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Long before red carpets and Oscars, Brad Pitt stood on a Los Angeles street corner in a yellow chicken suit, waving a sign at drivers. It was one of the odd jobs he took to survive when he first moved to Hollywood.
Today, Brad Pitt is one of the most famous actors in the world. But when he first arrived in Los Angeles, he took jobs that had nothing to do with acting just to be able to pay the rent and buy some food.
During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2019, Pitt confirmed that he once worked as a mascot for El Pollo Loco. He dressed in a yellow feathered chicken suit for the grand opening of one of the chain’s restaurants at Sunset Boulevard and La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles, waving a sign to attract customers.
When DeGeneres asked how he felt about it, his answer was short: “No shame.” He added: “Man’s gotta eat.”
Pitt said he couldn’t remember how much the job paid, but he did remember one thing: he “got flipped off a lot.” DeGeneres joked: “So the bird got the bird?”
From journalism student to Los Angeles
Before trying his luck in Hollywood, Pitt studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He left college just two credits short of his degree and moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting.
To pay his bills, he took several odd jobs. Besides the chicken costume, he moved furniture and spent about two months as a driver for strippers. That last job changed his life: one of the women was taking acting classes with the well-known coach Roy London, and Pitt decided to join, according to Business Insider.
Brad Pitt’s road to fame
Pitt began with small roles on TV shows such as Another World and Growing Pains. His breakthrough came with a short but memorable part in Thelma & Louise in 1991.
He went on to star in films such as A River Runs Through It, Interview With the Vampire, Fight Club, Ocean’s Eleven, Troy, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Two Oscars, and a lesson
In 2014, Pitt won his first Oscar, not as an actor but as a producer of 12 Years a Slave. In 2020, he won his first acting Oscar for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. More recently, he starred in F1: The Movie, also nominated for the Academy Awards.
His story is a reminder that even the biggest stars started somewhere. As DeGeneres put it after hearing his story, “everybody should start dressed as a chicken outside of a restaurant” if they want a career like his.