Everyone knows that being an actor is a tough gig starting off.

Many working actors today had pretty awful jobs when they began their careers. Brad Pitt famously acted as a mascot for a fried chicken restaurant, Kevin Bacon bussed tables at fancy restaurants, Sean Connery was a milkman whilst Melissa McCarthy worked in a call-centre. A job's a job, right?

But many actors still keep a side-hustle going because, let's face it, the world of acting is insanely fickle and we all need something to fall back on.

Here's seven actors who've got something on the DL to keep themselves afloat.

7. NICK OFFERMAN HAS GOT SERIOUS AMOUNTS OF WOOD

Yes, the guy who plays Ron Swanson really is a master carpenter. Offerman's Woodshop creates fine furniture and canoes for the discerning buyer. Here he is reading female celebrities' tweets from his woodshop.

6. DAN AYKROYD CAN ARREST YOU

Yes, Dr. Ray Stanz from Ghostbusters can lock you up if you're doing something strange in his neighbourhood. As well as being an avid lover of soul music, a highly-regarded ufologist (that's a person who investigates UFO sightings), Aykroyd is also a sworn deputy of Hinds County Sheriff's department.

5. KEVIN COSTNER'S COMPANY HELPED CLEAN UP THE BP OIL SPILL

Yup, Robin Hood dived right into the oily sea and sorted it all out. Well, sort of. Costner owns Ocean Therapy Solutions, which he bought from the US government in 1995 for a cool $25,000,000. They create centrifugal oil-water separators which are used to clean oily water. There wasn't much in the way of a market for them until the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010, in which BP spent $52,000,000 in buying machines from Costner. Still doesn't explain why he thought Waterworld was a good idea.

4. PAUL NEWMAN WAS A PRETTY SERIOUS RACE-CAR DRIVER

Not only was he pretty, he was also pretty serious about his love of motorsports. A new documentary, Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman, explores his extraordinary career. In 1995, Newman became the oldest racer in a winning team to win a major sanctioned race in the sport. Yes, he also had Newman's Own salad dressing thing - but this is way cooler.

  

3. FREDDIE PRINZE, JR. WROTE STORYLINES FOR WWE

This one genuinely baffled us. Former teenage heart-throb Freddie Prinze Jr. wrote storylines - and shot promos for - the WWE. For a period back in 2009, Prinze Jr. was heavily involved in the creative process at WWE and worked with Jeff Hardy's storyline and shot his promo at Armageddon 2008. Prinze recounted a story involving searching for Jeff Hardy, who was in the throes of a serious drug problem, and literally dragging him out of a stairwell an hour before the event began.

2. CARRIE FISHER WROTE ONE-LINERS FOR THE OSCARS

Although we know and love her as Princess Leia from Star Wars, Carrie Fisher's main career for the past twenty-odd years has been that of Hollywood's most respected script doctor. What's that, you ask? A script doctor is brought in to polish up a screenplay and punch out the dialogue and have it more succinct and cleaner. It's one of the most important jobs in the industry and Fisher's dominated the role for quite some time. Moreover, her dry and acerbic wit has been put to use for none less than three Academy Award ceremonies. Fisher wrote one-liners and jokes for the various segments in the ceremony.

1. STEVE CARRELL OWNS A SHOP AND STACKS THE SHELVES AND EVERYTHING

Special Agent Michael Scarn has a successful side-business that sees him running a historic shop that sells expensive local foods and preserves. Think Marks & Sparks, but way smaller and owned by the 40-Year Old Virgin and you're on the right track. Personally, we wouldn't shop there but we love Steve Carrell too much not to give it a go.