that she never even considered a career in acting. Her parents took her to speech coaches and relaxation coaches, but nothing worked.
“I was a smart kid, and had a lot to say, but I just couldn’t say it,” said Emily in a 2009 interview. “It would just haunt me.”
But that all changed when a kind teacher encouraged her to try out for the school play.
“One of my teachers at school had a brilliant idea and said, ‘Why don’t you speak in an accent in our school play?’ I distanced myself from me through this character, and it was so freeing that my stuttering stopped when I was onstage. It was really a miracle.”
Audrey Hepburn faced many obstacles in her life that she overcame to attain greatness. As a child, Hepburn never had it easy. At the young age of eight, her father abandoned her family. The outbreak of World War II. Audrey and her mom moved to Holland where they thought they would be safe. Unfortunately, it was far from that. The Nazi invasion began and they lived in very harsh conditions. Audrey was deprived of food and warm shelter. She suffered malnutrition and other serious health issues. Looking back as an adult, Hepburn described the experience as a fearful, depriving event, yet she viewed it as a great learning opportunity. “Being without food, fearful for one’s life, the bombings–all made me appreciative of safety, of liberty. In that sense, I learned the bad experiences have become positive in my life”
Taylor Swift Once Upon A Time, there was a girl named Taylor. When she sat down to eat lunch in her school cafeteria, the girls she’d once called friends stood up and moved to another table. They had cast Taylor out of their clique because instead of going to parties with them on weekends, she’d stay home and write songs on her guitar. The outsider landed a development deal with a record company and moved with her parents to Nashville. She would go on to become the first artist since the Beatles—and the only woman—to record three consecutive albums that spent six or more weeks at number one. Taylor Swift is still writing songs and once told a Nebraska audience, “What does it matter if you didn’t have any friends in high school when you’ve got 15,000 of your closest friends coming to see you in Omaha?” -taken from Oprah, The Power of Quirk
Sylvester Stallone Iconic actor, one of most successful actors; wrote and starred in three-Oscar-winning (ten nominations) Rocky, which became a franchise; starred as iconic John Rambo; got steps of Philadelphia Art Museum named after him
Complications his mother suffered during labor forced her obstetricians to use two pairs of forceps during his birth; misuse of these accidentally severed a nerve and caused paralysis in parts of Stallone’s face. As a result, the lower left side of his face is paralyzed including parts of his lip, tongue, and chin an accident which has given Stallone his snarling look and slightly slurred speech.
Sweet story about him & his best friend: Sylvester Stallone, the actor best known for his role in Rocky, just shared the most beautiful tribute to his dog Butkus. The 70-year-old writes: “When I was 26, totally broke, going nowhere VERY fast, owned two pair of pants that barely fit, shoes that had holes in them and dreams of being successful were as far away as the sun… But I had my dog, BUTKUS, my best friend, my confidant, who always laughed at my jokes, and put up with my moods, and was the one living thing that loved me for who I was!” Already grabbing a tissue? Wait, cause it gets even sweeter. 1971 was a tough year for Stallone and his doggie. “We were both, thin, hungry, and living in a flophouse above a subway stop, I used to say this apartment had… Hot and cold running roaches.”
“When things got even worse I had to sell him for $40 in front of a 7-Eleven store, because I couldn’t afford food, then like a modern day miracle, the screenplay for Rocky sold, and I could buy him back, but the new owner knew I was desperate, and charged me $15,000 … He was worth every penny!”
Simon Cowell had a failed record company. By his late twenties, Cowell had made a million dollars and lost a million dollars. Cowell told The Daily Mail in 2012, “‘I’ve had many failures. The biggest were at times when I believed my own hype. I’d had smaller failures, signing bands that didn’t work, but my record company going bust, that was the first big one.” Even after such a momentous loss, Cowell picked himself up and became one of the biggest forces in reality television, serving as a judge for “Pop Idol,” “The X Factor,” “Britain’s Got Talent” and “American Idol.” Forbes has estimated his net worth at $95 million.
Michael Jordan—Considered by many as the greatest player of all time. Cut from varsity basketball team in his sophomore year.
Lady Gaga was dropped from her first record label.
Harrison Ford was told by an unknown Hollywood executive that he didn’t possess the star quality needed to become successful in the industry.
Shakira was told she sounded like a goat because of her vibrato range. When she tried out for choir, the choir teacher even went as far as telling Shakira she had a bad voice and refused to let her join the choir during school.
You may have already heard some of these stories, but they are always a good reminder that everyone goes through hard things. No one is exempt from challenges. We all have a journey. Make it a great one! -H
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