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Los Angeles - Gerard Depardieu worked as a male escort before being spotted by a theatre scout.
The French actor has revealed that he was a gigolo and petty thief before he found a career as an actor.
In his new autobiography, That's the Way it Was, the 65-year-old star told the writer Lionel Duroy: "I've known since I was very young that I please homosexuals.
"I would ask them for money."
After serving some time in prison as a teenager for stealing a car, Gerard returned to escorting, and eventually mugging, to earn more money.
He wrote: "At 20, the thug in me was alive and kicking. I would rip some of them off. I would beat up some bloke and leave with all his money."
The actor - who is best known for his role in 1990 movie, Green Card - was eventually spotted by a talent scout, who saved him from a life on the streets.
Gerard raised eyebrows in 2008 when he became friends with the controversial Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
In reference to their relationship, he explained in his book: "We could have both become hoodlums. I think he immediately liked my hooligan side ... the fact that I had occasionally been picked up off the pavement dead drunk.
"Like with me, nobody would have betted a penny on him when he was 15."
The French actor has revealed that he was a gigolo and petty thief before he found a career as an actor.
In his new autobiography, That's the Way it Was, the 65-year-old star told the writer Lionel Duroy: "I've known since I was very young that I please homosexuals.
"I would ask them for money."
After serving some time in prison as a teenager for stealing a car, Gerard returned to escorting, and eventually mugging, to earn more money.
He wrote: "At 20, the thug in me was alive and kicking. I would rip some of them off. I would beat up some bloke and leave with all his money."
The actor - who is best known for his role in 1990 movie, Green Card - was eventually spotted by a talent scout, who saved him from a life on the streets.
Gerard raised eyebrows in 2008 when he became friends with the controversial Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
In reference to their relationship, he explained in his book: "We could have both become hoodlums. I think he immediately liked my hooligan side ... the fact that I had occasionally been picked up off the pavement dead drunk.
"Like with me, nobody would have betted a penny on him when he was 15."
