‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Star Michael Mando Opens up About His Homeless Years Before Finding Fame

Michael Mando is now stepping into the Marvel spotlight again as Mac Gargan, also known as Scorpion, in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. But before he was starring in major movies and shows like Better Call Saul, his path to becoming an actor was far from easy.

During an interview on the I’ve Never Said This Before podcast, Mando opened up about the difficult years at the start of his career. He revealed that he was homeless for a period of time and often had to travel long distances just to get a chance at an audition.

“I was homeless when I started my acting career,” Mando said. At the time, Mando was living around Montreal but would travel to Toronto for auditions. He explained that he would take an overnight bus, arrive in Toronto, find somewhere to shower and then head straight to an audition. “I used to shower at the YMCA. I used to take a bus from Montreal to Toronto overnight. I used to shower at the YMCA, go do an audition, and then take the bus back,” he recalled.

His living situation was also unstable. Mando said he would move between friends’ apartments when he needed somewhere to stay. Eventually, he rented a tiny place in Toronto that was barely big enough for a bed.

He also remembered one particularly difficult moment when he was staying at a friend’s apartment during the winter. After accidentally burning his friend’s sheets on a heater and oversleeping, he was asked to leave.

“And he’s like, ‘Man, you got to go. We can’t both sleep on a small mattress,’” Mando recalled.

His next place wasn’t exactly comfortable either. He described it as being in a rough part of Toronto and so small that even opening a drawer was difficult because it would hit the bed.

Those experiences clearly left an emotional mark on Mando. Speaking about the rejection and uncertainty he faced, he admitted that there were plenty of moments when he felt like he wasn’t going anywhere.

“I felt so s—ty in my life so many times,” he said. “I felt small, I felt unwanted, I felt untalented, I felt hopeless, and that’s just a part of the human experience.” Still, Mando doesn’t look back at those years only with sadness. Despite having very little money and no real security, he was doing what he wanted to do.

“I was happy because I was doing what I loved,” he explained. Mando also offered some encouragement to people who may currently be struggling with similar problems. He said that being broke, homeless or feeling like there is no way forward doesn’t mean someone is destined to stay there.

“To everyone out there, if you’ve been broke, if you’ve been homeless, if you thought that there’s no way out, of course I felt it,” he said. “And I can promise you almost every single great person, actor, anyone you’ve ever met has felt it. It’s not just you, everybody feels it.”

His story also connects to another difficult lesson from early in his career. Mando previously played Mac Gargan in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, but a major scene he expected to appear in the movie was cut before release.

He told the podcast that he only discovered the change while watching the premiere with his father. Although the experience was disappointing, Mando said it taught him to accept the unpredictable nature of acting.

“That was a learning moment for me as an actor,” he said. “And I think the trick is you just take it in stride, you take it in love, and you say, ‘What’s meant to be is meant to be,’ and it’s okay.”

Now, years after those difficult early days, Mando is returning to the Spider-Man universe in a much bigger way. Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrives in theaters Friday, giving the actor another major chapter in a career that began with overnight bus rides, auditions and some very uncertain days.

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