With Joy Ride in theaters now, star Desmond Chiam opened up about his career in acting. He wasn’t always an actor, he revealed. Chiam actually has a law degree from the University of Melbourne. But that “miserable” career wasn’t for him.

“It’s a done deal, the moment you dip your toe in [as an actor], you are in,” Desmond Chiam told People. “The idea that you can live in these imaginary worlds and then play dress up and put these characters on in the morning and take them off at night, it’s just the most wonderful thing.”

The reason he left a law career behind? “Because lawyers are miserable!”

“That’s not a true statement for every lawyer out there, but this lawyer was miserable,” Chiam said. “And I had this really insane chat with my partner at the firm that I was at. The junior having lunch with the partner is already, like, social and career gold. I went out and had lunch with him and I thought I was gonna [go] straight to the moon with the career. And he was like, ‘Des. I wake up in the morning and I just eat my breakfast waiting to get on the tram. And then I’m on the tram waiting to get to work. And then I’m at work waiting for lunch. And really at the end of the day, I’m just waiting to die.’”

At the time, Chiam was only a there for a month, and that was a sign for him.

“So that’s when I quit. I was lucky enough to have a couple of good friends here who were also in the acting business and they had me come over and help them with self-tapes. Bit by bit they kind of drew me into the fold, ‘We’ll send this to our agents, let’s see if we can get you repped.’ They really helped me get my start. One of them is in (Joy Ride)! Chris Pang, he’s my oldest friend.”