Even Fox's Rent Cast Had Trouble Paying Rent

Fox is giving Jonathan Larson's beloved musical Rent the live treatment Sunday, and The Advocate caught up with some of the cast and choreographer Sonya Tayeh to find out how they struggled to pay rent when they were artists just starting out.

The latest Broadway musical to get this treatment, Rent on Fox stars out actress Kiersey Clemons (Hearts Beat Loud) as Joanne, Vanessa Hudgens as Maureen, Brandon Victor Dixon (Jesus Christ Superstar, Hamilton) as Tom Collins, RuPaul's Drag Race star Valentina as Angel, Brennin Hunt (Nashville) as Roger, Tinashe as Mimi, and Jordan Fisher as Mark.

Clemons discussed how, at one point, she was recurring on a Disney channel series but still worked at a store in a mall where fans of the show would ask for her photo and then wonder why she was working retail. Meanwhile, Tayeh (So You Think You Can Dance) noted that she worked five jobs and scraped change from under her car seat to pay for gas some months when she was building her career as a choreographer and dancer.

Valentina is a favorite on RuPaul's Drag Race now, but she discussed hard work and blazing a trail as tools used to overcome the challenges of starting a career as an artist.

"I've definitely been in situations where I've gone to zero or negative in the bank because I believe in my art so much and I know it would feed back," Valentina said.

"For people who need to overcome adversity and don't have people out there that are examples in the media for them, pave your own path, believe in your dream. Take a risk, make a change, because there's "no day like today," she added.

Watch the Rent cast discuss the challenges of paying rent below.