Check out what Jon Hamm had to say about his struggles before he made it big:

up to my 40th birthday, and I don’t let myself ­forget that for 15 years after I left school I ­struggled to make a living. So what’s ­happening to me now is very nice.

I’ve been a barman, a waiter, a teacher, and I even helped out on a soft porn movie — as a set dresser, not a performer, I hasten to add — because I’d do everything I could to make enough money to pay the rent.

‘Thank goodness I had some understanding landladies. There are certain dark nights of the soul, when you say: “Good god, I’ve got to get a job”. But there has to be some kind of confidence in every actor that makes them get up in the morning, because it’s an incredibly difficult life to choose, if you don’t have success early.

‘I came out to Hollywood from St Louis when I was 25, which was already late. I found myself immersed in a huge city where thousands of ­people looked like me. I hoped I would be picked out of this group and I would do what I could to make money. My attitude was that I didn’t want to be this person that just keeps striving for years.

It was a scramble, though. At that time, the cool look for guys on TV was to look like a ­teenager. I have never looked like a teenager. So at 26, I was auditioning to play the father of one!

‘I decided that if nothing much was happening by the time I was 30, then I’d go and do something else.

‘In the end, I was 28 when the work started coming in regularly. I waited on my last table when I was 29.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1353494/Mad-Mens-Don-Draper-played-nerd-says-actor-Jon-Hamm.html#ixzz1CxEZvHQL

FIND OUT IF DEACON CAN DANCE:

Age: 30

Deacon has lived in LA for 3 years, but is originally from Chicago. He has worked at The Village Idiot for 2 ½ Years.

FAVORITE CELEBRITY SIGHTING AT WORK: Thomas Lennon

BEST MOMENT IN LA: “When I got my first apartment, it was the first night I was there, I had no furniture. Everything I shipped broke except for one glass. I sat there and used a suitcase as a table, and got a $5 bottle of wine at 7-Eleven…..I knew I couldn’t be happier.”

BEST AUDITION STORY: “It was few months ago, for Budweiser. It was a videoconference audition; the director and producers were in Chicago. I saw them laugh at something I did through the 20-inch screen and thought ‘alright I’m gonna book this,’ and I did.”

YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN HIM IN: “Grey’s Anatomy,’ I played a patient with a broken leg” and a current Mazda 3 commercial.

UPCOMING: Taco Bell Commercial, Budweiser commercial, Twix Commercial, Coors Light Commercial, A Marine Story.

DREAM ROLE: “For them to re-cast ‘Lost’ and run the series again, all 6 seasons of it. I’ll play Jack, I’ll play Sawyer, either one I don’t care. That would be fine with me.”

ADVICE FOR ACTORS MOVING TO LA: “Save up as much money as you can, and don’t take it personally.”

Natalie has lived in LA for 1.5 Years, but was born in Michigan. She has worked at The Bowery for 1.5 Years.

Natalie’s favorite movie is Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Blue

WORST AUDITION STORY: “I had to rap for one of my auditions. The character’s rapping to…I can’t even remember the name…it’s something…cars real big! tits real big! Something real big! Everything real big! I had to rap that A capella while I was dancing to club music…which was not playing.

YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN HER IN: Across the Hall

THIS JOB HELPS AS AN ACTOR BECAUSE: “I meet interesting people all day long. I also enjoy the support system from working with other actors. I even created a movie with a co-worker.”

Watch Kristen recall her worst moment in LA:

Age: “In my 20’s”

Kristen has lived in Los Angeles for 2 ½ years, but is originally from Michigan. She has worked at Sur for 2 ½ years.

FAVORITE CELEBRITY SIGHTING AT WORK: “John Fogerty and Clive Owen.”

WORST AUDITION STORY: “Oh, it happened when I first started. I was driving to an audition and was really excited, really amped. I was in my car and running late. I started to feel frustrated, rushed, and overwhelmed. Because I was running late, I started to feel unprofessional. It got so bad that I turned the car around and went home. My nerves got the best of me.”

YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN HER IN: “I did background work in He’s Just Not That Into You, and Yes Man.”

UPCOMING: The Loneliness of the Long Distance Dreamer and Behind Your Eyes

BEST MOMENT IN LA: “I was waiting on John Fogerty and his wife Julie. It made my night. Nobody had any clue who he was. I had to call my mom in the middle of my shift and scream in excitement with her. It was really awesome.”

THIS JOB HELPS AS AN ACTOR BECAUSE: “All my friends who work with me are actors. I have people to run lines with me at any given moment. The owner is an actor as well, I got one of my agents through him.”

DREAM ROLE: “Rachel McAdams’s character in The Notebook. Her performance is amazing. Her presence, how truthful, emotional, and real. It’s very challenging to be able to tell the truth like that. That’s what acting is…bringing out your crazy side, your emotional, your dark side and letting people see it.

ADVICE FOR ANYONE MOVING TO LA TO BE AN ACTOR: “Don’t get caught up in Hollywood. Hollywood is not Los Angeles. Don’t give in to the people you meet after 10pm at bar, at a club, or at a party. They are not going to make your career for you. Watch your back and study hard. You have to be 110% committed. If you are, you will do really well out here.”