Entertainment
How people get famous has certainly changed since the internet came along. Over the past decade, many people have begun using Youtube as a way to get people's attention and hopefully move up in the world. However, for some celebs, their online beginnings have been long since forgotten and you'd actually be surprised pretty surprised which ones had a Youtube account before they were famous.
Fans of international pop stars like Justin Bieber, Troye Sivan, and Shawn Mendes are well aware of their humble beginnings on Youtube. It's on the video streaming platform that they started sharing covers and original work, which led to them being signed to huge labels and banging out tunes that seem to stay in the charts — and your head — for months on end.
But musicians aren't the only ones to hop on Youtube hoping to get a following and it's easy to have miss the fact that a few success stories in acting and comedy have started out with a shoddy camera and a few social media accounts. Honestly, not since photos from Tom Hardy's old Myspace account have I been so surprised by a stars' former passion for producing crowd-pleasing content. OK just kidding, nothing will ever undermine the gravity of Hardy's photos. I mean, those white Y-fronts were beyond.
In light the discovery made last week about Florence Pugh's iconic Youtube channel, I've done a lot of digging to see which other famous celebs I could find on the platform and ll I can say is, get ready for the haircuts.
1
Florence Pugh
Florence Pugh has hit the ground running with her acting career, bagging some pretty major roles in horror flick Midsommer, John Le Carré's Little Drummer Girl, and, most recently, Greta Gerwig's reimagining Little Women. However, did you know that she used to create and share videos of herself singing and playing guitar under the name Flossie Rose? Yes, the talented Brit is a two-fer: an actor and a musician.
2
Donald Glover
So it turns out that writing for SNL, starring in 30 Rock, writing Atlanta, becoming a movie star, and, you know, being an unbelievable musician (and dancer) doesn't just happen overnight. Before Donald Glover began to slowly take over the world he also had a youtube account.
After graduating from NYU back in 2006, Glover created Derrick Comedy alongside college friends Dominic Dierkes and DC Pierson. Derrick was a sketch comedy group that went for the NSFW style of LOLs, which I'm totally here for.
3
Millie Bobby Brown
Stranger Thing's Millie Bobby Brown has a long love affair with Youtube, where she has been showing off her musical talent from a young age. Her covers of songs such as Listen, Hallelujah, and Thinking Out Loud have amassed hundreds of thousands of views. Singer, actor, and model... and she's only 15? Cool.
4
Darren Criss
Darren Criss probably first came to your attention as Kurt's love interest in the all-signing all-dancing Glee, written by Ryan Murphy. Since then, he's proven to be one of Murphy's darlings with roles in American Horror Story and American Crime Story.
The actor and musician proved his chops back in his Glee days but before he got that gig, he shared his musical prowess on Youtube.
5
Kate Upton
Kate Upton is a model whose magazine and catwalk success has been well documented. And, as well as modelling, she's bagged roles in movies such as The Other Woman and The Layover.
Believe it or not, though, things weren't initially plain sailing for her and the Mirror reports that, after being signed to Elite Modelling Agency, she struggled to find work.
Thankfully, things changed for Upton after she posted a (now deleted) video of herself at a Los Angeles Clippers basketball game doing the Dougie. For those who might not remember, the Dougie was a dance made popular by Cali Swag District that became a hit both online and, for Upton at least, a bit of a game changer.
6
Eyal Booker
Former Love Island-er Booker became much maligned owing to his constant assertions of how deep he is.
His Youtube channel, which only has the one video (posted in 2017, one year before he went on Love Island), was probably a sign of things to come.
7
5 Seconds Of Summer
The Australian boyband who've taken over the globe with their catchy AF tunes actually got a boost after another boybander gave them props on Twitter.
Back in 2012, Louis Tomlinson tweeted one of their Youtube videos and they quickly became hugely popular on the streaming site and were signed shortly after.
8
Yikes with all that success, maybe you might start your very own Youtube channel? Thank me later.
