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moviesThere are examples I can recall, but not are all obvious at first unless you knew prior:
- Channing Tatum in War of the Worlds (starring Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning) as “boy at church” (uncredited)
- Sylvester Stallone in Klute (starring Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland) as “disco dancer” (uncredited)
- Megan Fox in Bad Boys II (starring Martin Lawrence, Will Smith) as “dancer in club” (uncredited)
- Vin Diesel in Awakenings (starring Robin Williams, Robert De Niro) as “hospital porter” (uncredited)
- Brad Pitt in No Way Out (starring Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman) as “party guest” (uncredited)
- Michael Biehn in Grease (starring John Travolta, Oliva Newton-John) as "school athlete" (uncredited)
- Gerard Butler in Tomorrow Never Dies (starring Pierce Brosnan, Michelle Yeoh) as “crewman” (uncredited)
They are not mentioned on the end credits, so you wouldn't really know unless you either know which scene they appear due to their screen time being that brief or knew how old they were upon the films release anticipating they're younger back then. I mean, have you seen movies where an actor you recognize began their career as a extra before they achieved stardom?
2 more for Pitt. Thelma and Louise. True Romance.
Jonah Hill in I Heart Huckabees.
Elijah Wood is in Back to the Future 2 as one of the children playing an arcade game at the throwback cafe
He had a line tho, so not an extra
BTTF2 is literally my favorite movie of all time. How did I not know this?!
Wasn't he the kid that said "You have to use your hands!?"
Which makes it even more ridiculous considering I just quoted that line here on Lemmy yesterday!
With the transparent green hat!
Zombies of the Stratosphere is a cheesy 1952 sci-fi movie starring a young Leonard Nimoy as a Martian henchman.
Matt Berry in The Devil's Chair.
Just the other day we bought the DVD on a whim because it looked like a stupid movie and it was only 1€. We started watching with no expectations and were delighted when Matt appeared out of nowhere in a supporting role because we hadn't even bothered looking at the cast, expecting the usual complete no-names.
Movie was fucking atrocious btw and mostly not in a fun way, very much up its own arse, and Matt didn't even do the thing. Although he clearly chose his own wardrobe.
Jeff Goldblum's first film role was an extra in Annie Hall starring Woody Allen and Diane Keaton. In a scene towards the end of the film, Allen's character is at a house party in the Hollywood hills, complaining to Keaton's character that everyone in LA is phony, braindead, and performatively spiritual. As he finishes his tirade, the film puts a button on his point by panning over to Jeff Goldblum. He's at this party, holding a phone to his hear and telling (presumably) his spiritual advisor, "I forgot my mantra!"
Such a dumb punchline, but it's lived rent-free in my head for decades now.
Sigourney Weaver too, right at the end of the movie.
What happened to the post two weeks ago that was exactly this?
Not a movie, but a TV commercial.
Jack Black starred in an ad for Pitfall on the Atari 2600 when he was a kid.
Clint Eastwood in Revenge of the Creature, which was viewed in season 8 of Mystery Science Theater.
Vin diesel in saving private ryan, small role but part of Tom Hanks squad
Orlando bloom was cast in the lord of the rings prior to fame, but became quite famous before lord of the rings release with black hawk down
Lordy.. just look at most of the cast of Black Hawk Down.
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
- Ewan Mcgregor
- Tom Hardy
- Kim Coates
- Ioan Gruffudd
- Ty Burrell
Jason Statham had his first speaking role in Collateral starring Tom Cruise. He plays a guy who bumps into Tom in the air port right at the beginning and they apologise to each other, and he plays no further part in the film. I think he may actually get the first line in the film but I'm not sure. Also he had hair then. (also he was an Olympic swimmer/diver before that)
Statham already had an action franchise by the time Collateral was made. He was a Commonwealth Games diver, not an Olympian.
Lock, Stock was 1998, The Transporter 2002, Collateral 2004 though? Maybe I'm missing something.
I thought it was Guy Ritchie's Lock Stock? Or was that first main character role?
Yeah, Statham had several roles of various sizes under his belt by the time Collateral was coming out. The Transporter came out in 2002, so he had already been the face of an action franchise by that point, not to mention his prior work with Ritchie.
Not even going to mention the Shamen music video?
Seth Rogan as a featured extra as the student who asks Gretchen "didn't your mom stab your dad?" in Donny Darko. IDK if he had been in anything before that.
Donnie Darko starred Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore but Seth Rogen was mentioned in the credits.
Not exactly what you asked for but Simu Liu modeled for stock photos before becoming famous.
Jack Nicholson has a small role as the masochistic dentist patient in the original Little Shop of Horrors. He's prominently featured on the DVD cover despite only having a small role because he's the only actor of that project who got famous.
It's awesome seeing him in a role where he doesn't play in his usual Jack Nicholson way.
original Little Shop of Horrors
TIL there was a 1960 movie, on which the 1982 musical was loosely based, on which the 1986 movie was based (that final point I knew).
Not knowing about the 1960 movie, I'm thinking Nicholson was already super famous by 1986.
David Dastmalchain. He was an extra for many years before his breakout small role in Nolan's second Batman movie as one of Joker's goons.
I even remember pausing the scene (because he is so good) on one viewing to look him up and saw it was his first role listed on IMDB. (He has since been credited for a few tiny roles prior.)
Now he's in a ton of movies and has Grave Conversations on YouTube where celebrities are interviewed in caskets.
A small but memorable role in Bladerunner 2049, been spotting him everywhere since!
There's no such thing as a small part. He took that to heart and his career has taken off!
And yet this is the first time I hear your name, David Dastmalchain.
If you have seen The Dark Knight, you might remember the scene. Harvey is confronting him after Rachel was taken and Batman intervenes.
David Dastmalchain is the Joker goon who panics and insists he knows nothing. Just in that one little moment he impressed me.
Nick Offerman is in City of Angels, though you'd be forgiven for missing him without his magnificent 'tache.
Jackie Chan was a random henchman that Bruce Lee knocked out in Enter the Dragon.
And that's because the first guy that got knocked out got hurt and they called for a volunteer
Javier Bardem in Tacones Lejanos (high Heels) from Pedro Almodóvar. He's just a PA in a news program, and have just one line.
Cool thing to think about, I don’t know any though, ha, your list is cool.
I'm just going to assume nearly every studio movie that includes extras since every famous actor/actress I can think of mentions that their first appearance in a movie was as an extra or were uncredited. It is a way to get their foot in the door.
It makes watching older movies fun when you see someone recognizable in the background!
(removed comment because oops, it was supposed to be an extra)
