Bryan Cranston Was a Carnie

True tales of stars before they had any clue what they were doing with their lives.

After decades of interviewing celebrities, one thing I’ve been reminded of, time and time again, is that they’re just like us. They all started with a dream and not much else. They all supported themselves in the beginning with crappy day jobs, whether it was working at a sketchy YMCA or playing piano at a gay bathhouse with Bette Midler. They know what it’s like to be poor, and to get robbed so many times that the thieves literally take your underwear. And they definitely know how it feels to be so confused and directionless that you take a cross country motorcycle trip with your brother and end up working for carnies. We’ve all been there.

Here are just a few tales of famous people and their humble (and sometimes profoundly weird) beginnings, from Dolph Lundgren and Tina Fey to Barry Manilow and Bryan Cranston.

Dolph Lundgren

Swedish actor from movies like Rocky IV, Universal Soldier, and Masters of the Universe; former beau of Grace Jones.

Eric Spitznagel: You moved to New York in the ’80s to become an actor. Was the city as dangerous during that time as we’ve been led to believe?

Dolph Lundgren: Absolutely. In those pre-Giuliani days, the city had the highest murder rate in the country, and maybe the world. I remember when I first flew to New York and went to a party with Grace. She asked me to get something from her bag, lipstick or something, and I reached in and felt around and I pulled out a little pistol. It looked like a toy gun, but it was real. It was like a Derringer pocket pistol, a two shot .32 or .38, something like that. I asked her “What’s that?” And she was like, “Oh, it’s fine. Some friend gave it to me.” I asked her why, and she told me she’d been robbed a few times. People had broken into her apartment, tied her up and stolen everything.

ES: Tied her up?

DL: Yeah.

ES: Are you kidding? People broke into Grace Jones’ apartment and then tied her up with ropes?

DL: That’s what she said.

ES: That’s insane. Was she robbed by Snidely Whiplash?