Irish actor Chris O'Dowd was so broke at the time Bridesmaids hit the big screen, he couldn't even afford cable Tv to watch his U.S. interviews promoting the film.

The star landed his breakthrough role in the 2011 hit after moving to Los Angeles to get over a broken heart, and bought himself a base in the city from which to pursue his movie career.

O'Dowd was thrust into the limelight when the comedy drew rave reviews, but funnelling his money into his American home left him so poor, he couldn't keep up with his bills.

He told Jarlath Regan's Podcast, "I bought a house... I put all of my money into this house and then hadn't worked for six months. I was just really broke so we got our cable turned off and all that kind of stuff.

"It was weird. I was more broke than I have ever been in a way, because I was in so much debt. It was really scary."

O'Dowd admits his bank balance plummeted because he was turning down roles which didn't live up to Bridesmaids: "At that time I had just done that job which I loved so much I got really picky and didn't take jobs I would normally take, and if you do that for long enough you end up broke.

"It was as simple as that. I was being offered a lot of bad rom-coms and a few things which I thought were going to happen just didn't end up happening."