“I was not a sociable person”

June 20, 2024

“It was all about getting work,” Pine told Business Insider about his time in the restaurant industry

<p>Rick Kern/Getty Images</p>
<p> Chris Pine in Austin, Texas, on March 11, 2024″ src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/0mQk1GOEv7YJ7UUHEIzsDw–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/6245b45c8a3613db4e56d5a6f77fcf0f”/></p>
<p>Rick Kern/Getty Images</p>
<p> Chris Pine in Austin, Texas, on March 11, 2024″ src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/0mQk1GOEv7YJ7UUHEIzsDw–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/6245b45c8a3613db4e56d5a6f77fcf0f” class=”caas-img”/><button class= — Rick Kern/Getty Images

Chris Pine in Austin, Texas, on March 11, 2024

The restaurant industry wasn’t for Chris Pine.

In conversation with Business Insider published Wednesday, May 8, the Poolman The filmmaker and star recalled that he was able to balance his early roles with a job at a restaurant.

“Don’t be a waiter. I was actually a host in a restaurant and just hated it,” said Pine, 43. “I couldn’t have hated it more. I wasn’t a people person. I was just concerned with getting work.”

The actor made his film debut in 2004 The Princess Diaries 2and has since played in box office hits such as Star Trek (2009), In the forest (2014), the Wonder Woman films and more in the two decades since.

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<p>Barry King/WireImage</p>
<p> Chris Pine at the world premiere of <em>The Princess Diaries 2: Engagement</em> in 2004″ src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/jaWeJFcb3AO3a05nwuef3w–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTk0Mw–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/7a605ccb5c66a4387d1ece3e055c395f”/></p>
<p>Barry King/WireImage</p>
<p> Chris Pine at the world premiere of <em>The Princess Diaries 2: Engagement</em> in 2004″ src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/jaWeJFcb3AO3a05nwuef3w–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTk0Mw–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/7a605ccb5c66a4387d1ece3e055c395f” class=”caas-img”/></div>
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<div class= — Barry King/WireImage

Chris Pine at the world premiere of *The Princess Diaries 2* in 2004

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Pine, who made his directorial debut with Poolmanremembered his big breakthrough with The Princess Diaries 2 to Anne Hathaway during an interview for a recent episode of Sunday TODAY.

“I was on my little silver Verizon flip phone and got a call from my agents that I got the job,” the actor recalled in a chat with host Willie Geist that aired Sunday, May 5. “I pulled over to the side of the road and they said, ‘You’re getting $65,000.'”

For Pine, who was 23 when the romantic comedy sequel hit theaters, “it was like they just told me I made $50 million,” he told the 49-year-old Geist, adding, “It was absolutely earth-shattering.”

“I remember knowing very clearly at that moment that my life had somehow changed, even though at the end of the day the $65,000 turned out to be about $15,000,” he continued with a laugh.

Now, 20 years later, Pine is director, co-writer and lead actor in Poolman as Darren, “a native Los Angeleno who spends his days tending to the pool at the Tahitian Tiki condominium and fighting to make his hometown a better place to live,” a synopsis says.