Eva Mendes
Mendes wasn't a model, an actor, or anything of the sort. As a matter of fact, she was barely scraping by when a talent agent just happened to run into her photo in a list of modeling candidates. Mendes had tried to set up a modeling career for herself, but as the years went by, nobody got back to her. That is—until she got her big break...
We Get By With a Little Help From Our Friends
A talent agent was looking through one of Mendes's friend's modeling portfolio when he came across a photo of Mendes within the portfolio itself. The man immediately became enamored with her and they met by chance afterward a short period of time. Because of this meeting, Mendes earned a ton of small roles, which led to her making enough money to go to acting school and land some higher profile gigs.