It’s common knowledge that actors often take on all manner of jobs before they make it big. Harrison Ford, for instance, was famously a carpenter until he was discovered by George Lucas (or so the story goes, anyway). Mad Men actor Jon Hamm is no different, though his early work was perhaps less Christ-like – In the 90s, he worked as a set dresser for softcore pornographic films.

“I was actually at that time working as a set dresser for Cinemax soft-core-porn movies. It was soul-crushing,” he said in an interview with Vanity Fair. The subject was broached when the interviewer asked Hamm about a 1996 episode of The Big Date, on which he appeared. Looks like he was doing everything he could to pay the bills.

Obviously, much has changed. Hamm calls his role as Don Draper on Mad Men “the best job I’ve ever had and maybe ever will have in my life.” He also stars in the new movie Million Dollar Arm, a story about an American sports agent who turns to cricket in India to find baseball pitching material. The movie is drawing mixed reviews, with some reviewers describing it as “breezy and nice,” while others note similarities with Slumdog Millionaire.