Chrissy Metz and 8 Other Talented Celebs Who Auditioned for ‘American Idol’

From totally normal day jobs to secret professional careers, the path to stardom is far from predictable. Some of your favorite actors and singers started out — if you can believe it — getting rejected from popular competition shows. Here are some of the stars who auditioned for American Idol before they made it big. (Photos via Ron Batzdorff/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images + Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for ACM + Jeff Spicer/Getty Images + Kevin Winter/Getty Images for NARAS)

Chrissy Metz: The This Is Us star revealed in her new memoir, This Is Me: Loving the Person You Are Today, that she once tried out for the show. But as she told ET, she was disappointed when her singing chops weren't respected. Fans of the talented actress know that the rejection didn't stop Metz from pursuing her dream — she still sings in her own band to this day. (Photo via Ron Batzdorff/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Hillary Scott: It's hard to believe that anyone would turn down the Lady Antebellum singer — let alone twice! — but given the armloads of Grammys to her name now, we'd say she came out of the situation just fine. (Photo via Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for ACM)

Maren Morris: The ACM-nominated superstar may be all over country and pop radio now, but Morris told Rolling Stone that she was rejected from both American Idol and The Voice before making it big on her own. (Photo via Rick Diamond/Getty Images)

Colbie Caillat: Though she was rejected twice by the long-running competition show, Caillat later became a megastar on the strength of her hit "Bubbly" — which she sang in her second audition. (Photo via Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Celebrity Fight Night)

Tori Kelly: Like many of the talented singers who got cut from Idol, Kelly came into her own in the years following her few rounds on the show. She not only built a devout fanbase on YouTube — with an impressive 26 million views on her cover of Frank Ocean's "Thinkin' 'Bout You" alone — but she also snagged a management deal with Scooter Braun, who handles Justin Bieber and Kanye West. (Photo via Kevin Winter/Getty Images for NARAS)

Naya Rivera: The Glee star auditioned and made it further than many, but was cut in the first round. The song she used for her Idol audition, "Emotion" by the Bee Gees, was the same one that landed her the role of Santana Lopez on Glee. (Photo via Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Amber Riley: Fellow Gleek Riley also auditioned for Idol, but like many hopefuls, she didn't make it past the producers to see the judges. Their loss! (Photo via Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Alan Ritchson: Ritchson joins Metz and the Glee alums on this list as an Idol hopeful who turned to acting instead of a full-time music career following his audition. He later appeared on the CW's Smallville, as well as on Spike TV's Blue Mountain State, and has also had roles in films such as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (Photo via Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

Kane Brown: After a rejection from Idol, Brown turned up on X Factor, and even though he made it past auditions, he told Billboard that he quit after the show tried to put him in a boy band. From there, the young country star started uploading cover songs to YouTube, and the rest — including his 2018 ACM nomination for New Male Vocalist of the year — is history. (Photo via Cooper Neill/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)