Ryan Phillippe and his friends indulged in "light vandalism" when they were teenagers.
The actor moved to Los Angeles when he was 19 and didn't have any money. His career was slower to kick off than he'd expected, meaning he and his pals had to find ways to entertain themselves.
"My friends Seth Green and Breckin Meyer, the three of us used to get up to some activity you could classify as punk. It wasn't that [bad]. We were really obsessed with light vandalism," he told talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. "A primary focus became... there used to be a Kong Video [store] on Ventura Boulevard that had a giant inflatable King Kong on top of it. We wanted to unplug... we had an obsession with unplugging inflatables on top of buildings. We would find ladders and go on top of these buildings and unplug inflatables. We also broke into... [a] big mall, but we didn't steal anything, we would go into [department stores] and rearrange furniture."
The 40-year-old star admitted there was one thing which could make the group's antics have a slight "aggressive streak". When one of them didn't get a job and then saw the movie or show being advertised they would take down any posters, or unscrew the lights on any billboards for it.
The star was promoting his new TV show Secrets & Lies, in which he plays a man who becomes a murder suspect. It premiered in the US on Sunday and Ryan watched the episode with his son Deacon, 11. It was a fun evening as the pair were staying at a Four Seasons hotel and got room service, but Ryan was surprised about how his child reacted to the programme.
"Watching the show with him, he was jealous seeing me playing a dad to other kids. He kind of would steel himself whenever I would show affection to my children on the show, he couldn't deal with it. Which is an experience I've had with girlfriends," he laughed.
Ryan has Deacon and Ava, 15, with his ex-wife Reese Witherspoon and three-year-old daughter Kailani with his former girlfriend Alexis Knapp.
The star recently opened up about his personal life a little, revealing he has struggled with depression. It's something that's been with him during his whole life and he's learning how to cope with it.
"You know, depression has been a huge obstacle for me ever since I was a child. As you get older I think it decreases some, but I'm just innately kind of a sad person. I'm empathetic, and I take on the feelings of others and transpose myself into the position of others," he told elle.com, before being asked if he'd like to "un-feel" if he could.
"Yes, absolutely. There's great value to it, but it can also ruin your f**king life. But, that being said, if it was a choice between being this way or being completely ignorant I'd prefer to suffer through the sadness than to be a complete moron with no feelings."
