WATCH: The endearingly odd early-acting gigs of 13 Oscar winners

Unless you're Quvenzhané Wallis — the charming 9-year-old who became the youngest Best Actress nominee in Oscar history for her stunning turn in Beasts of the Southern Wild — winning the

attention of the Academy usually only comes after you spend years toiling in small, miles-from-glamorous roles. In that spirit, here's a look at the very humble beginnings of 13 actors

destined for greatness.

Long before a shaved and slender Anne Hathaway weepingly dreamed a dream in Les Miserables, she was convincing Ohioans to switch to the Cincinnati Bell Telephone company. In this '90s-era

commercial, teenage Anne frets over her rookie move of ending her date with a handshake — only to find that while she's busy gabbing to friends on the phone, the boy called and left a

message asking her out again. It's the happy ending Fantine could have only hoped for.

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Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and

Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.