" As long as one of us had money , we knew the power was n’t going to get shut off . "
Coming from a wealthy background often makes it easier for people to “make it” in the entertainment industry because they have a built-in financial safety net. However, creatives without a trust fund have to find other ways to support themselves. Oftentimes, they’ll work in the service industry, retail, etc., but sometimes, they borrow money to help keep themselves — or their passion project — afloat.
Here are 11 celebs who borrowed money from friends, family, and other celebs:
1.OnCBS Sunday Morning,Margot Robbiesaid, “[My mother would] take money out of the house mortgage and lend me money, so I always knew, ‘Oh, I’ve got to pay that back.’ I have that piece of paper still. I kept it. Everything I owed my mom, I had it written down.”
She also said , " One day , when I made enough money , I just paid that whole mortgage off entirely . I was like , ' Mom , do n’t even worry about that mortgage anymore . It does n’t even live any longer . ' … aboveboard , anyone in my position , you ’d do that for your mommy . Of of course you would . "
2.Omari Hardwick didn’t feel like he “made it” until landing a lead role onPower, but he “never made what [he] should have made” and ended up borrowing money from50 Cent. In total, the rapper lent him $43,000 over two summers — which he paid back with interest.
OnThe Pivotpodcast , Omari enunciate , " I think he forever just really really honor the shit out of me for that , we just not taught that in our biotic community . Barely do we pay anybody back … So once we ’re hit up for money , and I am financially obviously stable at this detail , once we ’re score up for money we do n’t have a bun in the oven it back … So for me to give it back to 50 with interest , I was just so proud to be able to do that . And it was early ! He felt like , ‘ darned , you ca n’t be messed up , you involve money ! ' "
3.After selling off everything he owned to pay off his taxes,Will Smith"borrowed $10,000 from a friend of [his] who was a purveyor of neighborhood pharmaceuticals…[and] moved to Los Angeles."
InconversationwithIdris Elba , he also said , " I knew whatever my new lifetime was going to be , I could feel it was kick the bucket to be in Los Angeles . "
4.Robert Townsend’s directorial debutHollywood Shufflehad a $100,000 budget, which he self-funded. He had $60,000 in savings from previous acting jobs, but once that money ran out, he put the remaining $40,000 on his credit cards.
He tell theLA Times , " And I was going through the mail , and it was applications for credit cards — Visa , Preferred Visa , MasterCard , Chevron , Shell . And that ’s when I say , ' I ’ll land up it with credit lineup . ' It ’s just the entrepreneurial spirit where you just go , ' OK , I can saddle this , I can charge that , everybody takes credit entry card . ' … And I did n’t secern anybody what I was doing . Nobody really screw because I did n’t require the great unwashed to go like , ' You ’re doing what ? ' I was just tranquil and like , ' OK , I can figure this out . ' And then we finished the last small-arm of the pic . And I just think back people would come in like , ' Rob , when we going to shoot again ? ' and I was still waiting on this one Visa in the chain armor , and I was like , ' I ’m still rewrite . ' "
5.WhenPedro Pascalmoved back toNew Yorkin 2000, he went on a lot of auditions without booking jobs, so his longtime close friend Sarah Paulson would share the money she earned from her acting gigs.
Sarah toldEsquire , " He ’s verbalize about this publicly , but there were times when I would give him my per diem from a job I was working on so that he could have money to fertilize himself . "
6.To fund her web seriesThe Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, Issa Rae maxed out all of her credit cards, totalling about $10,000. She also had support from her fans, who raised $50,000 during the show’s first season.
She toldMoney.com , " There were emphatically second of despair . Just thinking , ' Will I ever get out of this mess ? Will I ever make enough money to get out of debt?' … I got entirely out of debt the 2nd time of year ofAwkward Black Girl . It was the 2d metre I was able to be debt costless . The first time an auntie had passed , and hallow her fondness , she had left us an inheritance . I used that money to get myself out of debt , and made a vow to myself to never be cripple by debt ever again . So when I ran up a few calling card again , I was devastated . This time I knew it was for real . "
7.In 2013, George Clooney gathered 14 of his closest friends and gave them each $1 million in cash in a suitcase to repay them for all the times they’d helped him out. He toldGQ, “I was a single guy. All of us were aging. I was 52 or something. And most of my friends are older than me…And I thought, what Idohave are these guys who’ve all, over a period of 35 years, helped me in one way or another. I’ve slept on their couches when I was broke. They loaned me money when I was broke. They helped me when I needed help over the years.”
He continued , " And I ’ve helped them over the geezerhood . We ’re all good friends . And I thought , you know , without them , I do n’t have any of this . And we ’re all really close , and I just recollect basically if I get hit by a bus , they ’re all in the will . So why the fuck am I waiting to get reach by a bus ? "
8.Early in her career, Tiffany Haddish lived out of her car, parking it in Beverly Hills to sleep. When fellow comedian Kevin Hart noticed, he gave her $300 to get a motel room for the week. She toldVanity Fair, “I was like, ‘I don’t know where you can get a room for a week in Los Angeles for $300, that’s impossible.’ But I got me a motel room, and he told me to write out a list of goals and start doing something every day toward those goals.”
Kevin continue lifting Tiffany up professionally . She allege , " He gave me a caper onReal married man of Hollywood , and I kept trying to give him his $ 300 back . He ’s like , ' I do n’t need that money . You keep that money . If I demand you to be in something else , you just make indisputable you’re able to do it . ' Then , when I gotNight Schooland we were working on it , I tried to give him the money back again . He ’s like , ' I do n’t want your money . Just hump your lines and be effective in this infernal picture . ' "
On the set ofNight School , she last paid him back bytossingcash at him on set .
9.Kevin Costner self-fundedHorizonby mortaging “10 acres on the water in Santa Barbara where [he] was going to build [his] last house.”
He toldDeadline , " But I did it without a view . It has thrown my accountant into a fucking conniption scene . But it ’s my life history , and I believe in the theme and the taradiddle . "
10.After studiosdeclinedto buyClerks, Kevin Smithreportedlyfunded the $27,575 budget production by selling his comic book collection, borrowing money from family and friends, and maxing out eight to ten credit cards.
It paid off , as the filmreportedlymade $ 4.4 million at the box position .
11.And finally, at the start of their careers, longtime best friendsBen Affleckand Matt Damon put their savings in a shared bank account because they “needed the money for auditions.” During a joint interview onThe Bill Simmons Podcast, Ben said, “We were going to help each other and be there for each other. It was like, ‘You’re not going to be alone. I’m not going to be alone. Let’s go out there and do this together.’”
Matt excuse that any money they realize from other roles went into their joint account . He tell , " As long as one of us had money , we experience the power was n’t run to get keep out off . After doing [ 1993’s]Geronimo , I plausibly had 35 grand in the bank . I was like , we ’re good for a class . "
