No matter what your opinion is on truckers, there is a simple truth that will never change — trucking is essential work. Without it, we wouldn’t have food to eat, household goods, or even gasoline for our cars. Because of this, it will always be a popular profession.
It always has been one, too.
In fact, even with a shortage of drivers at hand, over 1% of the US population drives a truck. To put a number on it, we have an estimated 3.5 million drivers across America. With numbers like that, you will inevitably have drivers who either were famous, are famous, or will become famous in the future. Today, we’re looking at the most famous celebrities who used to be truck drivers.
Truck Driver No. 5: Liam Neeson
When you think of Liam Neeson as a truck driver, the first thing that will come to mind is probably his role as a trucker in The Ice Road, a 2021 film that can be found on Netflix. Despite mixed reviews, the movie focuses on an ice driver who is on a rescue mission and does an interesting job portraying the profession.
What many people don’t know, however, is that Neeson was a truck driver as a young adult. He didn’t drive a big-rid but he was a forklift driver in his younger years, something that he reference multiple times during media coverage of the film.
Truck Driver No. 4: Jason Aldean
Jason Aldean has created popular music for quite a long time. The 45-year-old has seen success in the industry since the early 2000s. Two decades later, he’s still chugging along, but what was he doing before this?
Many don’t know this, but Aldean was a local truck driver in Georgia, delivering Pepsi products to convenience stores. I guess being an international rockstar seemed a bit more glamorous than this.
Truck Driver No. 3: James Cameron
As you can see, there’s an apparent pipeline for truckers to become famous in the film industry — maybe this is your queue. James Cameron is best known for movies like Avatar, Titanic, and The Terminator, though he came from humble beginnings.
In order to save up money for films early in his career, Cameron was a truck driver. This would eventually lead to his path to stardom in the film industry, where he is known as one of the greatest directors of all time.
Truck Driver No. 2: Chevy Chase
Like two of the aforementioned celebrities, Chevy Chase is known for his work in the film and television industry. Chase is best remembered for driving a four-wheel station wagon across America in National Lampoon’s Vacation. After finishing med school and performing in a jazz band, Chase drove trucks until his big break as a comedian and actor.
Truck Driver No. 1: Elvis Presley
Do I need to give any background on Elvis Presley? The king of rock n’ roll is one of the most famous human beings in American history. As depicted in the 2022 Baz Luhrmann film Elvis, the musician was a truck driver before breaking onto the music scene.
Elvis drove for Crown Electric Company and it is said that his popular slicked-back hairstyle was popular among truck drivers at the time.