Twirling their way to Hollywood: stars who made ends meet with exotic dancing

People who decide to pursue their artistic dreams of becoming an actor often struggle a lot financially in the beginning. Often they must endure working at jobs that are far from their dream just to make ends meet while hoping from audition to audition and waiting for their big break. Some Hollywood stars even went so far as to strip for cash back when they were starting out. Click on to discover which of Hollywood's biggest names used to be strippers!

Before Courtney Love became known around the world as a famous rocker, actress, and wife, then ex-wife of Kurt Cobain, she was just a young woman from Northern California obsessed with music and consumed by her dream of making it big in Hollywood. And she wasn't afraid to bare it all to do so!

In an interview with L.A. Weekly, Love spoke about how stripping in the early days essentially was how she funded her band. Courtney told the publication about working at the well-known strip club Jumbo's and several other strip joints. "I didn't just work at Jumbo's, I worked at... Seventh Veil. To me back then, 300 bucks in a day was fine."

The iconic singer and actress once made a surprising confession to Andy Cohen on 'Watch What Happens Live.'

Lady Gaga told Cohen that at the age of 18, she worked as an "exotic" dancer because “she earned more money than as a waitress.” However, Gaga also said, "I didn't show too much — I was a burlesque dancer. Because my family's European, for me it wasn't that weird and I didn't do anything super seedy — although my dad didn't think so."

During an interview with Buzzfeed in 2015, the actor said that "I was always a very much naked person. I loved to always get naked. I was very free, so I thought, "I may as well get paid."'

He worked sporadically as a dancer for $ 40 per performance and, although he auditioned to work at a club as a regular exotic dancer, he didn't land the gig. "I did go one time and audition on a stage for a club, but I don't think I got the job. I don't think I'm a very good dancer," he said with a laugh.

Channing Tatum used to take his clothes off for money in the 90s, and his stage name was Chan Crawford. However, he did not enjoy showing it all. At a press call for 'Magic Mike,' Chris told People Magazine about his time working as a stripper. "I don’t miss anything about it (exotic dancing)," he told the magazine even though his experience certainly helped him in the film 'Magic Mike.'

Tatum went on to tell People: "It wasn’t glamorous whatsoever, so there’s nothing that I miss..."

Photo: screenshot from 'Magic Mike'

During his time in college, Brad Pitt belonged to a group called the 'Dancing Bares.' Pitt's former friends from his frat boy days told InTouch Weekly some pretty funny stories about the actor's stripping experiences.

Thomas Whelihan, a friend of Brad's from college, told the magazine, "When a girl from one of our sister sororities turned 21, the Bares would put her in a chair and come out butt-naked with pillowcases on their heads and do a choreographed dance for her. The girls would be laughing so hard. It was great!"

Before he knew that he wanted to pursue acting, Bardem tried his hand at exotic dancing. The actor told The Times about his experiences, "I did it as a joke for some friends at first," he explained. "But a guy in the bar we were in spotted me and hired me for the next day."

It turns out that stripping wasn't for Bardem. He was not talented at it at all, and luckily, he would later find success as an actor. Javier was so terrible he asked his mother and sister to attend his show and cheer him on. The actor told The Times, "I was so bad, I did it to ‘Leave Your Hat On’, and I had to get my mother and sister to cheer me on."

Carmen Electra became known on the big screen for her role as the stunning Lani McKenzie in 'Baywatch,' but she was a professional exotic dancer before becoming an actress.

The actress used her past to her advantage, and years later, she continues to put her pole dancing skills to good use. Electra created exercise pole dancing videos and even released her own pole brand for people wanting to learn to pole dance at home.

Photo: Carmen Electra / YouTube

Another actress who shed her clothes for cash before entering the Hollywood world was Oscar winner Catherine Zeta-Jones. Various media outlets have published that Catherine took the job to pay for a nose job; however, the actress has never spoken about it herself.

In fact, it seems Catherine Zeta-Jones does not wish to be associated with exotic dancing at all. In 2005, the actress sued a club in Reno, Nevada, when it used her image without her permission on their website. Catherine claimed that the images would "dilute the value of her celebrity endorsement."

Actor, model, and TV presenter Amber Rose opened up about her previous job of baring it all in an interview with Cosmopolitan in 2015. Rose said that she worked in the industry from age 18 until she was 25, and she loved it!

Amber Rose told Cosmopolitan, "That was the best time of my life! Oh my god, I had so much fun. I really did. All the girls were really cool. The guys weren’t allowed to touch you. I was never sexually assaulted or [anything]. I was young, beautiful, I was onstage, I wasn’t really ashamed of my body. I made lifelong friends."