These 15 Actors Were Down To Their Last Dollars Before They Scored Huge Hollywood Roles
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Celebrities are known to lead luxurious lifestyles, but some performers had to overcome very humble beginnings in order to reach this level of success.
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These 15 actors struggled and had very few dollars to spare before they achieved a breakthrough career advancement.
1.Kat Graham "had 86 cents to [her] name" before The Vampire Diaries.
In 2021, Kat shared that "things got really difficult" for her and her mother during Kat's upbringing, as they "did not have a lot of money" and struggled to make ends meet. Kat felt inspired, however, when watching L'Oréal ads and listening to models who delivered the company's slogan, "Because you're worth it." Eventually, things turned around when the actor got the part of Bonnie Bennett in The Vampire Diaries.
"I think when I booked Vampire Diaries, I was sleeping on my mom's floor and I had 86 cents to my name and I would see that commercial and I'd feel like, yeah, I'm worth it, damn it, I'm worth it," Kat told People. "Mommy, we're worth it — even in poverty, living in these crappy apartments with no money and sometimes no food."
2.Sylvester Stallone had to sell his dog to get $40 for food before his Rocky script was picked up.
Before he'd reached great success as an actor and screenwriter, Sylvester was so broke that he was forced to sell his dog, Butkus, in order to secure $40 for food. Then, after his Rocky script was sold, Sylvester was able to buy Butkus back for a sizable sum of money.
"...I had to sell [Butkus] for $40 in front of a 7-Eleven store because I couldn't afford food," Sylvester wrote on Instagram in 2017. " ... Then like A modern day miracle, the screenplay for Rocky sold, and I could buy and buy him back, but the new owner knew I was desperate, and charged me $15,000 … He was worth every penny!"
3.Annie Murphy was down to $3 when Schitt's Creek came along.
Annie was just about ready to throw in the towel and quit acting when the chance to play a lead role in Schitt's Creek was presented to her. She explained in 2020 that, prior to portraying Alexis Rose on the hit series, "things were quite bleak" due to her house burning down and having next to no money to spare.
"I had, like, $3 in my bank account," Annie said on The Kelly Clarkson Show before adding, "I hadn't worked in close to two years. ... And I had just blown my very first screen test."
Although in the moment she felt that these were signs to move on to another career, the experience was the turning point that led to Annie's acting breakthrough.
"I found myself crying in the Pacific Ocean, a very snotty cry," Annie said. "And the universe was like, 'Don't do this anymore. This is not for you.' But then two days later I got the audition for Schitt's Creek."
4.Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson began his acting career with just $7 and is now worth $800 million.
Dwayne tweeted an inspirational message in 2011 in which he revealed that he possessed only $7 at the start of his entertainment career.
"In 1995 I had $7 bucks in my pocket and knew two things: I'm broke as hell and one day I won't be. #UCanAchieveAnything," he wrote.
The Jumanji franchise star currently has a net worth of $800 million, and he was named the highest-paid actor in the world by Forbes as of February 2022.
5.KiKi Layne had literally no money left when she tested for If Beale Street Could Talk.
KiKi said that getting the part of Tish Rivers in If Beale Street Could Talk was "the most on-time blessing" during a 2022 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
"... I was broke when I booked If Beale Street Could Talk," she said.
The performer explained that she traveled to New York for a chemistry read before she was officially offered the role. At the time, she wasn't sure that she'd have enough money in her account to cover a $100 hold for her hotel stay.
"So I gave them my card and they said, 'Okay, we're going to put a $100 hold,'" KiKi said. "I said, 'Ooh ... Okay, let's pray on that.' So thankfully, we had it ... But I went up to my room and I checked my account, and I had $114 total in my account, so now I only had $14 available."
KiKi used the remaining $14 for breakfast the next morning, which left her with no money left as she arrived at the chemistry read.
"I think it actually affected the energy that I brought into the room of like, I have to book this," KiKi said. "If I don't book this, I don't know what's going to happen."
6.Matt LeBlanc had $11 when he was offered a lead role in Friends.
Prior to booking the part of Joey Tribbiani on Friends, Matt was down to his last dollars. In 2019, he spoke of having only $11 left when he scored the part, which turned his career around and led to him building a net worth of $85 million.
"I had, I think I was down to $11," Matt said on Conan. "Now that's holding out too long. Because even if I said at that point, 'Alright, I'm going to get a waiter job.' By the time that $11 ran out would have been before the first paycheck on that job. I would have starved."
7.David Oyelowo reached a financial "rock bottom" before his career took off.
During a 2021 interview, David revealed that he and his wife, Jessica, faced severe financial hardships after the performers moved from London to Los Angeles in the late 2000s.
"It got pretty dark for a moment. I’ll never forget, my wife and I got down to our last $3," David said to The Times. "We couldn’t go to the hole in the wall because we were at rock bottom."
"And the reason I know it was $3 is because I remember standing in our house and giving her $2 and, almost symbolically, keeping the extra dollar in my wallet. And just feeling like, 'What did we do coming here? What were we thinking?'" David added.
The actor got his big break when he booked the part of Louis Gaines in the 2013 historical drama, The Butler. He has maintained this success with major roles in projects like Selma, Queen of Katwe, and The Water Man.
8.Prior to This Is Us, Chrissy Metz had only 81 cents left.
In 2017, Chrissy opened up to Glamour about her arduous journey to earning her breakout role as Kate Pearson in This Is Us. During a low point in her acting career, Chrissy "kept auditioning, with no savings and no money, credit card debt gaining interest" and "went on unemployment." A roommate let Chrissy live with them until she could resume paying rent, and friends prepared meals for her when she couldn't afford food. By the time This Is Us came her way, the actor had less than $1 to her name.
"I am so grateful that I had such an amazing support system, but when I booked This Is Us, I had 81 cents in my bank account," Chrissy said. "I could cry right now just thinking about it. Getting the role of Kate has changed everything."
9.Steve Harvey had $35 when he was offered a televised performance at the Apollo Theater.
Following years of struggling, the actor and comedian was left a voicemail from It's Showtime at the Apollo co-executive producer Chuck Sutton on a Thursday. Chuck made Steve an offer to do a televised performance at the Apollo that Sunday. Steve immediately felt devastated, however, since he was in Florida and didn't have enough money to travel to the Apollo in New York.
"... My heart sunk because, now how do I get to New York? I've got $35, man," Steve said on Oprah's Master Class in 2017. "I don't have enough to make it to New York. There's no way. The one time I could finally get on TV, and I can't even get to the gig. ... I don't have no money. I can't eat. I don't have a place to stay. This is horrible, man."
Steve then double-checked the voicemail, and this time he'd been left a new message with an opportunity to perform at a Florida venue that Friday night for $150. Steve did so well with this comedy set that he was next asked to appear once more at this location on Saturday for an additional $300.
"I had 475 bucks. I called Chuck Sutton, I said, 'I'll be there,' got at the Apollo Theater at 2 o'clock, and I went out there and I got a standing ovation," Steve said. "And man, I was on cloud nine. I mean, it was the greatest moment of my life up until that point. I had killed at the world-famous Apollo Theater, and that was it. I was on TV."
10.Melissa McCarthy had less than $5 in her bank account early on in her career.
Melissa opened up to Glamour in 2018 about her initial financial setbacks as she tried to make a name for herself as an actor.
"I remember when you could still get a $5 bill out of an ATM, and I couldn’t get it because [my balance] was under $5," Melissa said.
The Bridesmaids star stated that her parents or her sister would often help her with paying rent during this period. She eventually found stable work as a production coordinator before landing her breakout role of Sookie St. James in Gilmore Girls.
11.Billy Bob Thornton had $6 to spare every week while he worked at a pizza parlor after moving to Los Angeles.
In 1981, Billy Bob and a friend from his hometown, writer Tom Epperson, moved to Los Angeles to pursue their Hollywood dreams. Before Billy Bob would gain acclaim for writing and starring in projects like Sling Blade, the two lived in a one-room apartment together, which cost them $90 weekly.
"We didn't have any money," Billy Bob said during an episode of Oprah's Master Class in 2014. "We paid $90 a week. You paid by the week for this apartment."
Billy Bob began working at a Shakey's Pizza restaurant, where he made $96 dollars a week. With the remaining six dollars he had left over after paying the rent, he and Tom would buy powdered donuts and rum on Fridays. Every other night of the week for one year, the two stayed nourished by eating a pizza that Billy Bob was able to take home from his job at Shakey's. Although they were in "a constant fever of poverty and indecision and desperation," the two never contemplated going back home, Billy Bob explained.
"We weren't fazed by it. We just kept going," Billy Bob said. "Because we'd never really had anything anyway. ... I mean, it wasn't like I would be going back to something amazing, so we just stayed out there."
"My advice to anybody who wants to do whatever it is with their life is don't ever let your dreams die because that's what keeps an artist alive, and I think it keeps people in general going," Billy Bob added.
12.Ashleigh Murray was down to $12 around the time she auditioned for Riverdale.
When Ashleigh tried out for Riverdale, she was overdue to pay $4,700 in rent and had been thinking about pausing her acting career for six months. She had only $12 and had to borrow money in order to make it back to her place after grocery shopping.
"This was my last audition," Ashleigh told Collider in 2017. "So, I went on the audition, and the next day, I was on my way home from the grocery store with $12 in my bank account. I had to call my mom and ask her for an extra $5 because the last of it went to food at Whole Foods, just so that I could get home."
Her initial audition was well-received, and Ashleigh made it through a series of additional tests before landing the role of Josie McCoy on the fan-favorite CW series.
13.Richard Madden couldn't pay his rent and was living off $5 a day when he was cast in Game of Thrones.
During a 2019 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Richard revealed he was surviving off "probably five bucks a day" prior to his breakthrough part of playing Robb Stark.
"I had two options: I could either buy one meal or a newspaper and a pint,” Richard said. "It went the other way usually."
"Then I got that phone call [for Game of Thrones], and I was on my last month’s rent," Richard added. "I asked my agent for an advance, and that helped me get through the next little bit."
14.Sidney Poitier had just $3 when he went to New York and began acting as a teenager.
The late legendary actor moved to New York on his own when he was 15 in order to pursue acting. At the time, he had only $3 with him.
"I arrived in New York. I had three bucks," Sidney told ABC News in 1985. "I had no friends, no family, no relations, no addresses. I knew no one."
Sidney soon took a job as a dishwasher, which earned him food and $4 a night. He would later get his start through roles in films like No Way Out and Cry, the Beloved Country. He went on to star in numerous blockbusters, and in 1964 he became the first Black man to score an Academy Award for his performance in Lilies of the Field.
15.Chris Pratt had about $60 when he was flown to LA for a film role.
During his late teens, Chris was living on the beach in Maui when he got a part in a movie that was filming in Los Angeles. He almost didn't make this trip, however, since he only had about $60.
"The director and her producing partner were getting ready to shoot this movie … and I said, 'I can’t go to LA, I don’t have any money,'" Chris said on the Smartless podcast in 2022.
The producer then told Chris that the cost of his flight would be covered, and he "never went back" after this role.
Let this be your sign to keep going, because you never know when things could turn in your favor!
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