Courteney Cox Had a Surprising Plan B If Acting Didn't Work Out

It's hard to imagine some of our favorite celebrities doing anything except acting, singing, dancing, and posing on the red carpet. But in an industry as volatile and unpredictable as showbiz, it goes without saying that most A-listers had a plan B just in case the whole "being a megastar" thing didn't pan out.

So, while we've gotten used to stars like Justin Bieber, Harry Styles, Jennifer Aniston, Kim Kardashian, and more being everywhere, they all actually had a few other dreams (or at least fallback careers) outside of making it in Hollywood. From going to space to designing buildings or selling pools, the careers your favorite celebs would have had if they weren't famous will definitely surprise you. Keep reading to learn them all, then check out the jobs celebrities did actually hold before they became famous (some of them are hard to believe!).

Courteney Cox
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Courteney Cox

If acting didn't work out for the "Friends" and "Scream" franchise star, she had a fallback as a pool salesman for her dad's business lined up."My dad thought I should give up [on acting], really. What happened was, I hadn't worked in a long time. And I only had enough money to live about two weeks," Cox said about her 1987 crossroads moment during her March 1 interview on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." She continued, "[My dad] was like, 'CeCe,' — that's my nickname — 'You need to come home. It's a long fall from Los Angeles to Birmingham [Alabama], and this is time to pack it in. And you are a salesman; you're a damned good salesman. You need to do what you do best.'"

Cox was about to throw in the towel, but the next day, she got a call informing her she'd been picked for what would be her breakout role on "Family Ties" as Michael J. Fox's girlfriend, Lauren Miller. The rest was history!

Miley Cyrus
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Miley Cyrus

If you follow Cyrus on Instagram, you know she has quite a gift for snapping fun and controversial selfies, so it only makes sense that she would love to do that full-time. "I do want to come to London to study photography," she told UK's Daily Record. "I hear there are some really great art schools, so I would love to do that. I got to work with an amazing photographer. [Annie] Leibovitz was amazing and so talented. And that's what I want to do with my life. I would love to be a photographer."

Jennifer Aniston
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Jennifer Aniston

If Aniston weren't an actress, she admitted that she would probably be very far away from the spotlight. In a 2011 interview with Rachael Ray, Jen said that she would probably be some sort of doctor because she's "fascinated with bodies."

Eva Longoria
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Eva Longoria

When she's not making us laugh in her many TV roles, Longoria is making deals and building her empire. And if she weren't acting at all, she would take it on full-time. "I would definitely be in corporate America," she told People. "I love business. I love quotas and budgets, and I like barometers of success. I like measurements of success."

Justin Bieber
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Justin Bieber

It's no secret that Bieber can sing and dance, but when it comes to some of his offstage antics, he can sometimes seem a little . . . out there. Bieber has said that if he weren't serenading audiences, he would "probably be an astronaut," because he "wants to go to space." The sky's the limit — well, sort of.

Taylor Swift
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Taylor Swift

While we have Swift to thank for providing the world with some of the most iconic breakup anthems of the last few years, her life would be very different had she chosen to pursue some of her other passions. "I'd be an interior designer or a detective — but I don't think I'd be a very good detective, I just watch all of those crime shows," she has said. "Anything that has a slight premise of being a crime show, I'm on it."

George Clooney
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George Clooney

Believe it or not, Clooney actually wanted to become a Major League Baseball player before he made it big in Hollywood. The actor was so determined that he even tried out for the Cincinnati Reds when he was a teenager.

Tom Cruise
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Tom Cruise

Cruise is arguably the most famous Scientologist there is, but before he made headlines for his controversial religion and action-packed movies, he was actually studying to be a priest. The actor spent one year at St. Francis Seminary in Cincinnati before leaving for Hollywood.

Sofia Vergara
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Sofia Vergara

Before finding fame on "Modern Family," Vergara was actually very close to becoming a dentist, but she dropped out two semesters before graduation to become a TV host.

Ashton Kutcher
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Ashton Kutcher

Before Kutcher became known as the sexy underwear model and successful actor that he is today, he actually went to school for a heartwarming reason. The star attended the University of Iowa for a degree in biomedical engineering in the hopes of contributing to a cure for his twin brother Michael's heart disease.

Zayn Malik
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Zayn Malik

Malike's debut solo album, "Mind of Mine," definitely proved that he has a way with words, so it's no surprise that he would be studying to be an English teacher if he weren't topping the charts. "If I wasn't doing this, I'd be at uni. I wanted to, and still quite want to, do an English degree," he told UK's The Sun.

Harry Styles
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Harry Styles

The One Direction singer has been making the hearts of teenage girls race for years now, but if he weren't in the limelight, he would want to actually be rehabilitating people. "I always wanted to be a physiotherapist," he told Top of the Pops magazine. "Before I was in the band, I was studying, so I'd probably be working hard and studying for that."

Brad Pitt
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Brad Pitt

Pitt just seems like the ultimate handyman who could fix and build just about anything, and it turns out, he kind of is. During his interview on "Inside the Actors Studio," he admitted that if he hadn't gone into acting, he would have wanted to try to be an architect.

Kim Kardashian
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Kim Kardashian

Thanks to "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," the world has seen Kardashian's impressive detective skills when it comes to tapping into someone's voicemail and secretly following people around town. And if she weren't a reality star, she admitted she "would be a forensic investigator and live a normal life."