Most people envision life as a movie star, or singer as a glamorous, fulfilling dream job with a high income and lots of perks. While this is true for some celebrities, others would disagree and did not hesitate to make massive changes from stardom to relatively normal jobs far away from the spotlights.

Some people pursue stardom unsuccessfully their whole life, like Penny character from The Big Bang Theory who never became an actress. However, quite a few actors, performers, athletes did succeed in the entertainment business. Still, they didn’t find that as a pinnacle of achievement that is essential to their life. Here are five celebrities that changed their career despite having tremendous success.

Jack Gleeson – disappearing Lannister

Which Game of Thrones fan didn’t hate King Joffrey Baratheon’s guts? Actor Jack Gleeson’s portrait of a violent and disturbed young king was successful; people couldn’t stand him. After the global success of GOT series, Gleeson decided to step away from TV shows citing acting wasn’t his long-term goal. Instead, he finished theology and philosophy studies. Since his announced retirement, he did appear in some TV projects.

Vanilla Ice – never lived up to the genre

Vanilla Ice was a hip-hop phenomenon in the early 90s with his all-time hit song Ice Ice Baby. He started as an underground rapper with more mainstream style successful albums, followed by a later collapse of his musical career. He worked as a house renovator and TV host in The Vanilla Ice Project. And while his musical path didn’t stand the test of time, the breakthrough hit created incredible pop-culture references. Vanilla Ice merchandise came in various shapes.

In 1991 Vanilla Ice Electronic RAP board game was published by International games. A video game was being developed for Gameboy handheld console but never saw the light of day. However, casual online gaming did embrace the bellowed song. One popular slot machine in land-based casinos, Lucky Penny Penguins, has a special bonus with the theme song Ice Ice baby. The Penguin slot games became available in real money online casino realms, and among thousands of slot games, you can find Ice, Ice Baby familiar tunes and symbols related to the song’s title.

MC Hammer – from MC to minister

Another late 80s and early 90s hip-hop star made changes from the musical career. MC Hammer rocked the music charts with songs “Can’t touch this” and “Too legit to quit.” As a performer, MC Hammer had a unique style of dance and old-school type of rapping. He couldn’t fit into a new wave of hip-hop artists and at one time filed for bankruptcy. He found a different path as a devoted Christian and started his pastoral ministry.

Karyn Parsons – not spoiled after all

Once known as the spoiled, wealthy cousin of Prince of Bel-Air, Karyn Parsons didn’t pursue an acting career after the sitcom’s success. Instead, the former actress changed lines and founded the non-profit Sweet Blackberry foundation to teach children about black history.

Sarah Michelle Gellar – cooking with garlic

Sarah was the star of a big TV show hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer and movies like Scream 2, Cruel Intentions, and Scooby-Doo. She also married romantic movie star Freddie Prinze Jr., and they both took a different career path. The former actress pursued her passion for cooking and founded Foodstirs, a company that sells baking kits. While we like baked cookies, we wouldn’t mind Buffy’s revival.

These were some of the most prominent celebrities that changed career path. Among other notable celebs that took a different turn in life, we could point out Kevin Jonas, who left the spotlight to focus on contractor jobs, Jeff Cohen, who interpreted Chunk in The Goonies and became a lawyer, and Angus T. Jones from Two and a Half Men.