1.
First, before starring in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Chris Pine had around negative $400 dollars in his bank account. He was on the verge of asking his parents for money when he booked the movie and got $65,000. Chris recalled, “It was like they had just told me I’d made $50 million. It was absolutely earth-shattering.”
2.
Kat Graham said that before she booked The Vampire Diaries, she “had 86 cents to [her] name.” Although Kat had appeared in a few things as a child, she recalled being around 13 years old when “things got really difficult” for her and her mom.
3.
Annie Murphy had “like $3 in [her] bank account” right before getting the audition for Schitt’s Creek. At the same time, her house had just burned down, and she contemplated quitting acting because she “hadn’t worked in close to two years.”
4.
Charlize Theron was actually discovered by a talent agent while trying to cash a check from a modeling job at a bank. The bank teller refused to cash the out-of-state check, so they got into an argument. She recalled, “The bank wouldn’t accept it — and I really needed the money.”
5.
Before selling his script for Rocky (1976), Sylvester Stallone was out of money and had to sell his dog Butkus “for $40 in front of a 7-Eleven store because [he] couldn’t afford food.” After he sold Rocky, Sylvester bought Butkus back.
6.
Chrissy Metz had only 81 cents in her bank account before landing her breakout role as Kate Pearson on This Is Us in 2016. She recalled finding out you need at least 20 cents in your bank account for a gas pump to process your credit card, so she had just enough money to pay for gas to get to the audition for This Is Us.
7.
Richard Madden spoke candidly about how he was living on “five bucks a day” before booking the role of Robb Stark on Game of Thrones. Richard said he often had to choose between buying “one meal or a newspaper and a pint.”
8.
Taraji P. Henson notably moved to Hollywood with only $700, all while her son, Marcell, was only 1 year old. She booked a series of small TV roles, and her breakthrough roles were when she starred in Hustle & Flow in 2005 and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in 2008.
9.
Matt LeBlanc revealed that before being cast as Joey Tribbiani on Friends, he was “down to $11” in his bank account. He explained, “That’s holding out too long. Because even if I said at that point, ‘All right, I’m going to go get a waiter job,’ by the time that $11 ran out, it would have been before the first paycheck on that job. I would have starved.”
10.
While auditioning for Josie in Riverdale, Ashleigh Murray said she only had $12 in her bank account and was $4,700 behind on rent. She recalled having the ask her mom for just an extra $5 so she could buy groceries after her audition.
11.
Dwayne Johnson initially played for the Canadian Football League and ended up on the practice squad, which only paid $250 a week. Shortly later, he was cut from the team and had barely any money to get by. He recalled, “I looked in my picket, and I had seven bucks. Wow. Seven bucks to my name.” In need of money, this is when Dwayne followed in his father and grandfather’s footsteps and began wrestling.
12.
Andie MacDowell headed for NYC to start her career with only $2,000, which didn’t last very long. While she scored some modeling jobs, her dream was always to be an actor. Eventually, she landed a string of movie roles like Four Weddings and a Funeral.
13.
And finally, David Oyelowo candidly spoke about how he and his wife hit “rock bottom” when they moved from London to Los Angeles. “It got pretty dark for a moment. I’ll never forget my wife and I got down to our last $3,” he recalled.