There’s a story told in a published biography of Harrison Ford, the well-known actor. It goes like this. Before Ford was an actor he worked as a carpenter. He was a really good carpenter but acting was his love. So he loaded everything he had into his VW Bug, left Wisconsin where he was attending college, and set out for California. He found some acting work but carpentry paid better. He built a recording studio for Sergio Mendes and a sun deck for Sally Kellerman. He built an expansion for Francis Ford Coppola’s office. That led to a small part in American Graffiti, directed by Lucas and another part in The Conversation, directed by Coppola. But carpentry still paid better. Lucas hired Ford to build some shelves in his home and sometimes hired him to read lines with other actors who were auditioning.
This was the case when Ford was working on hanging a door at Lucas’ new production facility in Northern California. Actor after actor went though the auditions and readings. Nobody was right for the part of Han Solo, pilot of the Millennium Falcon. Then somebody said, “Let’s audition the carpenter. He’s a pretty good-looking guy.” Harrison Ford read the lines and got a major part in Star Wars.
A career was launched by a chance meeting and he never had to work as a carpenter after that.
