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Arnold Schwarzenegger - Most people in Hollywood told him he could never transition from bodybuilding into acting because of his accent, his "overly developed body," and his unpronounceable name. 

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Meryl Streep -

The prolific actress was asked to audition for 'King Kong' with producer Dino de Laurentis by his son. Upon meeting, Laurentis asked his son in Italian, "Why do you bring me this ugly thing?” Streep responded in Italian, "I’m sorry I’m not beautiful enough to be in 'King Kong!'"

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Stephen King - After reading 'Carrie,' a publisher once told the writer that science fictions involving negative utopias don't sell. The book was rejected 30 other times as well, and King threw it away, until his wife dug it up and urged him to resubmit it.

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Jay-Z - He's now the highest-earning artist in America, but as a fledgling rapper, labels rejected him because they thought he didn't sound good enough. He then created his own music and recording label, and those other labels are chin-deep in regret.

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Sydney Sweeney -

Sydney Sweeney is young, gorgeous, and stars in series including 'Euphoria,' 'The White Lotus,' and 'The Handmaid's Tale,' but even she was told she'd never make it. Speaking to GQ, the actress recalled a moment when she felt underestimated: "A casting director told me once that I will never be on a TV show,” she revealed, adding that they believed she didn’t have the "right look." Thankfully she didn't give up. “Now, I'm on some of the biggest TV shows in the world," she reportedly said with a smirk. 

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Salma Hayek -

Anyone looking at Salma Hayek's filmography now might find it hard to believe, but she was once told that she would never have a successful career as an actress due to her age and nationality. 

“They told me my career would die mid-30s. First of all, they told me a Mexican is never going to make it, because at the time, the new generations, it was impossible for a Mexican to have a leading role in Hollywood,” Hayek told the PA news agency during press for her film 'Bliss.' “And I think it’s great, I’m proud of it, I want to shout it to the world, because I was told so many times it couldn’t happen and I almost believed them but I fought it and I won,” she added. 

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Salma Hayek -

The actress added, "I want other women to realize that, because even in your 30s you feel the pressure, in your 40s you feel the pressure—and late blooming, it’s a beautiful thing,” she said, explaining that there is no age where you are "over."

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Oprah Winfrey -

After being fired as a news anchor for being "too emotionally invested" in her stories, Winfrey was called "unfit for TV" by her boss. She later made a fortune and a legacy on a very emotional TV show.

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Benedict Cumberbatch - Though he's now well-loved as Sherlock Holmes, Cumberbatch's road to the detective was bumpy. He was apparently initially told that he wasn't "attractive" enough to play the role. His fans would greatly disagree.

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Kate Winslet - When the actress was 14 years old, she was reportedly told by her drama teacher that she might be alright if she was happy with settling for "fat girl parts."

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The Spice Girls - Simon Cowell's biggest mistake was rejecting Britain's biggest-ever girl group. He passed on a chance to sign them in the early '90s, which Victoria Beckham reportedly loves to remind him about. “He said we would never work.”

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Winona Ryder -

Ryder was once mid-sentence with a casting director when he stopped her and told her that she shouldn't be an actress, that she wasn't nearly pretty enough, and that she should go back to where she came from.

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Lea Michele - When Lea Michele was first starting out on Broadway as a child theater actor, she was told when she was 15 years old to either get a nose job or get out of Hollywood. Her mother talked her out of it, citing Barbra Streisand as inspiration. 

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Sally Field -

When Field wanted to leave TV, her agent told her that she'd never get into film because she's not pretty enough or talented enough. She responded with: “You’re fired.”

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Reese Witherspoon - Before 'Legally Blonde,' Witherspoon was ironically repeatedly rejected for not being tall enough, pretty enough, or smart enough. 

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Sidney Poitier - Poitier was the first African American actor to win an Academy Award, and for Best Actor no less, but when he auditioned for his first role the director said, “Why don't you stop wasting people's time and go out and become a dishwasher or something?”

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Elvis Presley - After his very first performance, the King's manager reportedly told him that he wasn't going anywhere, and that he should go back to driving trucks. 

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Nia Vardalos -

An agent told the actress that she wasn't fat enough to be a character actress, but not pretty enough to be a leading lady, in addition to claiming that there were no roles for Greek-American actresses. Vardalos then wrote and starred in 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding.'

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Fred Astaire - The man who evaluated Fred Astaire's first screen test famously wrote, "Can't act. Can't sing. Balding. Can dance a little." Astaire proceeded to sing, dance, and act his way through some of America's most beloved musicals.

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Shakira -

Shakira's music teacher once told her she sounded "like a goat." Her unique voice is now one of the things that set her apart from her competition.

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Boy George - When a young Boy George told his career counselor that he wanted to be a musician, the adviser laughed and told him to consider working in a factory instead. For five weeks, he toiled in an apple packing factory, but he knew it wasn't for him. He was reportedly always late, and admitted, "I am pretty much unemployable." Thank goodness for that!

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Maggie Gyllenhaal - Like many women in the industry, even as Jake Gyllenhaal's sister, she was told that she wasn't attractive enough or pretty enough for the big screen.

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Jennifer Lawrence -

Lawrence was initially told that she wasn't skinny enough for Hollywood, with some claiming her body was "too womanly," whatever that means. She went on to receive her first Academy Award nomination when she was only 20 years old, winning her first Oscar at 22.

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P!nk -

The singer was constantly told when she was starting out that she wasn’t pretty enough to be in the entertainment business, but she drew on that experience to become a symbol for female empowerment and write some great songs criticizing superficiality.

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Gary Oldman - In his career Oldman has played Sid Vicious, Ludvig van Beethoven, Lee Harvey Oswald, Dracula, and 'Harry Potter' character Sirius Black, but when he was first auditioning for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he was told he couldn't act and should seek another career.

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Burt Reynolds & Clint Eastwood -

In the '60s, Reynolds and Eastwood were fired on the same day, the former because they said he couldn't act, and the latter because his Adam's apple stuck out too far, he spoke too slow, and he had a chipped tooth.

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Burt Reynolds & Clint Eastwood - As the canned actors returned to Eastwood's truck, Reynolds reportedly told Eastwood he was in trouble, explaining, "I'll eventually learn to act. You'll never get rid of that Adam's apple!”

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Jessica Chastain - It's hard to believe, but Chastain admitted that before her success in Hollywood, she wasn't getting parts because people told her she wasn't pretty enough. They even told her to trade her signature red hair for blonde!

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Steven Spielberg -

Due to poor grades, Steven Spielberg was rejected from the University of Southern California three times. Later in his career, he was awarded an honorary degree and became a trustee of the university.

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Keira Knightley - When Knightley tried out for a role in 'The Jacket,' director John Maybury told her, even before she'd begun reading, that he didn't believe the hype about her and that he didn't think she could act, adding that he didn't want her for the part at all. She insisted on auditioning, and her reading won him over.

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Walt Disney - At age 22, Walt Disney was reportedly fired from a Missouri newspaper for "not being creative enough."

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Lady Gaga -

In an article in New York Daily News, Gaga said she was constantly put down for her appearance, particularly her nose, and her first label dropped her just months after being signed.

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Harrison Ford -

In 1966's 'Dead Heat On A Merry Go Round,' Ford played a bell boy with just two lines. A studio boss told him he'd never make it in the business because when Tony Curtis was in his first movie as a delivery boy, people instantly knew he would be a movie star. We'd like to direct that boss to Ford's extensive filmography.

See also: Action stars: where are they now?

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