Christopher Meloni got punched and almost run over by patrons who tried not to pay their bill when he worked as a bouncer at a New York bar.
The harrowing experience happened before the 65-year-old actor landed the role of NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC legal drama Law+Order: Special Victims Unit in 1999.
During the latest episode of the Thanks Dad With Ego Nwodim podcast, Christopher recalled: "It was a little dive bar on Bleecker Street that I worked at and, frantically, a waitress comes up to me and says… two girls ran out on the bill.
"And so me and the manager bust out onto Bleecker Street. And there was a fresh fall in snow, like half inch, quarter inch, on the ground. And the waitress goes, ‘That's them, that's them!’ Right? So me and him go running."
After he and the manager caught up with the woman and demanded them to pay their bill, a car suddenly drove up to them.
Christopher continued: "I'm distracted, and one gets away - they both get away - and they jump into the car. And it's their boyfriends [driving the vehicle].
"I get onto the passenger side door. It's closed. And they're trying to roll up the window, and I'm holding it down. And I said, 'Get out of the car, get out of the car!'"
The Runaway Bride star went on: "The guy starts driving. The girl's punching me in the face. And then the guy in the back seat [says], 'Slam him against, hit him against the parked cars.' He's going to try and crush me against the parked cars. And I'm skitching along, ‘cause it's fresh snow."
Christopher said the whole terrifying experience "probably lasted all of three seconds".
The Man of Steel alum added: "It starts going and you're wondering when can I let go without being caught under the back wheels and not… Whatever it was, I did let go finally. Freshly slapped and punched around."
Christopher was stunned by what happened.
The True Blood cast member said: "I just remember going, ‘What the f*** are you thinking? What are you doing?' I mean, probably for a bill of $45 or something."
