Law & Order: SVU star Christopher Meloni may be a big star now. But once upon a time, he worked as a New York City bouncer early in his career. That job had its own hazards, resulting in Meloni being beaten up and nearly run over.
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Speaking with the Thanks Dad with Ego Nwodim podcast, the Law & Order star discussed working at "a little dive bar down on Bleecker Street." He said that a waitress complained to him that two couples left and did not pay.
"And so me and the manager, you know, bust out onto Bleecker Street and there was a fresh fallen snow — a half-inch, quarter-inch on the ground and the waitress goes, 'That's them. That's them.' So me and him go running — go boom down Sullivan Street or Thompson and grab the girl and say, 'Hey, what's going on? You gotta go to pay your bill,' " Meloni recounted.
'Law & Order' Star Nearly Killed
That's when a car came out of no where.
"And I'm distracted and one gets away [then] they both get away, and they jump into the car, and it's their boyfriends," Meloni continued. "And so I get onto the passenger side door. It's closed, and they're trying to roll up the window, and I'm like holding it down. And I said, 'Get out of the car. Get out of the car.' "
He continued: "Well, the guy starts driving. The girl's punching me in the face and that's when the guy in the backseat goes, 'Slam him against the cars,' the parked cars. He was going to try and crush me against the parked cars."
The future star considered that he might become roadkill in that moment.
"You know, it probably lasted all of three seconds. But in that moment... you're wondering, when can I let go without being caught under the back wheels? I did let go finally. Freshly slapped, punched around," Meloni added.
All that to make just "$40 a night as a bouncer." It's safe to say that his prospects have changed in the years since then. Meloni became a star in part thanks to Law & Order: SVU.
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