<\/p>\n
Key Takeaways:<\/p>\n
Actor Walton Goggins has been a familiar face in Hollywood since the 2000s but first moved to Los Angeles in 1991.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
As he took acting classes, he supported himself by working at LA Fitness then opening his own valet parking business.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
Side gigs are a thing of the past for Goggins these days. He could earn his first Emmy Award on Sunday for his performance on The White Lotus Season 3.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Long before Walton Goggins filmed his Emmy-nominated performance as the mysteriously troubled tourist Rick Hatchett in the third season of the hit HBO show The White Lotus<\/a>, he was a 19-year-old college dropout who moved to Los Angeles on a whim with $300 to his name and a dream of making it big.<\/p>\n The Alabama native was attending college at Georgia Southern University when a credit card offer from American Express changed his trajectory. \u201cI got this invitation from American Express, believe it or not, to take on debt,\u201d Goggins explained during a 2019 appearance on <\/a>The Late Show<\/a> with Stephen Colbert<\/a>. \u201cI got pre-approved for I don\u2019t know like a max of like probably $500.\u201d<\/p>\n The card came with more than spending power, though. It offered two round-trip tickets. \u201cOne was $99 east of the Mississippi, and the other was $199 west of the Mississippi,\u201d he said. \u201cThis was a time in Atlanta where it cost, like, $1,100 to fly from Atlanta to Los Angeles. And I saw it not as an opportunity to buy a bunch of televisions, but to leave. Like that was it. I was out. I quit college.\u201d<\/p>\n He landed in California in 1991, but now what he needed was a job.<\/p>\n He initially sustained himself and paid for acting classes with a part-time job at LA Fitness. He would open the gym at 5 a.m. before getting off at 9 a.m. The gig paid minimum wage, then $4.25 an hour, and was ultimately short-lived.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter being there for a month, they said, \u2018Okay, we\u2019ll make you a part-time salesperson.\u2019 And I looked around and I said, \u2018No, I\u2019m not going to do this anymore,\u2019\u201d he told the Associated Press<\/a> in 2018. \u201cI started a valet parking company because I needed my freedom. I needed more time.\u201d<\/p>\n His entrepreneurial endeavor thrived. \u201cI wound up having about six restaurants and a couple parking garages around town,\u201d he told the AP. \u201cI didn\u2019t make a lot of money, but I did have my freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n His business also enabled him to help other actors and create a community. \u201cI was able to employ a lot of other actors, and we were all kind of there for each other. And when anybody got a job, they just disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n During an appearance<\/a> on The Late Late Show with James Corden<\/a> in 2018, Goggins shared a memorable story from his valet parking business that involved \u201cKiss From a Rose\u201d singer Seal<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI parked a number of celebrities\u2019 cars, but one that really kind of stands out was Seal,\u201d Goggins said. \u201cHe comes in, and he\u2019s on a date, clearly, with this beautiful woman.\u201d<\/p>\n As the date dragged on, the pair ended up being Goggins\u2019s final customers of the night. The aspiring actor couldn\u2019t leave until he returned Seal\u2019s keys, but Goggins had a date of his own that night as well. Finally, he found an opportunity to approach the singer.<\/p>\n \u201cI said… \u2018You know what man, I have a date. I have a date tonight that I\u2019m running late for. Do you mind if I just give you your keys. Is that cool? Is that alright?\u2019\u201d Goggins recalled. \u201cAnd he said, \u2018Yeah, buddy.\u2019 And then he slipped me a $50 bill. And he said, \u2018Have a great meal!\u2019 That how cool this guy is.\u201d<\/p>\n Eventually, Goggins shuttered his valet parking business and ventured back into fitness as a personal trainer. He and his business partners offered to pay the LA Fitness owner to allow them to train members for a fee. \u201cWe were the first three people I think to do it in all of LA Fitness and wound up making almost $65 an hour in 1993. That\u2019s a lot of money,\u201d he told the AP before joking, \u201cMaybe I\u2019m only an entrepreneur\u2014who said I\u2019m an actor!\u201d<\/p>\n You Might Also Like<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Key Takeaways: Actor Walton Goggins has been a familiar face in Hollywood since the 2000s but first moved to Los Angeles in 1991. As he took acting classes, he supported himself by working at LA Fitness then opening his own valet parking business. Side gigs are a thing of the past for Goggins these days. 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