The Avengers actor is starring in his first lead role with The Bourne Legacy. From Leslie Nielsen to Lucille Ball, see more stars who got their biggest breaks after the big 4-0.
After a star turn as Hawkeye in The Avengers, this 41-year-old is also headlining his first blockbuster this summer. The Bourne Legacy, out this Friday, features Renner as Matt Damon’s successor in the Bourne universe.
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Although she was a model and film actress in the 1930s and 1940s, Lucille Ball didn’t land her trademark role until age 40. You may remember her—in 1951, she began starring in I Love Lucy.
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Susan Boyle was 49 when she auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent in 2009. Her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” went viral on YouTube, and she became an overnight singing sensation.
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Although she had many stage and screen roles, even winning several Tony awards, Davis didn’t land her first starring movie role until last year, when the 45-year-old was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for The Help.
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He was a spry 57 by the time his morning talk show, Live With Regis and Kathie Lee, was syndicated nationally in 1988.
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Though she has been a superstar of the British stage since 1957, it wasn’t until 1995 that Dench landed her first major film role, as James Bond’s supervisor M in GoldenEye, when she was 61. Since then, she has become well known for playing royalty: she’s portrayed both Queen Victoria (in Mrs. Brown) and Queen Elizabeth I (in Shakespeare in Love).
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A former mail carrier and Daily Show correspondent, Carell was 43 when he became a box-office hit with The 40-Year-Old Virgin in 2005.
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The producer was 42 when American Idol premiered in 2002. The show soon cemented his place in the American consciousness as that guy everyone loves to hate.
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Nielsen was known for his dramatic roles in 1950s B-movies when, at 54, he was cast in a career-changing role in the 1980 comedy Airplane. Just don’t call him Shirley.
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The comedian was 40 when she joined The View in 2007, and her career has risen from there: she now stars in her own sitcom, Sherri, and makes frequent appearances on 30 Rock.
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A former mayor of Cincinnati, Springer was 47 when The Jerry Springer Show premiered in 1991. The over-the-top situations on the show have even inspired composers: Jerry Springer: The Opera premiered in London in 2003.
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Growing up, Slattery wanted to be a baseball player. But instead, he became adman Roger Sterling on Mad Men, when he was 45.
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