When you look at the filmographies of many leading or popular actors, you'll see their beginning bit-part movies, too. Denzel Washington was an uncredited mugger in Death Wish. Robert Patrick was in the Mad Max rip-off Equalizer 2000. Jean-Claude Van Damme can be seen in the background in one of those Breakin' movies. I even remember Kelly Hu looking like a schoolgirl, being thrown about by Jason in a Friday The 13th movie.
Who are some of your favourite actors that made it, or what obscure and possibly embarrassing movies lurk in the past of some who later became stars?
And another, harder question: who do you see in bit parts now that you think or hope will make it?
Though she made her acting debut in Rich and Famous (1981), people usually remember Meg Ryan from Amityville 3-D (1983). Her second feature.
Christopher McDonald was in quite a few B-movies throughout the '80's before he became an A-list actor in the '90's. His first feature movie was The Hearse (1980).
Blink and you'll miss:
Holly Hunter in The Burning (1981).
Marisa Tomei in The Toxic Avenger (1984).
Charlize Theron in Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995).
Jennifer Aniston- Leprechaun
Jason Alexander- The Burning
Tom Hanks- Bachelor Party
Leighton Meester- Drive Thru
Nina Dobrev- American Mall
Minka Kelly- The Pumpkin Carver
Jack Nicholson- The Terror
Tom Baker -Vault of Horror
David Hasslehoff- Revenge of Cheerleaders (not that he could be proud of his recent efforts either).
Yes, I know most of these are starring roles and not bit parts, but they are probably embarrassing when these actors look back on them.
I want to see Crystal Lowe become a big star because the girl has been topless in almost everything I've seen her in. She's a good actress, I mean she's putting in the effort. Yeah, she has a nice body, but I'd hate to see her end up a always being a b lister because of that. The only movie I've seen her in where she didn't get undressed is "Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon." That movie was so bad that I commend her for just showing up.
Quote from: 66Crush on May 28, 2012, 04:33:00 AM
Tom Hanks- Bachelor Party
I'll raise the bar with
Tom Hanks- He Knows You're Alone (1980) :thumbup:
Well, Morgan Freeman began his career as "Easy Reader" on "The Electric Company" which is pretty embarassing today if you look for it on youtube.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation for Matthew McConaughey and Renee Zellweger. This, mind you, is the Texas Chainsaw Massacre film that dealt with psychos with robotic legs (played by Matthew McConaughey) ordering take-out pizza and taking orders from The Illuminati.
Demi Moore in PARASITE (1982)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-IjsMYRm3M
I saw this in the theater in 3-D! It gave me such a clanging migraine headache I threw up my popcorn and nachos in the parking lot and my buddy (who didn't have his license yet) had to drive us home.
Good times!
While Robert Englund's role in Galaxy of Terror would be strangely prophetic, my all time favorite has to be the elevator scene in St. Ives.
leonardo dicaprio in CRITTERS 3
kevin bacon in FRIDAY THE 13TH
bill cosby in LEONARD PART 6
nicolas cage in VAMPIRE'S KISS
elizabeth moss in MIDNIGHT'S CHILD
johnny depp in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET & FREDDY'S DEAD : THE FINAL NIGHTMARE
katherine heigl in BRIDE OF CHUCKY
susan sarandon in THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
julia roberts in MARY REILLY , HOOK , FLATLINERS
keifer sutherland in THE LOST BOYS
these movies are some of the best movies of their careers!
George Clooney in Return Of The Killer Tomatoes and Return to Horror High, although I think his part in ROTKT was him at his funniest and I really like him in it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Md9lCfO-lo
Originally named A PARTY AT KITTY AND STUDS, renamed THE ITALIAN STALLION and re-released after ROCKY made Sly a household name.
Fisher Stevens (Short Circuit 1&2) gets his fingers cut off in THE BURNING.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra7iJna4MxU
Clint Eastwood as a lab assistant in REVENGE OF THE CREATURE.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_E7slTvxJYd4/S1Gv5NYfnjI/AAAAAAAAABA/OJsLxzBAl-g/s320/clintrevenge.jpg)
Quote from: claws on May 28, 2012, 05:25:14 AM
Quote from: 66Crush on May 28, 2012, 04:33:00 AM
Tom Hanks- Bachelor Party
I'll raise the bar with
Tom Hanks- He Knows You're Alone (1980) :thumbup:
I was going to mention that one at first, but I haven't seen it yet and didn't want to pass judgement on it. But I do remember him saying that he made "Splash" before "Bachelor Party" but it didn't get released until after. He also said if he knew "Splash" was going to be a hit that he never would have made "Bachelor Party." So I knew he didn't exactly hold that film in high regard (but I like it).
Quote from: retrorussell on May 28, 2012, 11:18:50 PM
Fisher Stevens (Short Circuit 1&2) gets his fingers cut off in THE BURNING.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra7iJna4MxU
Wasn't Jason Alexander (SEINFELD's George) in that movie too?
Eva Mendes was in one of the CHILDREN OF THE CORN flicks, I think part V.
Jennifer Connelly in PHENOMENA (although I like that movie)
Jodie Foster in THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE
Sam Rockwell in CLOWNHOUSE
Michael Fassbender in BLOOD CREEK
As for actors I hoped would become bigger, the one that stands out is J.D. Williams - aka "Froggy" from POOTIE TANG. He also played Bodie on the tv show THE WIRE (my favorite character on that show) and I hoped to see him in more things after that but he didn't really resurface.....
Tom Hanks crying and flipping out in Mazes and Monsters.
Kevin Bacon in Friday the 13th.
Demi Moore in Master Ninja.
Crispin Glover in Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter
Kevin Costner was the dead friend in "The Big Chill"....you see parts of him during the opening sequence. Plus he was one of the "frat boys" in the party in the morgue scene in "Night Shift".
Quote from: Archivist on May 28, 2012, 03:44:46 AM
When you look at the filmographies of many leading or popular actors, you'll see their beginning bit-part movies, too. Denzel Washington was an uncredited mugger in Death Wish. Robert Patrick was in the Mad Max rip-off Equalizer 2000. Jean-Claude Van Damme can be seen in the background in one of those Breakin' movies. I even remember Kelly Hu looking like a schoolgirl, being thrown about by Jason in a Friday The 13th movie.
Who are some of your favourite actors that made it, or what obscure and possibly embarrassing movies lurk in the past of some who later became stars?
And another, harder question: who do you see in bit parts now that you think or hope will make it?
Jeff Goldblum was also in DEATH WISH.
Mike Farrell (M*A*S*H*) was shot in a phone booth in the Boris Karloff thriller TARGETS (1968)
Quote from: LilCerberus on May 28, 2012, 11:15:29 AM
While Robert Englund's role in Galaxy of Terror would be strangely prophetic, my all time favorite has to be the elevator scene in St. Ives.
Robert Englund's first role was in Eaten Alive (1977) "My names Buck and I's raring to f----"
Gene Simmons and John Stamos. Also Robert Englund has a bit part in the end. Discuss.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvOvVtE4rgI
Simmons was already known for being in Kiss and willing to do anything if the price is right. Stamos might have been embarrassed though. Robert Englund made a lot of bad movies both before and after being Freddy.
Quote from: clockworkcanary on May 30, 2012, 12:22:27 PM
Tom Hanks crying and flipping out in Mazes and Monsters.
What is this movie I haven't heard of it?
Quote from: 66Crush on June 02, 2012, 03:04:39 AM
Simmons was already known for being in Kiss and willing to do anything if the price is right. Stamos might have been embarrassed though. Robert Englund made a lot of bad movies both before and after being Freddy.
Englund has said he'll appear in just about any movie that doesn't require him to wear heavy makeup. He probably doesn't get embarrassed easily.
Stamos starred in Full House. He hasn't
earned the right to be embarrassed by any movie role.
Tom Selleck was in this....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_GusW0fDn4
Also, since we don't have a thread for directors, may I include an early James Cameron effort....?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scGjDZbEFn4
I read that Jennifer Conelly was embarassed about being in Argento's Phenomena. She basically said it was an excuse to go to Italy which I find sad because it's a great movie no matter what she thinks about it.
Quote from: Chainsaw midget on June 02, 2012, 10:54:52 AM
Quote from: 66Crush on June 02, 2012, 03:04:39 AM
Simmons was already known for being in Kiss and willing to do anything if the price is right. Stamos might have been embarrassed though. Robert Englund made a lot of bad movies both before and after being Freddy.
Englund has said he'll appear in just about any movie that doesn't require him to wear heavy makeup. He probably doesn't get embarrassed easily.
Stamos starred in Full House. He hasn't earned the right to be embarrassed by any movie role.
When you're right, you're right.
Quote from: tracy on May 30, 2012, 12:41:57 PM
Kevin Costner was the dead friend in "The Big Chill"....you see parts of him during the opening sequence. Plus he was one of the "frat boys" in the party in the morgue scene in "Night Shift".
He was strutting his stuff in Malibu Hot Summer (1981) before that, and he was a weight lifting victim in the utterly bad slasher Shadows Run Black (1986).
Quote from: voltron on June 02, 2012, 08:57:12 PM
I read that Jennifer Conelly was embarassed about being in Argento's Phenomena. She basically said it was an excuse to go to Italy which I find sad because it's a great movie no matter what she thinks about it.
Bummer. That's probably my favorite Argento movie.
Now lest we forget: Tom Cruise and his tiny shorts debuting in 1981's ENDLESS LOVE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GePZApDteR4
Quote from: 66Crush on June 02, 2012, 03:06:40 AM
Quote from: clockworkcanary on May 30, 2012, 12:22:27 PM
Tom Hanks crying and flipping out in Mazes and Monsters.
What is this movie I haven't heard of it?
I haven't seen it, but I have heard of it. Tom Hanks plays a teenage obsessed with Dungeons and Drag....uh, "Mazes and Monsters." The game, being evil, drives him insane.
Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084314/ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084314/)
Isn't Lester's profile pic from Mazes and Monsters? Michael Landon was the teenage werewolf in I Was A Teenage Werewolf although personally I consider that to be his best role. He also played a former bedwetter turned runner in the TV movie The Loneliest Runner...
Quote from: Chainsaw midget on June 02, 2012, 10:54:52 AM
Stamos starred in Full House. He hasn't earned the right to be embarrassed by any movie role.
Touché.
Quote from: alandhopewell on May 30, 2012, 12:44:48 PM
Jeff Goldblum was also in DEATH WISH.
Yep, he was... and if memory serves, his one line is something like "Don't jive, mother! You know what we want!"
Sam Elliot in FROGS (1972)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzl1RkBxNsY&feature=related
James Karen-FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACE MONSTER (1965).
Bruce Glover (Crispen's dad) played a martian crew memebr and the Monster!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9It2mr5hP8
Donald Sutherland played 3 roles in CASTLE OF THE LIVING DEAD (1964)-including an old witch!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wHQEBfWpNg
Dennis Hopper and John Saxon were in Queen of Blood (1966) It's quite bad, but I really like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGkLMDaEnNk
Jeff Goldblum, Beverly D'Angelo, Jerry Orbach and Christopher Walken all had bit parts in THE SENTINEL.
Just saw PROMETHEUS and Sean Harris could be going places. He was really good in what was kind of a throwaway role.
Teri Garr's first speaking role was in HEAD.
Laura Branigan started off as an actress, in the exploitation film MUGSY'S GIRLS.
Quote from: crackers on June 04, 2012, 07:25:56 AM
Dennis Hopper and John Saxon were in Queen of Blood (1966) It's quite bad, but I really like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGkLMDaEnNk
Despite "making it" and being a quite talented actor Dennis Hopper was in some of the most notoriously bad films ever. Examples:
Super Mario Bros
Waterworld
Meet The Deedles -didnt watch this but looks abysmal.
Hell Ride
There are more but a look at Hoppers filmography shows him to drift between the great and b movie fare throughougt his career,
Quote from: Fausto on June 03, 2012, 10:04:12 PM
Quote from: Chainsaw midget on June 02, 2012, 10:54:52 AM
Stamos starred in Full House. He hasn't earned the right to be embarrassed by any movie role.
Touché.
Look, I'm not a fan of Full House either, but like it not the show was a hit. I seriously doubt that Stamos is embarrassed by a show that made him a star.
Daryl Hannah and Rachel Ward were in the 1981 slasher Final Terror Ron Ely TVs Tarzan was in a 1978 exploitation movie Slavers Eric Lasale had a bit role as Vargas the pimp in Cut And Run Willie Aimes was in that movie as well Joe Piscapo before making it big on SNL and on the big screen in the 80s was in a screwball skit comedy called American Tickler and Dawn Wells was in Return To Boggy Creek and The Town That Dreaded Sundown.
SCTVs Andrea Martin and Eugene Levy were in the 1973 CanuckCheese epic CANNIBAL GIRLS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYgIuRI4nTs
(http://www.movieswala.com/resource/movies/cannibal-girls-1973.jpg)