By Irene Martinko

Though Alex More’s story as a struggling actor in Buyer & Cellar is fictional, actors and artists often have to work odd jobs in order to survive before making it big in the entertainment business. Before achieving superstar status, these famous people had to pay some serious dues before they got to where they are today.

BRAD PITT
Can you imagine Brad Pitt in a chicken costume? He may be a handsome and famous movie star now, but there was a time in his life when Brad worked for a restaurant called El Pollo Loco (Crazy Chicken). Encouraging customers to enter the establishment, our beloved Brad dressed up as a chicken, handing out flyers to passersby.

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY
We’re guessing that Matthew McConaughey would rather have dressed up like a chicken than clean up after one. That’s right… the well-known heartthrob worked as a chicken coop cleaner in order to earn extra cash while traveling in Australia. And Matthew McConaughey wasn’t the only celebrity to clean cages in order to survive.

SYLVESTER STALLONE & CHRISTOPHER WALKEN
If you were to travel back in time, you might find Sylvester Stallone cleaning the lion cages at the Central Park Zoo. But Stallone isn’t the only celebrity whose pre-fame day job involved big cats. At the age of fifteen, before becoming the frequently impersonated star that he is today, Christopher Walken joined a traveling circus and became a lion tamer.

ROD STEWART & SEAN CONNERY
If the circus life isn’t for you, there are always plenty of jobs in the funeral business for future famous actors. Rod Stewart worked as a gravedigger at Highgate Cemetery in London during his teen years, and when Sean Connery was young, he had the eerie job of cleaning coffins. Eep!

GABOUREY SIDIBE
Prior to scoring her breakthrough role as “Precious” in the 2009 award-winning movie of the same name, Gabourey Sidibe worked at a phone-sex company. According to Sidibe, this gig provided the “acting lessons” that made it possible for her to move on to bigger and better things.

POPE FRANCIS
Finally, though he isn’t a famous actor, Pope Francis was once a bouncer at a bar named . Can you imagine being turned away from a club by the Pope? We wonder if he was as forgiving back then as he is today.

For tickets or more information on Buyer & Cellar, click here.