Hung Star Thomas Jane: I Was a Homeless Gay Hooker

Thomas Jane picked up a few tricks of the trade before he was cast on HBO's gigolo drama Hung.

The 42-year-old tells The L.A. Times that as a struggling 18-year-old actor, he often performed sexual acts with other men in order to pay the bills. "As James Dean said, you're going to have one arm tied behind your back if you don't accept people's sexual flavors," Jane explains.

"When I was a kid out here in L.A., I was homeless. I didn't have any money and I was living in my car," the actor recalls. "I wasn't averse to going down to Santa Monica Boulevard and letting a guy buy me a sandwich. Know what I mean?"

VIDEO: Another celebs' secret stripper past

Jane adds that the experience "blew the doors off my conventional upbringing" and opened him up to new possibilities. "You're a lot more open to experimentation as a young man," he tells The L.A. Times. "And for me, being a young artist and broke in Los Angeles, I was exploring my sexual identity."

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The actor — whose former wives include Aysha Hauer and Patricia Arquette –  doesn't regret his decision to dabble in same-sex relations.

"Until you've tasted the food, you don't know whether you'll like it or not, as my mom always said," he says.

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