Jon Hamm, Kelsey Grammer’s Pre-Hollywood Jobs Were All About ‘Asses and Elbows’ (Video)

It wasn’t always enviable ratings and Emmy-buzz for Mad Men and Boss stars Jon Hamm and Kelsey Grammer. There was once a time when they held bizarre odd-jobs just to stay afloat.

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“I was once a security guard for a convention of high-tech stereo equipment at The Roosevelt Hotel. That was pretty awful,” revealed Grammer during The Hollywood Reporter’s drama actors roundtable. “I was also a ditch digger. This guy would stand there and look at us and say, ‘All I want to see is asses and elbows.’”

“It’s the same motto in show business,” cracked Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston, who also sat in on the roundtable with Parenthood’s Peter Krause and Homeland’s Damian Lewis.

“I briefly worked as a set dresser. We would shoot a 90-minute cable feature in seven days. It was basically soft-core porn, and strangely enough, the guy would say, ‘All I want to see is asses and elbows,’” joked Hamm. “It was depressing. A week into it, I was like, ‘This is the most depressing thing I’ve ever done. I’ve got to get out of this.’”

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And as history will tell – he did.

“Then did the play that turned into Kissing Jessica Stein. I met my girlfriend, and the rest is history,” Hamm added, referring to longtime partner Jennifer Westfeldt.

See the actors uncensored in the video above, in which Grammer also explained why he concealed his long hair with a wig as a teen.

See THR’s full roundtable here.