Melissa McCarthy was once robbed at gunpoint

Los Angeles - Melissa McCarthy was robbed at gunpoint when she moved to California.

The Bridesmaids actress was working at a dry cleaners on a quiet street in Santa Monica when she first moved to Hollywood to pursue a movie career and she's revealed how an armed robber threatened her and stole her bag.

Speaking about the transition of moving to the film capital of the world, she said: "I worked at Starbucks, I worked at the Y in Santa Monica and I worked at a dry cleaners on like 3rd and Wilshere, where I was actually held up."

"Yeah, at three o'clock in the afternoon, on Wilshere Avenue and 3rd, which is like sunny and bright and people are out walking."

The 44-year-old comedienne admits she didn't quite understand what was happening when she first saw the burglar, and confessed she couldn't stop crying when she realised he'd stolen all of her cosmetics.

Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, she added: "I walked in and there was a guy behind the register and I was like, 'Oh, that's weird. I wonder ... has he lost his ticket?' And then I see a gun and I was like, 'Oh my God!'

"And I couldn't ... Everything that you should say or do did not happen and he had my backpack which was like my life. That's my keys, my make-up.

"I was like, 'I can't replace mascara', I didn't have any money and I just kept crying going, 'You have my bag that has my make-up in it, you have my bag'. And he was like, 'Shut up, shut the blank up'."

However, Melissa claims the perpetrator was caught and found guilty.