20 Stars Who Used to Work at Fast Food Places: Barack Obama, Gwen Stefani and More

Before he became president, Barack Obama found himself working at a Baskin-Robbins shop.

"Scooping ice cream is tougher than it looks. Rows and rows of rock-hard ice cream can be brutal on the wrists," he wrote in a since-deleted LinkedIn essay. "My first summer job wasn't exactly glamorous, but it taught me some valuable lessons. Responsibility. Hard work. Balancing a job with friends, family, and school."

Speaking with Ellen DeGeneres in 2019, Brad Pitt revealed he worked as an El Pollo Loco mascot at a Los Angeles branch before making it big in Hollywood.

While she was still in high school, Busy Philipps worked as a hostess at California Pizza Kitchen during the store's "golden era."

"I ate free every time I worked. The servers weirdly got a discount, but they would give the host/hostess a free meal every time they worked. Maybe because we weren't getting paid much," said the White Chicks actress.

"Twenty years ago I was a waiter at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Every time I go back I’m reminded of the thousands of shrimp I ate off of people’s plates on the way back to the kitchen. Please tip your server. Leave at least 20%. Also leave some shrimp," Chris Pratt captioned a 2019 Instagram post featuring a photo of himself inside one of the restaurants.

In an issue of Redbook, Eva Longoria looked back at the time she worked at Wendy's for six years to pay for her quinceañera.

"I got a job at Wendy's and paid for it myself," she revealed, adding she was 15 at the time she scored the gig. "I couldn't wait to get to work and make my own money."

Hot Dog on a Stick once hired Eva Mendes to serve hot dogs and lemonade to its patrons at the Glendale Galleria.

Dairy Queen led Gwen Stefani to work with her future No Doubt bandmates — her brother Eric Stefani and friend John Spence — before they began conquering the music industry!

Speaking with Cody Teets, comedian Jay Leno revealed he worked at a McDonald's restaurant for two years in the late 1960s.

"This was back in the good old days when they still had roast beef and strawberry shortcake, which I was a huge fan of," he recalled. "I had these massive forearms from cutting those potatoes."

In a throwback photo on Instagram, Jenna Fischer shared she served as a cashier at Long John Silver's before rising to fame.

"My parents taught me that if I wanted something I had to work for it and earn my own money," she added.

In 2018, Jennifer Hudson revealed she got her "first and only real job" at Burger King.

"I used to sing at the drive-thru window. That was my microphone," she told People.

Julia Roberts is also a former Baskin-Robbins staffer!

"Now that was a fun job because the real task of the job was to steal small samples of the ice cream without people noticing," Kate McKinnon said of working at Cold Stone Creamery.

Before Broadway and Hollywood, Lin-Manuel Miranda had his first job at McDonald's.

Before she became the Queen of Pop, Madonna worked at a Dunkin' Donuts store in Times Square — though she only had the job for a short time.

"I think I stayed there for maybe a week," she said, adding she was fired after accidentally squirting a jelly filling on a customer.

In 2009, Megan Fox revealed she worked at a Tropical Smoothie Café as a teen.

"I would have to go out in the street wearing a gigantic banana costume and dance to try to get customers to come in," she told Bang Media. "There was no anonymity, the costume had a big hole cut out so that everyone would see your face."

She added, "My friends from school would drive back and forth and yell all kinds of awesome obscenities at me."

At 17, Nick Cannon took orders at Weinerschitzel.

"I ended up getting fired because I was playing on the intercom system at the drive-thru, telling jokes," he told MTV.

Speaking in a 2015 interview with Food and Wine, Pink said she worked at a McDonald's store as a teenager.

"I was a drive-thru girl at McDonald's. I had a Janet Jackson microphone — I had power," she revealed.

A local Burger King restaurant hired then-15-year-old Queen Latifah, who had to work hard to earn money.

"If my brother and I wanted money in our pockets, we had to get jobs…" she told Parade. "We had to come up with ways to create an income."

For three years, Rachel McAdams worked at a local McDonald's before fame.

She detailed in a 2008 interview with The New York Times, "I'm not sure why they kept me: I am something of a daydreamer and a dawdler, so they would only let me be the 'friendly voice' that greeted you when you entered the restaurant. I was slow — I would be organizing the sweet-and-sour packets in the customer's takeout bag while the line snaked out the door."

Shania Twain was able to support her dream in the music industry, thanks to her job at McDonald's when she was younger.