Yesterday, my daughter was looking at imdb and noticed that Alexis Denisof (Westley Wyndam-Price on Buffy and Angel, in case you're wondering) had a role in First Knight. He played "Sir Gaheris". As it happens, I own First Knight on DVD (I don't remember why or how ), so we watched the movie, fast forwarding through all the scenes with only Sean Connery, Julia Ormond and Richard Gere. In the rare instances that we saw "Westley", we'd pause, rewind and watch again.
He has only one line (He says "Brother to brother" to Launcelot after he's knighted) and we say him maybe 7-8 times in all. He has one moderate close up in the big fight scene at the end.
I always like to watch old movies that have today's "big stars" (not that I'm under any illusion that A.D. is a big star, but we like Westley) in itty bitty parts...
Know of any other movies where popular actors of today were only starting out?
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This term, I've developed a love for Hong Kong movies. When growing up, I was exposed mostly to either dull Chinese historical soap operas or mass produced sitcom style shows. Additionally, there are no real good legitimate sources of Hong Kong movies in Canada so that was a whole cinematic area closed to me.
Anyways, recently I got interested and decided to bite the bullet and puruse some of those less legitimate sources. The result has been pretty fun for me.
I've been tracing the career of Stephen Chow mostly going backwards, also branching out into John Woo, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li focusing on films that they made before they went Hollywood and it has been really interesting, both for refreshing my Cantonese and because these people made much better films in Hong Kong than they did later in Hollywood.
Stephen Chow is particularly fun because there are often repeated actors, call-backs, or references to previous films placed liberally throughout his films. I must have watched at least 15 of his movies by now...
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Edit--never mind. I thought it would be funny, but instead it was just kind of stupid. They can't all be funny.
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Crimson Tide has Viggo Mortenson in a relatively small yet crucial and brilliantly acted role as the weapons officer aboard the Alabama.
His scenes are amazing, particularly when he manages to hold his own between two very powerful actors like Gene Hackman (who is not a hack-man in the slightest!) and Denzel Washington.
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Masi Oka was in a lot of things that when rewatching I was caught by: Sabrina, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Scrubs, and Along Came Polly to name a few.
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David Krumholtz (who plays Charlie Eppes on Numb3rs and was also Mr. Universe in Serenity) was Bertram, the head elf in The Santa Clause. How geeky is it that I noticed that while watching The Santa Clause last year?
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There was an episode of 'Unsolved Mysteries' where Matthew McConaughey plays a guy who gets killed.
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quote:Originally posted by JonHecht: Masi Oka was in a lot of things that when rewatching I was caught by: Sabrina, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Scrubs, and Along Came Polly to name a few.
He was also in an old episode of Gilmore Girls. I did a HUGE double take when I was watching.
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quote:Originally posted by BandoCommando: Crimson Tide has Viggo Mortenson in a relatively small yet crucial and brilliantly acted role as the weapons officer aboard the Alabama.
His scenes are amazing, particularly when he manages to hold his own between two very powerful actors like Gene Hackman (who is not a hack-man in the slightest!) and Denzel Washington.
I absolutely agree. He had a bigger role in GI Jane that was just as well acted imo. So well, that you forget he did it.
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I became a fan of Hugh Laurie from the House TV series. And then I found out that he played the grumpy Mr. Palmer in Sense and Sensibility, and it was really hilarious to see. I did watch only the bits he was in in that movie just to see him and compare his acting.
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He was in 101 Dalmations, too. I did quite a double-take when I was watching that the other week.
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quote:Originally posted by stihl1: I absolutely agree. He had a bigger role in GI Jane that was just as well acted imo. So well, that you forget he did it.
Oh totally. I was cable surfing and ran across that movie and thought, "Is that...? I didn't know he was in... No, that can't be... Is it...?"
It was pretty amazing. He is one of the most underrated actors ever.
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Don't forget that Hugh Laurie was also that irritated airplane passenger when what's-her-face Jennifer Aniston's character flew to England for Ross's wedding.
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Great Scott, Jeeves! Let's not forget Hugh Laurie as Bertram Wooster of Jeeves and Wooster fame with Stephen Fry (you may have heard his voice on the Harry Potter audio book recordings or as the narrator of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or...well, here, have a look at his resume) along with spots in Blackadder and soooo much more. Laurie's a fantastic singer, and I'm pretty sure he does the piano-playing in J&W, too. Does he ever sing on House? I've only seen one episode, and I was disappointed by it.
quote:Originally posted by dean: I became a fan of Hugh Laurie from the House TV series. And then I found out that he played the grumpy Mr. Palmer in Sense and Sensibility, and it was really hilarious to see. I did watch only the bits he was in in that movie just to see him and compare his acting.
That's ALL you watched of Sense and Sensibility?
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Re: Dean and Quidscribis: But in both of those cases, Hugh Laurie was still, well, Hugh Laurie, wasn't he? I mean, not well-known in America, perhaps, but I believe Fry and Laurie had achieved a significant level of fame in England before Laurie's appearance on Friends or Sense and Sensibility.
Not to diminish either of your sightings. Ignorant American that I am, I didn't learn about Hugh Laurie until House, so I don't recall either of those sightings. Clearly, I have re-watching to do.
On Topic: Umm, I think it's pretty well known, but Johnny Depp has a two-bit part in Nightmare on Elm Street. He gets eaten by a bed.
And William Shatner did some really cheesy commercials for some travel website. I guess he had to pay his dues before he made it big with the Kirk role.
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quote:And William Shatner did some really cheesy commercials for some travel website.
He also recently did a World of Warcraft commercial. Is there anything Shatner won't do? I wish I could throw personal pride out the window like he does...
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Shatner was also in a couple of episodes of Twilight Zone, and at least one episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
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quote:And William Shatner did some really cheesy commercials for some travel website.
He also recently did a World of Warcraft commercial. Is there anything Shatner won't do? I wish I could throw personal pride out the window like he does...
To be fair, you probably haven't faced the same monetary temptation to do so.
On an unrelated note, the Mr.T WoW add is great. Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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quote:And William Shatner did some really cheesy commercials for some travel website. I guess he had to pay his dues before he made it big with the Kirk role.
I thought William Shatner did his cheesy commercials long after his Kirk role...Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet Posts: 1132 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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quote:Originally posted by Javert Hugo: The Outsiders
Good one JH. That's the one I would think of first.
Edit: BTW, the drive up diner in the movie where the Sosh (sp) talkes to Pony Boy before the big rumble is just down the street from my house. Actually, it's not there anymore and they are putting in a gas station.
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We were watching The X-Files last night and saw Jewel Staite. A very young Jewel Staite. What does it say that I not only recognized her and looked for her name in the guest credits, but thought immediately of this thread? Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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geek I would never.....well not more than all the time anyways. My one saving grace is that my recognition of a star in an early role is often a mistaken one.
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quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: David Krumholtz (who plays Charlie Eppes on Numb3rs and was also Mr. Universe in Serenity) was Bertram, the head elf in The Santa Clause. How geeky is it that I noticed that while watching The Santa Clause last year?
Go back further than that, he tried to kill Carter on ER!
And I LOVE the Mr. T WoW commercial. I laugh hystericall whenever it comes on. Shatner IS funny I think, but, not when he's playing himself in commercials. I love the bit parts he has on tv shows and movies. He's always the most out there character there is. I'd say he's one of the greater comedy actors that never was but, watching over the three seasons of ST:TOS, I think he IS one of the better comedy actors. I'm just not sure how much of it is on purpose and how much is him seriously acting but failing hysterically.
Still, for as much of a tool as he is, I think he's awesome.
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I was watching Secondhand Lions on tv and was happy to realize that young Hub was Lindsey from Angel and the traveling salesman was Nathan Petrelli.
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I've been working my way through the first season of West Wing and so far I've seen a number of actors there in small parts that I recognise for other things.
The one I remember most in particular was the Mayor from Buffy playing the Secretary of Agriculture who has to stay in the White House during the State of the Union in first season.
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quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: David Krumholtz (who plays Charlie Eppes on Numb3rs and was also Mr. Universe in Serenity) was Bertram, the head elf in The Santa Clause. How geeky is it that I noticed that while watching The Santa Clause last year?
Go back further than that, he tried to kill Carter on ER!
And if you go back, way back, I think he's in The Addams Family Values at camp with Christina Ricci! He played such a great dark geeky kid!
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Not a big star (because I don't even know his name), but I'm pretty sure the ADA on Criminal Intent was the navigation officer on Hunt for Red October. Drove me crazy every time I saw him on TV, wondering why I recognized him, until I heard his quiet voice saying "Cr-aaazy Ivan" in my head.*
*Now don't be asking what the other voices in my head are saying!
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omg I just realized... I'm only three degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon.....
I am the daughter of my father. My father played football in HS with John Belushi Belushi was in Animal House with Kevin Bacon
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Tony Shaloub played the "engineer" in the 1999 release, Galaxyquest, which starred Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver. Shaloub later achieved fame as Adrian Monk, "the defective detective" (obsessive-compulsive), on the USA network's very popular Monk. Also, Alan Rickman played the "alien science officer" in Galaxyquest. A couple of years later he played Severus Snape in the first "Harry Potter" movie (released in 2002), a role he has owned ever since, through all four subsequent sequels.
As for Zooey Deschanel, the situation is opposite; I do not remember her earlier films. I did not really notice her until the recent TV miniseries, Tinman, but then I checked and realized she was the hot music teacher in Bridge to Terabithia, she played Trillian in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, she had a role as a blonde in Elf, and when I finally checked her filmography, I discovered she has been in dozens of films. She is the younger sister of Emily Deschanel, who plays the forensic anthropologist, Temperance Brennan, on Bones. Emily has a long filmography, too. Did anyone notice either Zooey or Emily in past movies first?
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How about Stand By Me? It was the first major role for Jerry O'Connell, Kiefer Sutherland, River Phoenix among others...
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quote:Originally posted by krynn: the great western movie Silverado. that cast has loads of ppl who later became really famous.
What an amazing movie. It's one of my favorite westerns of all time (the first, of course, being Tombstone, which also has a lot of awesome actors, although not necessarily starting out)
The one that I always think of is Dr. Stragelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. James Earl Jones is a random fighter pilot that's in the movie for about 10 seconds. But I think it was actually his first role, which is a great way to start a career.
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Ken Marshall (guest spots in JAG and DS9 among others) Freddie Jones (Dune, Count of Monte Cristo) Francesca Annis (Dune also) Alun Armstrong (Patriot Games, Black Beauty, Mummy Returns, Van Helsing, Millions, Eragon)
Ok, granted, these aren't household names, but they've still been in a lot of stuff that I've seen (I didn't list it all for brevity's sake, of course ). But then there are these other names:
Liam Neeson Robbie Coltrane
I think most everyone here will recognize those 2. . . .
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![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
), so we watched the movie, fast forwarding through all the scenes with only Sean Connery, Julia Ormond and Richard Gere. In the rare instances that we saw "Westley", we'd pause, rewind and watch again. 
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
That's ALL you watched of Sense and Sensibility?
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Blushing]](graemlins/blushing.gif)
![[Laugh]](graemlins/laugh.gif)
geek ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
). But then there are these other names:
