Daisy May Cooper was "f****** humiliated" when she was asked if she'd work as a Santa impersonator before she found fame.
Charlie and Daisy May Cooper
The 'This Country' actress "hit rock bottom" after leaving the prestigious acting school RADA as she had to sign on at the Job Centre after struggling to find work.
Appearing on Kate Thornton's podcast, she said: "One of the bleakest [times] was going into the Job Centre after finishing RADA.
"All my peers had gone on to be really successful... and I was back home and I was having to go to the f***** Job Centre.
"I went to the job adviser and I just thought 'God, I really hope that you know that I don't want to f***** be here, like, I shouldn't be here.
"'I am somebody and I don't want to be claiming Job Seekers Allowance, I want to be out there pursuing my dream but I'm at f***** rock bottom.'"
And when her job advisor searched for jobs in the arts, all that was available was a Father Christmas grotto gig or a DJ at a club.
Daisy felt like she'd "failed at everything" and she was then offered a potwash job, but it was already taken, and that's when the 34-year-old BAFTA-winner decided to put all of energy into pursuing acting.
She continued: "He said 'well, all that's coming up really is a Father Christmas slot available in a grotto in Swindon arcade or they're looking for a DJ in a club in Cheltenham'.
"I just kind of sat there... I was completely f***** humiliated.
"I just said 'I want something that's in the evening, that no one can f****** see me, that nobody knows that I've completely failed at everything'.
"He said 'there's a kitchen porter job at the local curry house'. I said 'kitchen porter, is that a posh word for waitressing? As in portering the food?'
"And he said 'no, it's a potwash'. And he phoned up the curry house and they said 'sorry the job's taken'. Over 40 people had applied for the potwash job.
"That made me think 'f***, if it's that f***** hard to get a potwash job then I've got to put my energy into acting and something I want to do, rather than fight 39 others to work as a potwash'.
"That was a massive moment for me."
Daisy - who is currently expecting her second child with husband Will Weston - went on to land a role as a younger mother on ITV's 'Doc Martin', before working as a cleaner with her brother Charlie Cooper.
The pair's experiences whilst living together inspired the pair's hit series 'This Country', which first aired in 2017.
Daisy went on to win the 2018 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for playing Kerry Mucklowe in the BBC Three series, which she co-created and co-wrote with her sibling.