Have you ever caught a rerun of an older TV show and during the opening credits sequence, you spotted someone who made you say, “Hey, I know that person!”? This is actually a more common occurrence than you may realize, as there many A-list celebrities whose first IMDb credit (or one of the first) was a supporting role on a series long before they earned the honor of being a leading presence on the big (or small) screen. The following are some of our favorite examples of famous actors who appeared a bit further down the the line on the call sheet on a TV show when they were starting out.
Chris Pratt (Everwood)
Before Guardians of the Galaxy made him a leading man, Chris Pratt really began to gain traction from starring in the Parks and Recreation cast as Andy Dwyer. However, even earlier than that, he starred on a WB family drama called Everwood as high school joke Bright Abbott alongside fellow future MCU star Emily VanCamp, who played his sister, Amy.
Jennifer Lawrence (The Bill Engvall Show)
Before her Academy Award-nominated performance in 2010’s Winter’s Bone, her star-making role as Katniss in The Hunger Games and Oscar-winning turn in Silver Lining’s Playbook, Jennifer Lawrence was a sitcom star — specifically a cable network sitcom star. On The Bill Engvall Show, which lasted three seasons on TBS, she starred opposite the eponymous stand-up comedian as his on-screen alter ego’s teenage daughter, Lauren Pearson,
Austin Butler (Zoey 101)
The musical talents that earned Austin Butler the title role of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis can be traced back to his part on Ruby & the Rockits, which lasted 10 episodes on ABC Family (now Freeform) in 2009. However, the Oscar nominee’s first major TV role was on the final season of Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101 as James Garrett — a character missing from Paramount+’s feature-length follow-up, Zoey 102.
Margot Robbie (Pan Am)
While her earliest role was actually the long-running soap opera, Neighbours — much like many other Aussie A-listers — we thought we would highlight American audiences’ first true introduction to Margot Robbie on Pan Am. An interesting fact about Robbie is that the future Oscar nominee and DC movies star was actually roommates with co-star Christina Ricci while playing 1960s-era flight attendant Laura Cameron on the short-lived ABC drama from 2011 to 2012.
Seth Rogen (Freaks And Geeks)
While still part of the main ensemble, Seth Rogen’s role as the initially arrogant Ken Miller pretty much got the short end of the stick amongst the Freaks and Geeks cast, for the most part. Ironically, Rogen, arguably, went on to become the painfully short-lived coming-of-age dramedy’s biggest star, which is really saying something, given his co-stars include Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini, and John Francis Daley.
Brie Larson (Raising Dad)
A notable moment in Academy Award winner Brie Larson’s evolution from child star to modern A-list actor was her role as the late Bob Saget’s youngest on-screen daughter on Raising Dad — a sitcom that ran for one season on The WB (now The CW) in the early 2000s. Following her success as the MCU’s Captain Marvel, Larson returned to TV in 2023 — reprising her Scott Pilgrim vs. the World role for Netflix’s animated series reboot, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, and leading the Lessons in Chemistry cast for Apple TV+.
Leonardo DiCaprio (Growing Pains)
While doing press for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt recalled how they both appeared on the hit ABC sitcom Growing Pains much earlier in their career. Of course, Pitt had a one-episode guest appearance while the Oscar-winning The Revenant star and Titanic cast member had a prominent role as Luke Brewer — a homeless teen taken in by the Seavers in Season 7.
Ana De Armas (The Boarding School)
One of the films that earned Academy Award nominee Ana de Armas a spot on the A-list was Rian Johnson’s hit whodunit, Knives Out, from 2019. More than a decade earlier, the Cuban-born actor landed a role on a coming-of-age mystery TV show called El Internado (or The Boarding School), which originally aired in Spain from 2007 to 2010.
Michael B. Jordan (The Wire)
After getting his start as a Toys ‘R Us kid, the fascinating Michael B. Jordan made his official acting debut on an episode of The Sopranos, but later landed a more prominent role on another acclaimed, gritty HBO series in 2002. He appeared amongst The Wire cast as Wallace — an orphan whose tragic story had a profound impact on the Emmy-nominated series beyond his 13-episode stint.
Anne Hathaway (Get Real)
Anne Hathaway fans should know that before she broke into the mainstream by leading Disney’s The Princess Diaries cast, the Academy Award winner made her acting debut on a 1999 Fox TV show called Get Real as a high school senior who shocks her family with the decision to refuse college. Coincidentally, the short-lived dramedy was also the debut of Hathaway’s Rio co-star, Jesse Eisenberg, and was an early gig for NCIS' Eric Christian Olsen as well.
Denzel Washington (St. Elsewhere)
With two Oscars to his name, it’s hard to imagine a TV screen big enough to contain the talent of one Denzel Washington, yet it was a TV show that helped launched the young actor’s career in the early 1980s. Following his official debut in the 1977 TV movie Wilma, the future Training Day lead played Dr. Philip Chandler on NBC’s hit medical drama, St. Elsewhere.
Michelle Williams (Dawson's Creek)
For years, Michelle Williams was known best from the Dawson’s Creek cast as Jen Lindley. Now — after receiving multiple Academy Award nominations for acclaimed dramas like Manchester by the Sea and Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans — that role on the hit teen drama is, typically, among the last things mentioned in regards to her career.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock From The Sun)
As a child actor, Joseph Gordon-Levitt starred in some good movies and made a few notable TV guest appearances before landing his first successful series regular gig with 3rd Rock from the Sun. He played the eldest member of a group of extra-terrestrial visitors, and the character resembles a teenager in human form on the Emmy-winning sci-fi sitcom.
George Clooney (The Facts Of Life)
As a TV star, George Clooney is best known from his main role on the popular ‘90s show, ER, on which he played Doug Ross. Much earlier, however, the future two-time Oscar winner had a memorable recurring role on Diff’rent Strokes' (very different) spin-off, The Facts of Life, as George Burnett — a carpenter who would become close to the girls living under Mrs. Garrett’s roof.
Woody Harrelson (Cheers)
With multiple Academy Award nominations to his name, Woody Harrelson is known today as one of Hollywood’s most versatile movie stars, but his first big break came when he joined the Cheers cast in the mid-1980s. In fact, he won his first Emmy Award for playing the naive, but lovable, Woody Byrd, whom Sam (Ted Danson) hires on as a new barkeep following he death of Coach (Nicholas Colasanto).
Jason Bateman (Little House On The Prairie)
At least before he led Netflix’s Ozark cast, Jason Bateman has always best known on the small screen as a sitcom star, with his roles as David Hogan on Valerie (later changed to The Hogan Family) and Michael Bluth on Arrested Development being the famous examples. However, his very first gig was playing James Cooper Ingalls for 21 episodes of Little House on the Prairie during the early 1980s.
Don Cheadle (The Golden Palace)
An early Don Cheadle role you may have forgotten about was featured on a TV show spin-off you may not have heard of, either. The future Academy Award nominee and MCU actor starred alongside most of the Golden Girls cast on The Golden Palace as Roland Wilson — the young manager of the titular hotel where the short-lived sitcom took place.
Jason Momoa (Baywatch)
Even long before he landed the role of Aquaman in the DC movies, Jason Momoa was no stranger to saving lives in the water. The Hawaiian-born actor made his debut in his home state when he joined the Baywatch cast as a character also named Jason from 1999 to 2001.
Marisa Tomei (A Different World)
We know her from her Academy Award-winning role in My Cousin Vinny as Mona Lisa Vito (who she'd love to revisit) or as Peter Parker’s (reinvented) Aunt May in the MCU, to name a few examples. Yet before many people knew who Marisa Tomei was, she was on the first season of The Cosby Show spin-off, A Different World, as Hillman student Maggie Lauten.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (The Get Down)
One interesting fact about Yahya Abdul-Mateen II: before he was an Emmy-winning DC TV show star (for playing Cal Abar on HBO’s Watchmen) and a scene-stealing DC movie villain (Black Manta in Aquaman), he worked as a San Francisco city planner until he was laid off in 2010. The role that first helped him make a name for himself as an actor was night club owner Clarene “Cadillac” Caldwell in Netflix’s musical period drama series, The Get Down, from co-creator Baz Luhrmann.
Alexandra Daddario (All My Children)
Speaking to Women’s Health in 2022, Alexandra Daddario recalls that she was fired from the long-running daytime soap opera, All My Children, which she actually found to be a liberating, educational experience. It led to seek improvement in her acting skills and pave the way for her to breakthrough in the Percy Jackson movies, give an Emmy-nominated performance as part of the HBO’s The White Lotus cast, and star in many other notable works.
Adam Driver (Girls)
Without Lena Dunham, there might not be a Kylo Ren — or at least, the memorable version of the Sith Lord we got in the hands Adam Driver. The former Marine’s scene-stealing role on HBO’s Girls as Adam Sackler is what got Hollywood to take notice of his talent, leading to his casting in the Star Wars movies and his Oscar-nominated performances in BlacKkKlansman and Marriage Story.
Melissa McCarthy (Gilmore Girls)
Gilmore Girls proved to be a launch pad for many A-listers — few of which would blow up quite like Melissa McCarthy, who played Sookie St. James on the hit dramedy. She later won an Emmy for her leading role on the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly and received an Academy Award nomination for her supporting role as a member of the Bridesmaids cast. And that film skyrocketed her to the A-list as a trusted name in comedy and more.
Drake (Degrassi: The Next Generation)
One of the most memorable and important characters from Degrassi: The Next Generation is Jimmy Brooks, who served as an inspirational representation for wheelchair users on the long-running Canadian coming-of-age drama. The role was played by an actor named Aubrey Graham, who still acts on occasion — an Anchorman 2 cameo, for instance — but primarily performs as a rapper under the moniker Drake.
Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men)
At just eight years old, Kiernan Shipka proved to be a stand-out alongside AMC’s Mad Men cast with her performance as Sally Draper. She later went on to lead her own TV show (Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and headline movies like Amazon Prime’s horror-comedy, Totally Killer and The Silence.
Ryan Reynolds (Fifteen)
Despite his many earnest roles over the years, it may be hard to picture Ryan Reynolds as anything other than the smarmy goof he plays in the likes of the Deadpool movies and National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, for instance. Perhaps watching him make his debut in the Canadian coming-of-age drama Fifteen will help audiences see another side of him.
Tommy Lee Jones (One Life To Live)
It is amazing to think about how many acclaimed and even legendary actors started out on soap operas, such as Tommy Lee Jones. One of the earliest roles for the Academy Award-winning star of The Fugitive and the Men in Black movies was the ill-fated Mark Toland on One Life to Live from 1971 to 1975.
John Travolta (Welcome Back, Kotter)
Before his Academy Award-nominated role in 1977’s Saturday Night Fever — and its fantastic movie soundtrack — made him one of the biggest stars of all time, John Travolta was better known by another name: Vinnie Barbarino. That was the future Pulp Fiction cast member’s character on Welcome Back, Kotter — a hit sitcom that never made it to 100 episodes. He practically stole the show from star and co-creator Gabe Kaplan with his famous catchphrase, “Up your nose with a rubber hose!”
Jennifer Love Hewitt (Kids Incorporated)
Her role as Sarah Reeves on the original Party of Five may have made Jennifer Love Hewitt a teen idol, but it was not her first major TV gig. The Ghost Whisperer star was 10 when she demonstrated her multiple talents on Disney Channel’s Kids Incorporated, which focuses on the lives of a group of young artists who perform live music at a club for children.
Benedict Cumberbatch (Fortysomething)
It was his eponymous role on the modern crime drama Sherlock that made Benedict Cumberbatch a nigh-unpronounceable household name, but his first starring role on a TV series was Fortysomething. The MCU’s Doctor Strange actor played the on-screen son of none other than House’s Hugh Laurie on the English dramedy that lasted six episodes.
Jared Leto (My So-Called Life)
In one of the best ‘90s shows that ended too soon, My So-Called Life, Jared Leto portrayed what would become his first iconic role: high school heartthrob Jordan Catalano. The much celebrated coming-of-age drama also marked one for the first times the future Academy Award winner acted alongside his sibling and Thirty Seconds to Mars bandmate, Shannon.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Passions)
Movie star Mary Elizabeth Winstead has more than a few very notable small-screen roles — such as a leading stint in Fargo Season 3 and Hera Syndulla alongside the Ahsoka cast for Disney+. The Scott Pilgrim vs. The World cast member’s earliest major TV gig, however, was on the supernatural soap opera Passions.
For any TV actors out there hoping one day to make it onto the big screen, let these stories serve as proof that your dreams may not be far away from becoming a reality.
