If you want to make it in Hollywood, sometimes the only way to get your pretty face in the front door is to do get it in a magazine or on a billboard first. In fact many of today’s Hollywood acting elite got their first gigs by looking pouty and artsy in fashion magazines or hawking products with their good looks and bodies. Snakkle.com reveals some eye-opening shots of several A-List stars’ and their early modeling beginnings.

The daughter of Hollywood creative duo Blythe Danner and Bruce Paltrow, Gwyneth Paltrow began to dip her own toe in the performing arts world with some modeling, like her pouty Esprit print campaign that was pro-condoms and anti-STDs in 1991.

See more stars who started out as models at Snakkle.com.

John Sciulli/Getty Images for G-Star

Mischa Barton started acting Off-Broadway at age eight where she earned raves for her authoritative and natural performances. But before landing on the popular Fox television series “The O.C.” (2003-2006), she caught the eye of designer Calvin Klein and was featured in his kid’s clothing line print ads in the 1990s.

See more stars who started as models at Snakkle.com.

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Rachel Weisz’s modeling began when she was 14 and attended Trinity Hall, Cambridge to pursue acting. She did a lot of model work before breaking big in films, including this bunny-inspired 1987 “i-D” magazine cover. She admits she was unhappy modeling, but now the star is blissed-out and married to her new hubby, actor Daniel Craig, who has model-worthy looks himself.

See more stars who started out as models at Snakkle.com.

Whitebronco Photo/PacificCoastNews, John Shearer/Getty Images

As a hard-partying student at the University of Iowa, Ashton was recruited for the “Fresh Faces of Iowa” modeling competition and a new career was born. This model shot is from one of his first portfolios in 1995, before he pursued TV, film, marrying older women, and Twitter fame.

See more who started as models at Snakkle.com.