Here's 15 Not-So-Average Celebs Who Are Slaying Right Now
We all know that fame in Hollywood can be cruel and unusual at times. One minute you're the best thing to ever walk on two legs, the next minute you're living out of your car after spending all your money. Well, okay, maybe not that extreme, but you get the point. It seems like these days, everyone from anywhere is bound to have their 15 minutes of fame at one point in their life. Problem is, some of these people think that they can stretch that 15 minutes into a significantly longer amount of time. Thing is, most of those people can't really seem to get that done.
But not these particular individuals.
These 15 celebrities have found genius ways to use their 15 minutes of fame and elongate it into something worthy and notable. Whether it's starting their own clothing line or starting an international movement that changes the face of history completely, these individuals seem to grasp that they can use their fame for more than just getting a quick buck and instead, change the face of an industry completely.
If you pay attention long enough, you'll see that these not-so-average celebrities aren't just flashes in the pan and will be around for the long haul.
15 Trail Blazing in Fashion (With A Little Help From BFF Kylie) - Jordyn Wood
If you're a fan of Keeping Up With The Kardashian, you'd know Jordyn Wood's face anywhere. This particular model is the best friend, and voice of reason, of the one-and-only Kylie Jenner. But Wood is more than just a pretty face - the young woman is taking on the fashion industry by starting her own plus-size clothing line called Jordyn Woods x Addition Elle and her latest fashion collection is called “90210”. The collection is a 1990's technicolor throwback and molds itself after the popular grunge look of the era.
This collection has sizes 12 through 26, which is more inclusive than most high-end collections these days.
Jordyn even models the collection in this Bustle piece and she makes the entire line look not only amazing but relatable and downright spectacular as well.
14 Twitter Takeover - David Hogg
Young high school student David Hogg lived through an unspeakable tragedy on February 14 of this year and has managed to become a voice of an entire generation because of it. Along with fellow students standing up to the NRA, David became a serious activist for gun control and has had a huge hand in arranging the March for our Lives walk that took place all over the world.
He and fellow students Alex Wind, Emma Gonzalez, Cameron Kasky, and Jaclyn Corin appeared on the April cover of Time magazine and spoke about the #NeverAgain movement that looks to tighten certain gun restrictions.
Hogg has also endured bullying from adults and some conservatives, which he has handled with extreme grace and poise, more often than not turning their own words and criticisms around on them. His Twitter presence is also top notch and he can move mountains with just a simple tweet.
13 Having It All (And Loving It) - Chrissy Teigen
These days, model and author Chrissy Teigen has to be on top of the world: not only is she expecting her second child with husband John Legend, but her Twitter and Instagram game is top notch. Not only that, but she's about ready to debut her newest cookbook. “I have officially finished my second cookbook and am wrapping up big fall project planning ohhhh it's a joy!” Teigen tweeted. And, of course, she had to throw in some of that famous Chrissy humor. “Now I am planning a two-year-old's birthday party. I never thought I'd be this mom. I have always been so anti-parties they won't remember who I am.” Thanks to her Twitter game (especially her banter with hubby Legend), she's become overwhelmingly popular and she shows no sign of slowing down. Keep it up, Chrissy!
12 To Sports Illustrated And Beyond - Ashley Graham
If you haven't noticed yet, model Ashley Graham is changing the face of the “plus-size” industry. The 30-year-old model has appeared in Vogue, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, and, most recently, Sports Illustrated. Since blowing up in 2012, Graham has even created her own line of lingerie and swimsuits, both of which are flying off the shelves with gusto.
“Some days I feel like I have superpowers, but some days I feel like I'm the fattest girl in the world,” Graham told Glamour about where her confidence stems from.
“And I talk about my back fat and my cellulite because it's important to have women in the media addressing the things that society has called flaws.” Graham is certainly changing the way the fashion industry looks at “plus-size” models, even going so far as deleting the actual term from fashion designer's mouths. Now that's a big deal.
11 From Instagram To The Tonight Show - Jaboukie Young-White
He's a young stand-up comedian who not only has taken Twitter and Instagram by storm, but he's also taking the comedy world by storm. Thanks to his hilarious (and often random) posts, he's developed a huge following that has transitioned from online to on-stage. “I use Twitter as a writing tool a lot,” he told Rolling Stone about his work, referring to the fact that he'll usually test out a joke on the social media site before performing it on stage.
“Developing a following and maintaining that is so much free labor - just for the love of it. It's the longest, most intense internship, basically.”
So far, Young-White has appeared on numerous late night shows in order to perfect his craft, including doing a stint on The Tonight Show. We really can't wait to see more of this budding comedian.
10 Politicians And The City - Cynthia Nixon
You may know her from, you know, that one super famous HBO show she did back in the 1990's (which spawned a number of movie spinoffs), but these days, former actress Cynthia Nixon is known more for her politics rather than her acting skills. On March 19, Nixon announced (via Twitter) that she had decided to run for Governor of New York.
“If we don't like the direction our government is going in, we have to step up and get involved like never before,” Nixon told talk show host Wendy Williams.
“That's what I'm doing.”
However, a lot of critics have given Nixon slack for being a former star who is now running for public office. It seems like being a celebrity and running for public office these days is becoming more and more common.
9 Even The Kardashians Can't Bring Him Down - Jeffree Star
Jeffree Star is a model, songwriter, and make-up artist who actually started his music career years ago on Myspace and moved his fame over to YouTube, where he does make-up tutorials, sampling and applying some very famous cosmetic lines. One line happens to be Kylie Cosmetics. For the past two years, Star has been on the PR list of makeup experts who receive products to test out and review before the public gets their hands on them. Thing is, while he loves Kylie's brand, he's had some issues in the past with some of the products and has called out the beauty mogul time and time again.
She got so upset that she removed him from the list.
Like that will stop him, however - he's already too famous.
8 Who Needs That One Bachelor Anyway? - Rebecca Kufrin
By now, even people who aren't really familiar with the show The Bachelor (or reality TV in general) know the name Becca Kufrin. Long story short, Bachelor Arie Luyendyk Jr. had proposed to the publicist from Minneapolis during the final rose ceremony in the season finale, but in a twist, Luyyendyk Jr. called off the engagement because he claimed that he was actually in love with the runner-up, Lauren Burnham.
Thing is, he actually broke up with Kufrin on national television, which angered a majority of viewers.
Regardless of losing a supposed love, Kufrin has her future work cut out for her, including being chosen to be the newest Bachelorette along with many other offers. So, I guess it pays to get dumped in front of the entire world.
7 Stealing The Show - Timothee Chalamet
When we watched the movie Lady Bird for the first time, we wondered who this scraggly haired handsome devil was when he first appeared in a scene with Saoirse Ronan's title character at a Sacramento coffee shop. Truth be told, actor Timothee Chalamet had starred in other major films (and shows before) like Men, Women, & Children and Interstellar, but we are ashamed to admit we didn't actually notice him until his breakout year when he starred in Greta Gerwig's movie followed by his starring role in Luca Guadagnino's romantic film Call Me By Your Name with Armie Hammer. After being nominated for an Academy Award for the latter movie, studios are breaking down Chalamet's door and offering him roles left and right. Next up for the young actor is Beautiful Boy a movie based on the book by Nic Sheff.
6 Thriving In A Man's World - Jessica Mendoza
She's super popular in the softball world, but now Jessica Mendoza is making sure people - especially men - are taking notice of her in the world of baseball. Mendoza was a four-time First Team All-American outfielder for Stanford University and made the US women's national softball team for six years.
She even won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and a silver medal in 2008 in Beijing.
In 2015, Mendoza became the first woman to broadcast from the booth for ESPN's College World Series. Soon afterward, she filled in for baseball commentator Curt Shilling on Sunday Night Baseball. And the rest is history: ESPN announced in 2016 that Mendoza would be joining the SNB broadcast team full time as a color commentator, making her the first woman to do so in the MLB.
5 The Real Star of SNL (And The Winter Olympics) - Leslie Jones
Comedian Leslie Jones has been one of Saturday Night Live's most popular players but what some people don't know is that a large portion of her popularity stems from her outgoing personality on both Twitter and Instagram. Jones has been known to film her genuinely brilliant (and hilarious) reactions to certain things ranging from watching an episode of Game of Thrones, to narrating certain events while watching the Olympics.
During the 2016 Summer Olympics, her funny social media reactions got her noticed by NBC and she was flown out to attend some of the events.
“Watching Leslie Jones Watch The Olympics Is Better Than The Actual Olympics” was even one headline by the Huffington Post. Of course, she was flown out for the 2018 Winter Olympics so she could do a repeat performance.
4 The Walmart Yodeler - Mason Ramsey
If you're on Twitter or know memes like that back of your hand, you'll know who Mason Ramsey is. Or rather, the 11-year-old kid known as the “Walmart Yodeling Boy.”
Ramsey became famous after he was filmed at his local Walmart in Harrisburg, Illinois, doing an impromptu (yodeling) performance of Hank Williams' “Lovesick Blues”.
The video found its way to Twitter where someone twitted out the video of Ramsey along with the caption: “Me: which aisle can I find light bulbs? Walmart employee:” followed by the video. Older videos of Ramsey singing soon went viral and people came to find out he's been singing since he was six-years-old. “I am Mason Ramsey, also known as the “Walmart boy,” he said on his Twitter account. “You can follow me on Twitter… or Instagram. Thank you, everyone.”
3 The Come-Back Queen - Ronda Rousey
Ronda Rousey gained worldwide attention as a mixed martial artist after she won 12 consecutive MMA fights and six Ultimate Fighting Championships. During a much-hyped matchup with fellow fighter Holly Holm in November 2015, she was knocked out with a high kick to the neck which ended her winning streak. She attempted to disappear from the public eye for a little bit but came back in order to fight Amanda Nunes the following year. She ended up losing that fight in a TKO in the first 48 seconds of the fight. Recently, she joined the WWE and made a dynamic debut at WrestleMania 34 where she faced Stephanie McMahon and her husband, Triple H. Rousey hyped up the crowd and showed the world that she still has what it takes to be a fighter.
2 Shattering Box Office Records - Ryan Coogler
He's the man behind the super, mega blockbuster hit Black Panther, and director Ryan Coogler shows no signs of slowing down in the near future. At the time he was offered the chance to direct the Marvel film, he admitted he was no blockbuster director but had a vision he couldn't ignore when it came to the movie.
“I was very honest about the idea I wanted to explore in his film, which is what it means to be African,” he told Rolling Stone. “That was one of the first things I talked about. And they were completely interested.”
When his vision came to life, it completely crushed the competition by raking in almost $250 million in its opening weekend. Now, it has brought in $1.3 billion and has successfully knocked out a lot of other big budget moneymaker movies, including Titanic.
1 The Table-Tennis Wonder - Manika Batra
Sure, the world really doesn't understand why a table tennis player would become such a massive name seemingly overnight, but Manika Batra cares nothing about that.
Barta is the table tennis superstar who helped dethrone the three-time Olympic medalist Feng Tianwei 3-2 during her first singles game.
India was actually ranked No. 58 before Barta hit the table. Even though the 22-year-old was no stranger to the world of table tennis, this was the first time the world stood up and took notice to her. And she's already looking to the future. “I'm optimistic about my performance,” she said. “I'm in good form, so the results will show soon. I will try my best to win a medal at the Olympics, but one can never be sure about such things. Right now, my target is the Commonwealth Games next year.” We have no doubt her star will continue to rise.
References: bustle.com, time.com, people.com, glamour.com, rollingstone.com, cnn.com, huffingtonpost.com, foxnews.com