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The Roots -

For famed hip hop band The Roots, also known as the house band on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,' their road to discovery was sudden and somewhat unexpected. Questlove, drummer and co-frontman with Black Thought, recently revealed on the podcast 'Til This Day with Radio Rahim' that their acclaimed band was first discovered at a Philadelphia club, Page Six reports.

The recent Oscar-winner said that in the late '80s their paths to local success were either the “Ivy league route, playing college frat parties,” or to play “a talent night for rap groups at this club called the Princess Lounge at north Philly.” He explained that when they showed up to the club, people were looking at him funnily for wearing Birkenstocks in north Philadelphia, but that when they started to play—kicking off with a cover of a Tribe Called Quest tune—all the judgement quickly turned into praise.

To their luck, in the crowd “one of the guys happened to be a local college radio DJ legend, named AJ Shine,” who told the band, “Yo, I want to record you all. Let’s do a 12-inch single,” Questlove recalled. "That 12-inch single winds up being an EP, which then winds up being [a] 16-song record, which then winds up being kind of our demo. And within a year’s time we finally get a record deal." Fourteen Grammy nominations and three wins later, the rest is history.

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Charlize Theron - This actress was discovered when she was standing in line and threw a fit when a bank teller would not cash a check she desperately needed. Her antics caught the attention of a talent agent who left her his business card.

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Rihanna -

Rihanna was just a small island girl living in Barbados when she happened to score an audition with record producer Evan Rogers who was vacationing there. She later went off to meet Jay-Z and landed a record deal with Def Jam.

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Harrison Ford - The actor was actually working as a carpenter in the offices where the casting call for 'Star Wars' was being held. Producer and friend of Ford, Fred Roos, believed he'd be perfect for the role of Han Solo. Ford auditioned and landed the part.

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Justin Bieber - The popstar was discovered on YouTube after his family began posting videos of him singing. He eventually met with Usher which led to a record deal with Island Def Jam Recordings.

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Shawn Mendes - Another singer who was discovered on social media is the talented Shawn Mendes, who would post videos to Vine. He quickly gained a massive following and eventually caught the attention of artist manager Andrew Gertler, who brought him to Island Records.

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Kate Moss - The supermodel was discovered on a flight at just 14 years old by Sarah Doukas, founder of Storm Model Management, while on a family vacation.

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Pamela Anderson - The Canadian beauty was attending a football game when she suddenly saw herself on the jumbotron and the crowd went wild for her. She was wearing a Labatt's Beer T-shirt and was later hired to do some modeling for them.

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Ashton Kutcher - Kutcher was spotted inside a bar and convinced by a scout to enter a modeling competition which he ended up winning. He went on to do modeling jobs for Calvin Klein, and jobs in Milan and Paris before breaking into acting.

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Kate Upton - Although Upton had already been discovered at a model casting call a few years earlier, her popularity skyrocketed after a friend posted a video of her doing the Dougie dance on YouTube in 2011 and it went viral. This helped her become a household name.

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Johnny Depp - Depp was simply accompanying a friend on an audition when he was spotted and asked to read. He landed his debut role as Glen in 'A Nightmare on Elm Street.'

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Mel Gibson -

Similarly, a beat-up Gibson was just accompanying a friend to an audition. Gibson had been in a bar fight the night before and he caught the attention of the director who liked his look. When he returned a week later, the director decided to cast him in the lead role for the film 'Mad Max.'

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Channing Tatum - A good-looking Tatum was just walking down the street of Miami when he was spotted by a model talent scout. He started modeling for brands such as Armani, and even did a few commercials. 

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Rosario Dawson -

Dawson was hanging out on her porch when director Larry Clark and screenplay writer Harmony Korine walked by and figured she would be perfect for their film 'Kids.'

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Jennifer Lawrence - While on vacation in New York City, Lawrence was approached by a talent agent at 12 years old. She began doing modeling work before breaking into acting.

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Sofia Vergara - A relaxing day at the beach turned out to be a lucky day for this Colombian beauty when she was discovered by a photographer. At the time, she was in university studying to become a dentist but dropped out to pursue modeling and acting.

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Jennifer Aniston - A desperate Aniston approached NBC President Warren Littlefield at a gas station to ask for advice on her acting career. He encouraged her to keep going and eventually was the person who helped land her the role of Rachel on 'Friends.'

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Ellen Pompeo - The 'Grey's Anatomy' actress was working as a bartender when she was discovered by an agent. She started out doing commercials for L'Oreal and Citibank.

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Natalie Portman - Portman was discovered inside a pizzeria as a kid. She was enjoying a gooey slice when she was spotted by a Revlon modeling agent, but she was adamant she wanted to act. Proof that Portman is perfect even while eating a messy slice of pizza!

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Nick Jonas - If it had not been for Nick, the world would not have got to know his other brothers, Joe and Kevin. It was Nick who was heard singing outside of a salon at the age of 6, while he waited on his mom who was getting a haircut.

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Mandy Moore -

Thanks to a Fed-Ex employee who heard Moore singing, this star became famous. He happened to be a friend of a friend of a friend who was the head of Urban A&R at Epic Records.

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Chris Pratt - Like most struggling actors trying to make it, Pratt was waiting tables hoping for his big break. Luckily for him it actually happened! A film director walked in, complimented him on his looks, asked if he was an actor, and before he knew it, a mere four days later he found himself in Los Angeles.

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Evangeline Lilly - The 'Lost' actress was approached by a Ford Modeling Agency agent while walking down a street. Although she had no interest in modeling, she eventually signed with the agency to help pay for her school tuition.

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Alexis Bledel - The actress first started off as a model after being discovered in a shopping mall. 

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Danny DeVito - According to ClickHole, James L. Brooks, co-creator of 'Taxi,' already had a very specific look in mind for the role of Louie De Palma. He drew a sketch and told his assistant to find him someone that looked like that...and DeVito was found!

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Christie Brinkley - Brinkley was just an art student studying abroad in Paris, minding her own business at the post office, when she was discovered by American photographer Errol Sawyer.

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Haley Joel Osment - The former child star was discovered in IKEA, of all places. Two casting ladies were taking Polaroids of young kids that entered the store. Shortly there afterwards, he started getting calls for kids' commercials.

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Danny Trejo - After serving time in prison, the Mexican-American actor became a counselor to help young people with their addiction. One patient asked Trejo to visit him on the set of 'Runaway Train.' He was offered a role in the film and the rest is history.

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Adrienne Houghton - This New Yorker was discovered by Latin sensation Ricky Martin, if you can believe it! He was looking for backup singers and asked a church choir for the best four singers to perform with him at a show that evening...and Houghton was chosen.

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Víctor Manuelle -

While in school, he was invited to sing on stage with salsa singer Gilberto Santa Rosa, at the urging of his classmates. Santa Rosa was not only impressed with the young boy's vocal chops, but also with his ability to freestyle with his lyrics.

See also: The best debut albums of all time 

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