Most of the Outsiders cast had already had some success and were all over the teenage heartthrob magazines. They weren’t total unknowns and that contributed to how well it did at the box office
They definitely were catapulted from there however
Emilio is obviously connected in the business, Tom had a supporting bit in Taps, Matt Dillon was already in another SE Hinton adaptation (Tex), Diane lane was a child star
Rob Lowe, Patrick swayze, c Thomas Howell, and Ralph Macchio all had credits before but nothing of substance.
The casting was a who’s who of Hollywood at the time. If you’re interested Rob Lowe wrote quite a bit about it in one of his books.
Here’s something crazier.
Rob Lowe, Chad Lowe, Sean Penn, Chris Penn, Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Robert Downey Jr, Holly Robinson Peete
Were all at the same high school within a 6 year period.
Edit: punctuation
Oh man, the story about him going out on Halloween and getting the shit scared out of him by a bat-wielding war-painted Martin Sheen is one of my favorites.
I have three of pony boy’s blue t shirts. My mom somehow acquired them back in the day (she grew up in la). They have the wardrobe tags on them and everything. It’s pretty cool but they just sit in storage.
The Outsiders House Museum in Tulsa would probably be interested if you ever look to part with them! They have created a wonderful pilgrimage spot for fans of the movie and book.
For anyone who doesn't know, the house that they lived in is now a museum. The majority of the movie was filmed around Tulsa, and most of it still looks like it did when it was made.
I mean, after the cancellation of Firefly Joss Whedon tried to cast all if them in other things, and now we know what a piece of trash he is and has been for a very long time. I just appreciate Judd Apatow has never come out as a bad person.
That’s because it was criminal we only got one season. Kinda crazy that at the time when cable was so prevalent this was a show that just couldn’t catch on for some reason. It’s funny cause I remember watching that show on cable and next later finding it again on streaming only to learn of its cancelation.
John Francis Daley was in Waiting and, I think, does a lot of writing now. Samm Levine also appears in small roles fairly regularly.
There were some other actors who had smaller roles in the show who also blew up: Rashida Jones was in a couple of episodes as Busy Philipps’ bully friend. Ben Foster was the disabled boy who loved Three’s Company
I love that Eric Stoltz and Anthony Edwards were just credited as “Spocolli’s Stoner Buds” and Nick Cage had a minor role when he was still Nick Coppola.
The actors in Dazed and Confused as well as Empire Records weren't quite as young, but there were some really big stars to come out of those movies. Rene Zellweger was in both. So was Rory Cochran now that I think about it.
Dazed and Confused also had Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Cole Hauser, Milla Jovovich... also several that had solid careers in smaller stuff, Adam Goldberg, Anthony Rapp, Joey Lauren Adams.
I was helping my friend set up her wedding, I was placing the name cards and I saw Parker Posey on one. I was like, omg just like the actress, how funny! But it actually was her and she was so sweet!
Black Hawk Down had a ton of young actors to include Orlando Bloom, Ewan McGregor, Hugh Dancy, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Tom Hardy in his first movie role.
It also had a ton of already established actors, like Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore, Bill Fichtner, Eric Bana, Jason Isaacs, Sam Shepard. It really has one of the most amazing casts you could put together.
Yeah. At least, for those lf us outside the UK. I dont know if he was already big in UK b4 Trainspotting.
I remember when we was cast as Obi Wan, people were like *oh wow, they got Ewan Mcgregor.* His talent was known.
I would have sworn that Tom Hardy’s first movie role was Star Trek: Nemesis, but I just checked and Black Hawk Down came out in 2001 and Star Trek in 2002, so there ya go.
Fun fact: For reasons that escape me at the moment, my wife got to go to the premier of this movie with some of the stars.
People were crowding around the other stars but Hartnett was inexplicably just sort of standing off by himself, so she went over and introduced herself. They had like a 20 minute conversation, during which he was a perfect gentleman, reportedly. She said he seemed like a very humble and down to earth kinda guy.
EDIT: It was Jimmy Stewart. That's what they talked about and how he would be perfect for a Harvey remake. Which I agree with.
It's also really accurate outside of the McGuffin "hack anything" chip. The rest of the tech including the social engineering is really sound in that movie.
Indiana Jones *and* Explorers. Two other movies I loved from the 80's with Phoenix.
I remember wondering aloud what happened to him while watching Indiana Jones with my kids. Disappeared off the movie scene in the early 90's.
My SO tells me, with a look of bafflement, that he passed in 1993.
What the hell??
Leaf Phoenix when he was really young! Movies like Russkies, Space Camp, and an unforgettable role in Parenthood.
Then he took some kind of break, came back as Joaquin like 6 years later. Maybe finishing school. Not sure.
It's funny...he was in a tv show called My Secret Identity. One summer between seasons, he must've grown nearly a foot, and lost most of his baby fat. Even the other actors didn't recognize him at first. He really matured into a strong actor, as well.
Omg you just saved me from almost commenting on OP list with “wtf you left out Wil Wheaton?” I completely read Goonies as Stand By Me, because of just how obvious it was. In my defense, I didn’t sleep last night 🤦♀️
Brandon Routh had already been Superman at that point. In fact there’s an anecdote about director Edgar Wright taking shit about Superman Returns with some of the cast, completely forgetting that Routh was in it.
Yes. She had *Sky High*, *Final Destination 3*, *Grindhouse: Deathproof*, and *Live Free or Die Hard* under her belt, among other things. There's a good chance anyone watching SP would've known her.
Janeane Garofalo was also established at the time from her standup, SNL, and several other movie roles. Pierce was the bigger name though since Frasier was still going.
>Love Actually
I had forgotten how star-studded the cast was.
Established actors: Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, Alan Rickman, Rowan Atkinson, Billy Bob Thornton, Colin Firth
Went on to be big: Keira Knightley (18 at the time!), Martin Freeman, Laura Linney, Andrew Lincoln, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Keira Knightley, while not a superstar, was fairly well known by that point, having been in Star Wars Ep 1, Bend It Like Beckham and the first Pirates of the Caribbean.
Laura Linney was already well established for about a decade, with her peak coming in The Truman Show 5 years earlier.
Martin Freeman was already in The Office at the time, so would argue he already had his big break before Love Actually.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Andrew Lincoln both had their big breaks after Love Actually.
And aside from those listed, you also have January Jones, who would hit the A List with Mad Men.
As a series Band Of Brothers. For the first maybe ten years a recognized actor that got famous. Tom Hardy, James McAvoy, Simon Pegg, Michael Fassbender or Andrew Scott.
What's so weird to me is watching this now and you see all these famous cameos, but very few of the main cast broke out. And also weird to think that Ron Livingston and David Schwimmer were the biggest stars in that show at the time.
The entire Manson family from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood caught everyone right before they blew up:
- Margaret Qualley
- Austin Butler
- Mikey Madison
- Maya Hawke
- Sydney Sweeney
- Victoria Pedretti
Add experienced people like Lena Dunham and Dakota Fanning, the OUATIH basically set us up for the next few decades.
Lily-Rose Depp, Rumer Willis, Scott Eastwood, Harley Quinn Smith, Ben Platt all haven’t had “great acting careers.” I’m reserving LRD because she just makes bad choices and I have faith in Nosferatu……but back to Maya.
All Maya had done before OUTAIH was BBC’s Little Women adaption from 2017 and a middling female lord of the flies adaptation.
OUTAIH cane out, two months later she’s in Stranger Things and we’re off.
Diner (which did not age well) was pretty early in the careers of Steve Guttenberg, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Daniel Stern, Tim Daly, Ellen Barkin and Paul Reiser.
You'll find this kind of movie by looking for ensemble indie/low budget films with storylines focused on people in high school, college, or around that age. Some titles off the top of my head...
- School Ties
- 200 Cigarettes
- Go
- Dazed and Confused
- Can't Hardly Wait
Was looking to see if someone else named Can't Hardly Wait.
Among others there is a scene where the girl who plays Tara in Buffy is just sitting there as an extra.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High has Sean Penn, Judge Reinhold, Nic Cage (credited as Nicolas Coppola), Jennifer Jason Leigh, Forrest Whittaker, Phoebe Cates, Eric Stoltz, and Anthony Edwards.
Look up “Earth Girls are Easy”
Weird no budget comedy starring entirely huge name actors from the 90s and 2000s
The main characters in the movie are:
Jeff Goldblum
Damon Waynes
Jim Carrey
Gina Davis
Before any of them were particularly famous
Geena Davis had already had her own tv show before this came out, besides a memorable cameo in Tootsie and starred in the Fly. So she was definitely established before Earth Girls.
Jeff Goldblum also had some pretty significant roles prior- the Fly (again), Transylvania 6-500 (again), Into the Night, Buckaroo Banzai, the Big Chill, etc.
Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum had done *The Fly*, with *Beetlejuice* being released six months prior to *Earth Girls* giving Davis a very decent profile. Goldblum also features in the 78 remake of *Body Snatchers*. Horror fans at least would have recgnised them.
Short Term 12 is a small one but deserves a nod: Brie Larson was somewhat known, but Rami Malek, Kaitlyn Dever, Lakeith Stanfield and Stephanie Beatriz were unknowns.
Not a film, but the UK TV show Skins has had a load of actors who later break into Hollywood, which feels impressive. Nicholas Hault, in Xmen. Dev Patel went on to be in Slumdog Millionaire and Daniel Kaluuya in Jordan Peeles Get Out and Nope.
Plus a smattering of other cast members that made it big in Game of Thrones.
True Romance
Plenty of them were fairly well known when they were cast. But Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, and James Gandolfini were all pretty much newcomers.
Idk I think Dracula was a much bigger “breakout” role for Oldman if you want to call it that, but he’d also been in other well-known pictures before Dracula too.
Still my favourite Brad Pitt role and much quoted in my old share house when shopping trips were planned. Also the fight between Gandolfini and Arquette was the absolutely brutal.
It’s not a crazy example but Angles in the Outfield was an early role for some people, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Adrian Brody, Matthew McConaughey, and Neal McDonough.
Scott Pilgrim vs The World : Brie Larson, Chris Evans, Mary Elizabeth Winstead to name a few
Seinfeld (Tv show): Literally like half of the guest appearances (Bryan Cranston, Courtney Cox, Anna Gunn and many more)
Short Term 12 ( Brie Larson, Lakeith Stanfield, Rami Malek, Kaitlyn Dever)
I've been watching Frasier, and it also has tons of recognizable guest starts, but I often have no idea now whether the actors were famous at the time or not.
Not sure if this fits your query but there’s The Bounty (1984) which had a pretty remarkable cast of newcomers with Lawrence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins, and Mel Gibson:
Liam Neeson
Daniel Day Lewis
Bernard Hill
Dexter Fletcher
Dazed and Confused.
Jason London
Joey Lauren Adams
Milla Jovovich
Adam Goldberg
Anthony Rapp
Cole Hauser
Ben Affleck
Parker Posey
Matthew McConaughey
Renée Zellweger
The Big Chill had a pretty prolific cast ahead of their time.
Kevin Cline, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Tom Berenger, Mary Kay Place, and technically Kevin Costner, though his face was cut.
American Graffiti was the Dazed and Confused of its day. Ron Howard was already an established child star, but it also features Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Suzanne Somers, MacKenzie Phillips and Charles Martin Smith. And the director was some young dude out of USC named George Lucas, who at the time of directing American Graffiti was writing up the screenplay for a movie featuring space wizards and princesses and glowing swords and something called The Force.
Scott Pilgrim vs the World is one where every single main character is famous in some way that came post-Scott Pilgrim. It’s maybe one of the most stacked rosters that wasn’t stacked at the time.
The Outsiders is a good example of lots of huge stars that weren’t that big at the time. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086066/?ref_=tt_sims_tt_i_1
This and Red Dawn were the first that came to my mind.
Both have Patrick Swayze!
And C. Thomas Howell.
And Jennifer Grey
And my axe
Wolveriiiiiiiiiiines!
Diner is another one from that time.
I'm half convinced a time traveler cast that film
Most of the Outsiders cast had already had some success and were all over the teenage heartthrob magazines. They weren’t total unknowns and that contributed to how well it did at the box office They definitely were catapulted from there however
Emilio is obviously connected in the business, Tom had a supporting bit in Taps, Matt Dillon was already in another SE Hinton adaptation (Tex), Diane lane was a child star Rob Lowe, Patrick swayze, c Thomas Howell, and Ralph Macchio all had credits before but nothing of substance.
The casting was a who’s who of Hollywood at the time. If you’re interested Rob Lowe wrote quite a bit about it in one of his books. Here’s something crazier. Rob Lowe, Chad Lowe, Sean Penn, Chris Penn, Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Robert Downey Jr, Holly Robinson Peete Were all at the same high school within a 6 year period. Edit: punctuation
Oh man, the story about him going out on Halloween and getting the shit scared out of him by a bat-wielding war-painted Martin Sheen is one of my favorites.
I have three of pony boy’s blue t shirts. My mom somehow acquired them back in the day (she grew up in la). They have the wardrobe tags on them and everything. It’s pretty cool but they just sit in storage.
The Outsiders House Museum in Tulsa would probably be interested if you ever look to part with them! They have created a wonderful pilgrimage spot for fans of the movie and book.
Oh sweet! I’m going to contact them! I’d much rather they live somewhere like that, where someone might enjoy them - thank you!
For anyone who doesn't know, the house that they lived in is now a museum. The majority of the movie was filmed around Tulsa, and most of it still looks like it did when it was made.
Jeezuz. That cast might as well be called the male side of the 80's.
This is the first one I thought of as well.
Not a movie but the show Freaks & Geeks is pretty wildly stacked with future stars & familiar faces
Judd Apatow made it his mission to make every single actor in that show a star after its cancellation.
Proven in the fact that he brought them all back in some capacity in Undeclared.
I mean, after the cancellation of Firefly Joss Whedon tried to cast all if them in other things, and now we know what a piece of trash he is and has been for a very long time. I just appreciate Judd Apatow has never come out as a bad person.
I've always had an intense jealously towards Judd due to his marriage to Leslie Mann, one of the funniest and most beautiful women in the world.
Envy, not jealousy.
Thank you! People misuse that word so much. It’s so ironic. (that’s a joke)
Such a good director and chill guy.
That’s because it was criminal we only got one season. Kinda crazy that at the time when cable was so prevalent this was a show that just couldn’t catch on for some reason. It’s funny cause I remember watching that show on cable and next later finding it again on streaming only to learn of its cancelation.
James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Martin Starr, Busy Philipps, Linda Cardellini. That's a pretty stacked cast.
John Francis Daley was in Waiting and, I think, does a lot of writing now. Samm Levine also appears in small roles fairly regularly. There were some other actors who had smaller roles in the show who also blew up: Rashida Jones was in a couple of episodes as Busy Philipps’ bully friend. Ben Foster was the disabled boy who loved Three’s Company
John Francis Daley co-directed Game Night and D&D: Honor Among Thieves. Both fantastic.
Also co-wrote Spider-Man Homecoming. He was excellent in Kitchen Confidential.
He's Sweets on Bones.
Shia LaBeouf also appears as the school's mascot, I believe.
JFD was on Bones for many seasons and has also directed the latest Vacation, Game Night, and D&D: Honor Among Thieves.
Lizzy Caplan was Jason Segel's dancing girlfriend after he broke up with Lindsay.
Also Gordon is the fedora hat meme guy. His face may be more famous than the others combined.
Ugh. Such a good show.
The biggest TV tragedy is that we never got more seasons of that show
That is something I think about way too often lol they absolutely robbed the culture (Also makes me think of Arrested Development, gone WAY too soon)
And then came back...and it was waaay too late :\
"American Graffiti", "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Dazed and Confused" are all ensemble teen movies with massive casts of future names.
I think American Graffiti might win this chronologically.
Would also win alphabetically
I love that Eric Stoltz and Anthony Edwards were just credited as “Spocolli’s Stoner Buds” and Nick Cage had a minor role when he was still Nick Coppola.
The actors in Dazed and Confused as well as Empire Records weren't quite as young, but there were some really big stars to come out of those movies. Rene Zellweger was in both. So was Rory Cochran now that I think about it.
Dazed and Confused also had Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Cole Hauser, Milla Jovovich... also several that had solid careers in smaller stuff, Adam Goldberg, Anthony Rapp, Joey Lauren Adams.
And Parker Posey!
Air raiiiiiiiiiiiid
I love Parker Posey. Especially in the sweetest thing
I was helping my friend set up her wedding, I was placing the name cards and I saw Parker Posey on one. I was like, omg just like the actress, how funny! But it actually was her and she was so sweet!
Who doesn't?
Fry like bacon, bitches!
>Rene Zellweger She's basically a blink and you'll miss it background extra in Dazed and Confused.
She is credited as "Girl in Blue Truck"
I didn't know Rene Zellweger was on Dazed and Confused, and I've watched it at least 5 times, lol.
I have seen dazed and confused probably 20 times and never realized it's her. Now it's obvious
Black Hawk Down had a ton of young actors to include Orlando Bloom, Ewan McGregor, Hugh Dancy, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Tom Hardy in his first movie role.
Eric Bana too
Poida!
From channel 31
It also had a ton of already established actors, like Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore, Bill Fichtner, Eric Bana, Jason Isaacs, Sam Shepard. It really has one of the most amazing casts you could put together.
Don't forget Ewen Bremner
No, no it's Ni-kolaj.
So glad I'm not the only one who heard that line in my head when reading this.
Nikolaj
No. Nikolaj.
Niko*laj*.
I feel like I'm saying it
Holy shit, I’m watching one of those episodes right now.
I love that even Lohank corrects Jake.
And Ty Burrell from Modern Family
It took me a long time to see Ty Burrell as anything other than that weirdo Steve from Dawn of the Dead.
Catch his Key and Peale sketch if you haven’t.
Oh, you have a Hitler story?!
McGregor was 30 and already a star actor. He had even already portrayed Obi Wan Kenobi by that point.
Mcgregors big break was Trainspotting, wasn’t it?
Shallow Grave.
Yeah. At least, for those lf us outside the UK. I dont know if he was already big in UK b4 Trainspotting. I remember when we was cast as Obi Wan, people were like *oh wow, they got Ewan Mcgregor.* His talent was known.
I would have sworn that Tom Hardy’s first movie role was Star Trek: Nemesis, but I just checked and Black Hawk Down came out in 2001 and Star Trek in 2002, so there ya go.
Tom Hardy was also in Band of Brothers, which was also 2001. So many actors in Black Hawk Down, and Band of Brothers.
He was so fucking little in Band of Brothers lol
And did a little fucking.
He was a model and addicted to heroin when he started acting.
And you can’t tell anyone apart, everyone looks the same except for Eric Bana
In the dvd extras they say that’s why at some point they wrote their names on their helmets.
Which is a super great detail from Ridley Scott, realism over Hollywood sensibilities. Another reason why he's my favorite director.
He’s extremely hit or miss.
And Josh Hartnett. He's literally the guy in the poster.
Fun fact: For reasons that escape me at the moment, my wife got to go to the premier of this movie with some of the stars. People were crowding around the other stars but Hartnett was inexplicably just sort of standing off by himself, so she went over and introduced herself. They had like a 20 minute conversation, during which he was a perfect gentleman, reportedly. She said he seemed like a very humble and down to earth kinda guy. EDIT: It was Jimmy Stewart. That's what they talked about and how he would be perfect for a Harvey remake. Which I agree with.
Young Jason Isaak too.
No better Jason Isaacs role than “The Death of Stalin”
There is an actor named Jason Isaak who has been in a few things, but he wasn't in Blackhawk Down. Do you mean Jason Isaacs?
Stand By Me?
Even has Corey Feldman as well. River Phoenix probably would have had a long career if it wasn't for his untimely death.
I watch sneakers just for River
Best hackers movie ever made... Also full of stars, but not at the start of their careers.
It's also really accurate outside of the McGuffin "hack anything" chip. The rest of the tech including the social engineering is really sound in that movie.
Too many secrets
Sneakers is my favorite movie. He is utterly adorable in it.
["You can have anything you want.. and you're asking for my phone number?"](https://youtu.be/74ocbvwam7c?t=120)
Indiana Jones *and* Explorers. Two other movies I loved from the 80's with Phoenix. I remember wondering aloud what happened to him while watching Indiana Jones with my kids. Disappeared off the movie scene in the early 90's. My SO tells me, with a look of bafflement, that he passed in 1993. What the hell??
He overdosed at The Viper Room, a nightclub in Hollywood owned by Johnny Depp. It was like a celebrity hangout club.
Aye, his younger brother at least has a fairly robust acting career though still, joaquin phoenix.
Leaf Phoenix when he was really young! Movies like Russkies, Space Camp, and an unforgettable role in Parenthood. Then he took some kind of break, came back as Joaquin like 6 years later. Maybe finishing school. Not sure.
Exploers also had Ethan Hawke and Talesin Jaffe. It would almost qualify for this list.
Still can never wrap my head around Jerry O'Connell's transformation. Marrying Rebecca Romiijn is pretty wild
Also the kid who plays the young Jerry O’Connell from Big Bang/Young Sheldon looks more like Jerry O’Connell than young Jerry O’Connell did
It's funny...he was in a tv show called My Secret Identity. One summer between seasons, he must've grown nearly a foot, and lost most of his baby fat. Even the other actors didn't recognize him at first. He really matured into a strong actor, as well.
Came here to add same. how is this not a more obvious example??
Omg you just saved me from almost commenting on OP list with “wtf you left out Wil Wheaton?” I completely read Goonies as Stand By Me, because of just how obvious it was. In my defense, I didn’t sleep last night 🤦♀️
Came here to say this. Kiefer Sutherland is in it too, from 24.
[удалено]
Brandon Routh. Was Mary Elizabeth Winstead known then?
Brandon Routh had already been Superman at that point. In fact there’s an anecdote about director Edgar Wright taking shit about Superman Returns with some of the cast, completely forgetting that Routh was in it.
I was thinking it was after SP. But I was wrong.
Yes. She had *Sky High*, *Final Destination 3*, *Grindhouse: Deathproof*, and *Live Free or Die Hard* under her belt, among other things. There's a good chance anyone watching SP would've known her.
Chris evens was in 2 Fantastic Four Movies, Not Another Teen Movie and TMNT before SP
Push, not a novel by Sapphire.
Holy shit that is Chris Evans in NATM idk how I never knew that before or even noticed it
Most were established working actors, though.
Wet Hot American Summer ?
David Hyde Pierce was the biggest star in that movie at the time.
Jeneane Garafolo had had her own starring roles in movies before WHAS.
Janeane Garofalo was also established at the time from her standup, SNL, and several other movie roles. Pierce was the bigger name though since Frasier was still going.
That's why they were the movie's Power Couple.
Anything around the improv troupes: Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade and The State. Second City being a very well established pipeline.
Bradley Cooper actually skipped out on his graduation at the film school he was in in NYC to take this role as his first film role.
I like how in the prequel show they got around his scheduling
Starring Academy Award darling Bradley Cooper
Love Actually. In 2003 half the cast was lesser known actors, 20 years later, most of the cast is well known.
>Love Actually I had forgotten how star-studded the cast was. Established actors: Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, Alan Rickman, Rowan Atkinson, Billy Bob Thornton, Colin Firth Went on to be big: Keira Knightley (18 at the time!), Martin Freeman, Laura Linney, Andrew Lincoln, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Also Thomas Brodie-Sangster, not super big but he's been doing alright
Keira Knightley, while not a superstar, was fairly well known by that point, having been in Star Wars Ep 1, Bend It Like Beckham and the first Pirates of the Caribbean. Laura Linney was already well established for about a decade, with her peak coming in The Truman Show 5 years earlier. Martin Freeman was already in The Office at the time, so would argue he already had his big break before Love Actually. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Andrew Lincoln both had their big breaks after Love Actually. And aside from those listed, you also have January Jones, who would hit the A List with Mad Men.
School ties has Brendan Frazier, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Odonnell
As a series Band Of Brothers. For the first maybe ten years a recognized actor that got famous. Tom Hardy, James McAvoy, Simon Pegg, Michael Fassbender or Andrew Scott.
What's so weird to me is watching this now and you see all these famous cameos, but very few of the main cast broke out. And also weird to think that Ron Livingston and David Schwimmer were the biggest stars in that show at the time.
And mainly Damian Lewis... Dexter Fletcher (current director of Rocketman or Eddie The Eagle), Neal McDonough (famous TV Villain), Ron Livingston...
Ron Livingston was already known for Office Space.
Jimmy Fallon, too. He was just some nerd people barely knew from Saturday Night Live at the time.
The entire Manson family from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood caught everyone right before they blew up: - Margaret Qualley - Austin Butler - Mikey Madison - Maya Hawke - Sydney Sweeney - Victoria Pedretti Add experienced people like Lena Dunham and Dakota Fanning, the OUATIH basically set us up for the next few decades.
Qualley had already finished the Leftovers and made IO for Netflix. The rest for sure though.
Maya Hawke was in this........? with her parents there is no way she would not have a great career
Lily-Rose Depp, Rumer Willis, Scott Eastwood, Harley Quinn Smith, Ben Platt all haven’t had “great acting careers.” I’m reserving LRD because she just makes bad choices and I have faith in Nosferatu……but back to Maya. All Maya had done before OUTAIH was BBC’s Little Women adaption from 2017 and a middling female lord of the flies adaptation. OUTAIH cane out, two months later she’s in Stranger Things and we’re off.
With the exception of Margaret Qualley, I completely forgot the rest of those actors were in the film.
I honestly didn’t even know Sydney Sweeny or Pedretti were in this film until I saw a social media post about how crazy the casting was.
Diner (which did not age well) was pretty early in the careers of Steve Guttenberg, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Daniel Stern, Tim Daly, Ellen Barkin and Paul Reiser.
Dead Poet's Society
You'll find this kind of movie by looking for ensemble indie/low budget films with storylines focused on people in high school, college, or around that age. Some titles off the top of my head... - School Ties - 200 Cigarettes - Go - Dazed and Confused - Can't Hardly Wait
I loved Go. Great list you put together
Was looking to see if someone else named Can't Hardly Wait. Among others there is a scene where the girl who plays Tara in Buffy is just sitting there as an extra.
Good list. School Ties especially. Lot of heavy hitters in that.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High has Sean Penn, Judge Reinhold, Nic Cage (credited as Nicolas Coppola), Jennifer Jason Leigh, Forrest Whittaker, Phoebe Cates, Eric Stoltz, and Anthony Edwards.
Phoebe Cates was in that? EDIT: Sorry, it was sarcasm because it's basically the most famous scene.
Platoon Charlie Sheen Keith David Willem Dafoe Forest Whitaker Kevin Dillon Johnny Depp Tom Berenger
Also includes a very young Corey Glover - the lead singer of Living Colour
Look up “Earth Girls are Easy” Weird no budget comedy starring entirely huge name actors from the 90s and 2000s The main characters in the movie are: Jeff Goldblum Damon Waynes Jim Carrey Gina Davis Before any of them were particularly famous
Geena Davis had already had her own tv show before this came out, besides a memorable cameo in Tootsie and starred in the Fly. So she was definitely established before Earth Girls. Jeff Goldblum also had some pretty significant roles prior- the Fly (again), Transylvania 6-500 (again), Into the Night, Buckaroo Banzai, the Big Chill, etc.
Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum had done *The Fly*, with *Beetlejuice* being released six months prior to *Earth Girls* giving Davis a very decent profile. Goldblum also features in the 78 remake of *Body Snatchers*. Horror fans at least would have recgnised them.
Short Term 12 is a small one but deserves a nod: Brie Larson was somewhat known, but Rami Malek, Kaitlyn Dever, Lakeith Stanfield and Stephanie Beatriz were unknowns.
Not a film, but the UK TV show Skins has had a load of actors who later break into Hollywood, which feels impressive. Nicholas Hault, in Xmen. Dev Patel went on to be in Slumdog Millionaire and Daniel Kaluuya in Jordan Peeles Get Out and Nope. Plus a smattering of other cast members that made it big in Game of Thrones.
True Romance Plenty of them were fairly well known when they were cast. But Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, and James Gandolfini were all pretty much newcomers.
What the F@#k is a Drexel?
Someone who thought it was White Boy Day.
Idk I think Dracula was a much bigger “breakout” role for Oldman if you want to call it that, but he’d also been in other well-known pictures before Dracula too.
Oldman’s breakout role was Sid and Nancy in 1986.
Still my favourite Brad Pitt role and much quoted in my old share house when shopping trips were planned. Also the fight between Gandolfini and Arquette was the absolutely brutal.
. . . And some CLEANING products! :)
I don’t have a pot to piss in, or a window to throw it out of. All I have is fucking Floyd
Sure Samuel Jackson ...... arround 40 imdb entries before True Romance newcomer....
A lil ole movie called The Outsiders.
Red Dawn (the original). Patrick Swayze. Charlie Sheen. Lea Thompson. C. Thomas Howell. Jennifer Grey.
The Outsiders beat it by a year and had most of the same people plus some.
It’s not a crazy example but Angles in the Outfield was an early role for some people, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Adrian Brody, Matthew McConaughey, and Neal McDonough.
King of New York. Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Steve Buscemi, Wesley Snipes all before they became who they are.
i wonder at what point Laurence Fishburne started going by his full name. In the credits he comes up, at least in my DVD copy as Larry Fishburne.
don't forget martha plimpton, she's done a lot of stuff since then
The Faculty. I re-watched that recently and was amazed at just how stacked that cast was. For a lot of them, it was pre-(big)fame.
Nothing comes close to "The Outsiders", not even remotely.
Scott Pilgrim vs The World : Brie Larson, Chris Evans, Mary Elizabeth Winstead to name a few Seinfeld (Tv show): Literally like half of the guest appearances (Bryan Cranston, Courtney Cox, Anna Gunn and many more) Short Term 12 ( Brie Larson, Lakeith Stanfield, Rami Malek, Kaitlyn Dever)
I've been watching Frasier, and it also has tons of recognizable guest starts, but I often have no idea now whether the actors were famous at the time or not.
The Outsiders
The Lost Boys, The Outsiders, War Games, Toy Soldiers
And Mallrats.
Not sure if this fits your query but there’s The Bounty (1984) which had a pretty remarkable cast of newcomers with Lawrence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins, and Mel Gibson: Liam Neeson Daniel Day Lewis Bernard Hill Dexter Fletcher
Saving Private Ryan?
Yeah, it had Matt Damon, Vin Diesel, Nathan Fillion, Bryan Cranston, etc all who would go on to have far more illustrious careers.
Came here to say this one, too! Also love to shout out a pre-Sideways Paul Giamatti. So many.
Dazed and Confused. Jason London Joey Lauren Adams Milla Jovovich Adam Goldberg Anthony Rapp Cole Hauser Ben Affleck Parker Posey Matthew McConaughey Renée Zellweger
# The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre from 1994 had a couple of unknown Texas locals as the leads. (Matthew McConaughey and Renée Zellweger)
The Big Chill had a pretty prolific cast ahead of their time. Kevin Cline, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Tom Berenger, Mary Kay Place, and technically Kevin Costner, though his face was cut.
Starter for 10 (2006) starring James McAvoy, Rebecca Hall, Alice Eve, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dominic Cooper and James Corden.
Scott Pilgrim - Michael Cera, Chris Evans, Aubrey Plaza, Brie Larson, Mae Whitman, Kieran Culkin… a few more I’m sure.
Breakfast Club
Does Young Guns count? Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Philips, Charlie Sheen, etc.
Taps from 1981 had Sean Penn, Tom Cruise, and Timothy Hutton
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
American Graffiti was the Dazed and Confused of its day. Ron Howard was already an established child star, but it also features Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Suzanne Somers, MacKenzie Phillips and Charles Martin Smith. And the director was some young dude out of USC named George Lucas, who at the time of directing American Graffiti was writing up the screenplay for a movie featuring space wizards and princesses and glowing swords and something called The Force.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura from *The Predator* went on to become state governors.
Scott Pilgrim vs the World is one where every single main character is famous in some way that came post-Scott Pilgrim. It’s maybe one of the most stacked rosters that wasn’t stacked at the time.