Harrison Ford
Before he was Han Solo, Harrison Ford was a carpenter who happened to make a cabinet for George Lucas. Lucas cast Ford in a small role in his American Graffiti (1973). In 1975, Lucas paid Ford to read lines from Star Wars, and the aspiring actor eventually landed the part of the space rogue. Ford’s decades-spanning career had included the Indiana Jones franchise and a number of other successful films.
Recently, Ford starred in the 2011 nonstarter Cowboys & Aliens, but has another potential sci-fi franchise on the horizon. He’ll play the Colonel Hyrum Graff in Ender’s Game, which is slated for November 2013.