My mother cleaned homes and drove school buses, and when my family was on the brink of foreclosure... I started bartending and waitressing.
I was extremely lucky as I was in one of the last generations of British students who went to university and had my fees paid, and I had a grant as well. I also earned money from my waitressing and designing and selling my own range of dinosaur cards.
I once waited on a group of 10 people, and one guy collected the money from the check and tipped me $20 on $600. I told him in front of everyone, 'Jews like you give Jews like me a bad name.' That was my last waitressing job.
I wanted to act; that was my one goal. I wanted to devote all my time to acting and not waitressing or anything else.
What's that comment about every actor being a waiter who is out of a job? I did a lot of waitressing, and I loved it because I love getting to know people from different places.
Waitressing - by far the worst job ever created.
I've done a lot of odd jobs, including waitressing, which most actors have done. I was a busboy - girl - when I was younger and sold things at little fairs when I was younger. I mostly related the role to being a waitress and having to deal with customers. There are good people and some not-so-good people.
I'd rather go back to waitressing than play a character that I hate.
The friends I knew who tutored were well paid for work that seemed far less grueling than waitressing or late-night newspaper copy editing or all the other side gigs I attempted in my early twenties.
I've never had to do anything I didn't believe in. Sometimes that meant being poor and waitressing a while longer, but I've always stuck with it.
