Let’s delve into the precise moments when these stars recognized they had truly achieved their dreams of stardom and success in the entertainment industry.

Sabrina Carpenter has experienced numerous pivotal moments in her career. However, she recently acknowledged reaching a new pinnacle of fame when Dan and Eugene Levy humorously referenced her during their opening monologue at the 2024 Emmys. Looking back on this enlightening experience, Sabrina expressed feelings of surprise and flattery, realizing that even in her absence, she had made an impression significant enough to be joked about by such high-profile figures.

“That was probably the first time I thought, ‘Oh, I’m not even there,’” Sabrina shared with Time magazine.

It wasn’t the overwhelming success of Hannah Montana that marked the moment Miley Cyrus realized she had truly made it; instead, it was during her Bangerz era in 2013. Miley recounted that she genuinely felt like a star when iconic figures like Cher began to take notice of her and her work.

“The amount of people who have talked negatively about my albums or my actions, you know, I had Cher come after me on Twitter, but that’s when I truly thought I had made it. I was like, ‘Oh, Cher cares about what I’m doing,’” she humorously shared during an interview on SiriusXM’s Live Transmission Christmas.

Jennifer Lawrence humorously reflected on the moment she knew she had truly made it when Paul Rudd expressed a desire to be friends with her. She shared that she had always envisioned a strong connection with Paul, and when they finally met, it marked a significant turning point in her life.

“When Paul Rudd told me he thought we could always be friends, I was like, ‘When people look back and wonder what happened, when she changed, when everything got turned upside down, it will be right here, at this moment. Because I’ve always looked at Paul Rudd and thought we’d be friends,’” she reminisced on Chelsea Handler’s Netflix show Chelsea.

Kate Winslet shares that her life dramatically changed “overnight” following the release of Titanic. Despite receiving warnings about the impending fame, she admits that she was unprepared for the overwhelming attention. With the spotlight now on her, she understood she had truly made it as an actress, but the realization still came as a shocking revelation.

“I remember people telling me before the movie came out, ‘How are you going to cope? Your life is going to be…how are you not going to change?’ At the time, I felt almost defensive and angry, thinking, ‘Of course, I’m not going to change. I’m not going to change, what are you talking about? My life is not going to change,’” Kate recounted to the Belfast Telegraph.

She continued, “And it truly did, overnight. I remember one day being able to go buy a newspaper and a pint of milk without any trouble, and the next day I literally couldn’t leave the house because of paparazzi. That was a huge shock, and nothing really prepares you for that. No one can truly tell you what to expect because it’s so unknowable and bizarre.”

For Tiffany Haddish, the defining moment of her career came when she had the opportunity to perform stand-up on The Arsenio Hall Show. Growing up, she had always admired the show, and being able to return full circle to perform on that iconic stage was a pivotal moment in her journey to success.

“The big moment for me was doing stand-up on The Arsenio Hall Show. To me, that was bigger than doing Def Comedy Jam, bigger than doing Live at Gotham, or The Tonight Show, or anything like that because I remember being a little girl watching Arsenio Hall, wishing I could hang out with him or be his friend in some way,” she shared with Vanity Fair.

She added, “When Arsenio came back, I was like, ‘Oh, this is my chance.’ And when I finally got the opportunity to perform stand-up there, to me that was like, ‘I made it. Whatever comes after that is just icing on the cake.’”

Lisa Kudrow realized she had made it big during an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show shortly after the first season of Friends concluded. While sitting there with her co-stars, the moment Oprah declared that they were famous was when it all sunk in for her, and she truly understood the impact of their show.

“Oprah told me. The six of us were on her show right after our first season, and she said, ‘This is big.’ We were like, ‘What?’ It wasn’t even that she had us on her show; that wasn’t my first clue!” Lisa shared with People.

Jeff Daniels has enjoyed a successful acting career for many years, but it was only recently that he felt he had truly made it as an actor. He explained that it was at the conclusion of his Broadway run in To Kill a Mockingbird that he realized he had accomplished all his career aspirations and finally felt like he had made it in the industry.

“That quest to be the biggest star in the history of stars… that’s gone. That sort of ended for me at the end of that one-year run of To Kill A Mockingbird. After playing Atticus Finch, I can’t top that experience,” Jeff told People. “It took me 44 years to hear the question, ‘What do you want to do?’ But that’s when I knew I had made it.”

Michelle Williams articulated that the moment she realized she had made it in Hollywood was tied to her financial security. She described feeling accomplished when she no longer had to question spending money on a cab ride instead of opting for the subway.

“When you stop debating the $2.50 for the subway versus the $20 for the cab, and you don’t have an entire thought process about whether you can or should, that’s when it hits you,” she shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “The moment where I was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t even think about it, I was just like, ‘Taxi!’”

Brie Larson realized she had made it during the lead-up to the 2016 Oscars, while she was involved in a publicity tour alongside a group of nominated A-list actresses. At that moment, Brie described feeling as though she were “hallucinating” due to the sheer magnitude of success surrounding her.

“It was crazy. It was almost like being in the presence of legends like Helen Mirren, Cate Blanchett, Saoirse Ronan, and me. Then Jennifer Lawrence came in for a bit, along with Kate Winslet, and Carey Mulligan… It was sort of all that group, with all these different press events we had to do. You’re eating together, doing roundtables — it felt like I was hallucinating,” she shared with Elle.

Brie continued, “Most of these people I had never met before, so it was like the moment when you’re not at the kid’s table anymore: Wow, not only am I sitting with these legends, but Kate Winslet spotted me, ran across the room, and with such beautiful intensity said, ‘I’m so f–king excited for you!’ I love her.”

Lance Bass, once a member of the world’s most popular boy band, reflected on the moment he knew the group had truly made it during their opening act for Janet Jackson’s 1999 Velvet Rope Tour. During a performance in Detroit, Lance recalled the deafening roar of the crowd, leaving him completely awestruck.

“I’ve never heard a noise like that before,” he shared on BuzzFeed News’ Facebook Watch show, That Really Happened. “You get these goosebumps and they don’t go away the entire time you’re onstage.”

For Awkwafina, her career came full circle while filming Ocean’s 8. At one point, she stood on set and could see her old office where she worked until her firing. This moment filled her with a sense of accomplishment and nostalgia.

“We were shooting this glamorous scene, and I looked up and saw the office I got fired from. I thought: ‘Oh my God, everything has come full circle.’ I left that job in pursuit of Awkwafina, and here I was shooting a scene with Rihanna. Getting fired from that job truly hurt my feelings, but now I can just look up and say, ‘F–k y’all,’” she told The Guardian.

Emilia Clarke’s defining moment of success occurred during a gala event, which featured an auction where people were bidding for the chance to spend time with her. Looking back, she expressed disbelief that anyone, including Brad Pitt, would even bid on her.

“I was at a gala event where I’d been asked to auction something, so I was like, ‘I don’t know, come watch your favorite [Game of Thrones] episode with me and we’ll eat a horse’s heart or something,’” Emilia told The Hollywood Reporter.

She continued, “I don’t think about what it is until I get there, and then I’m sitting in a room with every movie star on the planet. I assumed it would be a private thing where they wouldn’t say it out loud, but then I have to stand up, and it turns into a thing. The room goes completely silent, and I thought I was going to die. Then one of my friends puts up his paddle. Suddenly, other people start putting their paddles up, and one of those people was Brad Pitt… It was the most ridiculous experience of my entire existence.”

Patricia Arquette felt she had made it when she received a surprising phone call from Bruce Willis. Reflecting on that moment, she confessed that she was so taken aback that she initially thought it was a prank call — but then realized this might be a glimpse into her new life.

“After I did True Romance, I got a message from Bruce Willis. I called back, like, ‘Shut up, who is this really?’ I assumed my friend was pranking me. And he’s like, ‘This is Bruce Willis.’ It was surreal. Is this how this world works? Do people just call you?” Patricia shared with The Hollywood Reporter.