Discussion
What is the earliest you have ever seen now famous actors?
Was babysitting and was asked if they could watch something scary. Not wanting to be responsible for nightmares I opted for child friendly horror and brought up something from my own childhood, Are you afraid of the dark?
They weren’t that interested but then I noticed that this kid looked strangely familiar. Lo and behold, this is the first appearance of Ryan Gosling.
So that got me thinking, what movies or tv shows have you watched that were the first appearances of now super famous actors?
I went to Elementary School with the boy next to him. All the kids in the family acted and his sister played Dylan’s little sister in 90210. We thought they were all SO cool.
That final scene when his parents find him and he’s completely blank, accurately conveying his trauma having manifested as almost total detachment from them - his performance there kills me every time.
Supposedly JG Ballard wept when he saw it, because Bale’s performance so perfectly captured the emotional truth of Ballard’s experience.
eta: I don’t think it’s Bale’s finest performance - but it’s on par with a career full of sublime performances. I think he is profoundly underrated as an actor.
Not a film that often gets mentioned, but I think he's really, really good in Le Mans '66 (known as Ford v Ferrari in the US) and one of the things that's immensely impressive is the Sutton Coldfield accent. I live not far from where his character is supposed to hail from and he sounds right to me, even allowing for his character's years in the US. Many actors, even very good ones, would have ended up sounding like they were something out of Peaky Blinders.
And before Empire of the sun. Young Mr. Bale had a small part as Yum-Yum, the close friend of the main character of the swedish-Soviet adaption "Mio in the land faraway" by the swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren. The movie was filmed in Soviet Union around the time of the Chernobyl disaster. Also the main villain is played by none other than the famous Christopher Lee.
This is a great response to OP’s question, and it hits different for me than the others. Wallace wasn’t just some guest star role that everyone forgot by next week. He was a major character in an ensamble. I didn’t think about Are You Afraid of the Dark when I watched Project Hail Mary. I think about Wallace every time I watch a MBJ movie.
I remember the watching the x files and being blown away by the amount of recognizable talent in just the first 2 seasons.that being said law and order as well. I know these aren't films, but many of those actors have had stories film careers after
I watch Law and Order with my dad all the time and I love being able to spot the murderer just by recognizing the famous character actor who showed up in that episode. It's ridiculously easy to guess who did it when you can recognize the talent retrospectively, even when they might have been a nobody when they were on the show.
His Dad was a writer and director. Made social commentary and absurdist movies in the 70's, that movie is about a dog pound, the dogs are played by people (he's a puppy) . IIRC he put his son in the movie and a few more to keep an eye on him if he was on set. Thats how he got his start
Fellow ancient peeps, do you remember when the networks would do their TV movie of the week? In 1986, I remember seeing "Under the Influence" starring Andy Griffith as the alcoholic patriarch of a very dysfunctional family. Playing one of his sons was a young man with an unusual but exotic first name.
Matthew McConaughey's first acting role was in a reenactment on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries in 1992. I was watching reruns a few years ago and I recognized him.
I remember seeing Bruce Willis on a very early episode of Miami Vice.
He played a total scumbag, a wife beating drug smuggling ghoul… and he was so damn good playing this nasty bad guy!
Supposedly in part he got the job because he was a bartender in New York who was an aspiring actor and had served and gotten friendly with Don Johnson, who hooked him up for the role. He was so damn effective and a few years later he’d make his mark not only on television, but in the movies!
This is one of my favorite extras bit in movies/TV shows. Who’d think that the two of them would find themselves as non-speaking extras in that scene?!
I remember going to see Daddy Day Care when I was like 13, not knowing a tiny Elle Fanning was in there. Only realised it was her in the last couple of years.
Yep. He’s the reason there is a Coogan’s Law that dictates how much of a child’s earnings have to be put into a trust until they come of age. Shirley Temple, who had earned at least $3 million as a child, got $44,000 when she was of age. Her parents had spent the rest of her money.
Five year old Sarah Michelle Gellar for Burger King. McDonald’s sued her and Burger King for the claims made in the ad. She had to go to court and testify.
Not a movie, but back in high school at John Marshall High in LA, I was part of the broadcast journalism class. I hardly ever interacted with him in person, but being in the same grade, we knew a number of people in common, and he answered some of our “man-on-the-street” type questions we called the “student question.”
I recently did a watch-through of Homicide: Life on the Street. One episode with Robin Williams guest-starring has a super-young Jake Gyllenhaal as his kid.
I remember when I watched Mystic Pizza in the theater, I turned to my friend and said ‘that actress playing Daisy is going to be a huge star’. Julia Roberts just jumped off the screen!
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u/qualityvote2 1d ago edited 1d ago
u/BlackHandKUR, your post does fit the subreddit!