I didn't know he was in this

[AndyC]

This could be considered a follow-up to "He'll always be (blank) to me."

I'm sure this has happened to all of us. You watch a movie you haven't seen in 15 or 20 years, and notice some well-known actors you didn't see before. Why? because they weren't well known the last time you saw the movie.

I thought of this a little while ago, when one of the satellite channels was showing Stripes, with Bill Murray. I simply did not remember John Larroquette being the captain, because the movie was pre-Night Court, and I hadn't seen it since then.

I was similarly surprised a few years ago with John Goodman in Revenge of the Nerds.

Another one was the old made-for-TV nuclear holocaust flick, The Day After, when I tracked down a copy of that a couple of years ago. I had no idea it starred John Cullum - Holling from Northern Exposure.

Other examples?

[Vermin Boy]

I was floored to learn recently that redneck Billy Glen in Mars Attacks (the one who joins the army) was none other than a pre-stardom Jack Black.

[AndyC]

I just realized that all three of my examples were guys named John. Weird.

[Chris K.]

If you want another example of "I can't beleive he was in this" moment, watch C.H.U.D. for a young John Goodman and Jay Thomas as two lazy-ass policemen who get killed in a diner by the cannibalistic C.H.U.D.  Also in C.H.U.D., watch for Patricia Richardson in a very early form before 'Home Improvement' (yet her appearance is quite brief).

[Perk]

Lance Henricksen in Terminator and Stone Cold, and The Horror Show.  Come to think of it everything he's been in is a shcok since I only knew of him from Millennium.  

David Alan Grier in From the Hip

[Fearless Freep]

Come to think of it everything [Lance Henricksen]'s been in is a shcok since I only knew of him from Millennium.

Man you're missin' some good grade b cheese if yuo don't know his resume :)

[Ash]

I didn't realize William Forsythe was in Cloak & Dagger (1984).

He looked scruffy as hell in it!

[Apostic]

There were a lot of movies I'd seen before I knew who Brad Dourif was, and then that was only his voice I knew from Child's Play .  (And I didn't see that one until a long time after it came out.,)  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , Eyes of Laura Mars , Dune , Exorcist III -- I swear I didn't know it was the same guy.

Mind you, Cuckoo's Nest  has got a couple of those "didn't know he was in that"

Dan O'Herlihy as the "gung-ho iguana" in Last Starfighter ? I didn't know who he was until Robocop came out.

regards,

Apostic

[dean]

with masters of the universe being one of my favourite cheesy movies as a kid, it came as a real surprise to notice that courtney cox was in it when i watched it recently for the first time in many many years.  

maybe it was better that i never knew...

[JohnL]

Ed Harris in Creepshow.

[raj]

Billy Bob Thorton in Chopper Chicks in Zombie Town.  Didn't realize that until the DVD came.  Now, of course, the movie "stars" Billy Bob, een though he's got a minor role.