Tim Robbins Admits He Almost Got Fired After a Clash Mosh Pit

Tim Robbins came close to losing his first on-screen job over a concert. His first day of shooting went perfectly. The second nearly didn’t happen at all.

How a Night With The Clash Nearly Cost Tim Robbins His First Job

Robbins shared the story in a Sept. 3 video for GQ, looking back at some of his most iconic roles. He had just landed his first credited screen part, playing domestic terrorist Andrew Reinhardt across three episodes of the 1982 medical drama St. Elsewhere, after months of auditions that had gone nowhere.

“My second day of shooting was the day after the Clash were playing at the Palladium in Hollywood, and that was my favorite group. And I got tickets, and I got in the mosh pit, and went hard for two and a half hours, went home, went to sleep, and overslept,” he recalled.

Robbins showed up late for only his second day on set, a mistake that could have ended his career before it started. Bruce Paltrow made sure he understood the stakes, telling him plainly that he would have been fired had he not already delivered a clean first day of shooting.

“I was told later, you know, by [Executive producer] Bruce Paltrow, ‘You know, I would’ve fired you if you hadn’t shot that first day.’ It was a huge learning lesson for me,” Robbins recalled.

“It was basically asking me, ‘Are you gonna be serious about this or not?’ It was a good experience to have early on,because it taught me a tremendous amount about the professionalism of the business, of the dedication and hard work that crews do, and the respect that you owe them by showing up on time.”

That night with The Clash could have cost Tim Robbins his first screen job, but it ended up becoming one of the earliest lessons of his career and something he has carried with him throughout his career.