36 Early Roles That Now-Famous Actors Would Love for Us to Forget

These actors have come a long way
36 Early Roles That Now-Famous Actors Would Love for Us to Forget

We know what kind of trouble this list can get us in, but we don’t care. As long as the truth gets out there, we don’t mind fielding calls from publicists or having security escort a frantic Jennifer Aniston off the premises.

These actors had some highly embarrassing early roles, and we feel like it’s our duty to share them with the world.

Laurence Fishburne

LAURENCE FISHBURNE: PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE 1986 En ment CRACKED.COM As some kind of bizarro Morpheus, with a spangly cowboy get-up and long curls, Fishburne's Cowboy Curtis is a role unlike anything else in his résumé.

Amy Adams

AMY ADAMS: PSYCHO BEACH PARTY 2000 CRACKED.COM One of Amy Adams' first roles, in a VERY busy year for her, was Nicolas Brendan's girlfriend in this comedy spoof of 1960's surfer movies. She would join Brendan again the same year on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, as Tara's sister.

Nick Offerman

NICK OFFERMAN: GILMORE GIRLS 2003 GRACKED.COM No one does small town weirdo like Offerman. In his two episode appearance, he plays the brother of Jackson Belleville and brother-in-law to Sookie.

Ron Perlman

RON PERLMAN: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (TV SHOW) Untertain 1987 Entertain nent M 4 and GRAGKED.COM Perlman plays the titular Beast, in a strangely feline portrayal, with Linda Hamilton. Не must love being under all those prosthetics if he was willing to do two Hellboy movies.

Zac Efron

Zac Efron was in a TV show with Jesse McCartney and Aunt Becky Two years before he got his big break in High School Musical, Efron played Cameron on WB's Summerland. CRACKED.COM

James Corden

James Corden was in Lesbian Vampire Killers Before he was in such high quality movies as CATS and The Emoji Movie, Corden starred in this trash horror flick. CRACKED.COM

Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves was in a campy holiday movie with Drew Barrymore The made-for-TV movie teaches kids the true meaning of Christmas: playing with toys. CRACKED.COM

Mark Ruffalo

MARK RUFFALO CRACKED.COM In 1994, Mark Ruffalo made his feature film debut as Christian in the direct-to-video horror sequel Mirror, Mirror 2: Raven Dance about a haunted looking glass. It somehow warranted a 3rd - Mirror, Mirror 3: The Voyeur in 1995.

Scarlett Johansson

SCARLETT JOHANSSON EXIT CRACKED COM As an 11 year old, Johansson played Alex Pruitt's older sister, Molly, in Home Alone 3. Her daughter loved the first two Home Alone movies, so they put on #3, and she later told People Magazine, I said, 'Who's that person?' She was like, 'You?!'

Jeremy Renner

JEREMY RENNER CRACKED.COM In 1995, Renner played trouble-making stoner Mark Dags D'Agastino in National Lampoon's Senior Trip. His I know you like me scene is pretty cringe-worthy, but he landed more TV shows before a breakthrough as Jeffrey Dahmer in the 2002 movie Dahmer.

Chris Hemsworth

CHRIS HEMSWORTH CRACKED.COM His very first credit was the 2002 Australian TV series Guinevere Jones. Guinevere has flashbacks of her past life as the Queen of Camelot, and although he never speaks, Hemsworth plays her valiant husband, the King.

Melissa McCarthy

COMEDY NERD In the 1998's God, Melissa McCarthy played a woman who talks to, uh, God. She talked to the Almighty on a cordless phone (the height of 1990s technology), and they apparently both enjoyed their long chats. CRACKED.COM

Jennifer Aniston (Again)

COMEDY NERD Jennifer Aniston's very first on-screen role was as a kid in 1988's Mac and Me. She was a dancer in a fast food restaurant (and went completely uncredited). CRACKED.COM

Jim Rash

Jim Rash (Dean Pelton in Community) was Amateur Porn Guy in a 2002 movie. 5 b 7 That was his character's name in One Hour Photo, and his scene was shot in one night in a deserted building made to look like a Walmart or CVS. CRACKED.COM

Jon Favreau

One of Jon Favreau's early roles was as a birthday party clown in Seinfeld. Не was Eric the Clown, hired for George's girlfriend's son's birthday. At the party, George is pretty hard on him because he's not too familiar with Bozo the Clown. CRACKED.COM

Bryan Cranston

Bryan Cranston's acting career started with a role in ABC's soap opera Loving. It was surprisingly difficult, he says -- You learn your lines the night before. With that kind of turnover, how do you get to a place that feels honest? CRACKED.COM

Chris Pratt

Before Guardians of the Galaxy, Chris Pratt played Disgusting Donald. Не was one of Anna Faris' exes in What's Your Number?, a movie about a woman who thinks she's slept with too many men to be marriageable. CRACKED.COM

Michael Keaton

One of Michael Keaton's early roles was a panda on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. TROLLEY Не got dressed up as Black and White Panda -- he was a stagehand at the PBS station that produced the show, and they got him to perform on stage. CRACKED.COM

Cameron Diaz

In the early '90s, when she was 19, Cameron Diaz filmed a softcore porn movie. It's called She's No Angel, and it has Diaz using chains to yank a shirtless guy (and also spraying aerosol on her nipples, for some reason). CRACKED.COM

Jonathan Banks

Jonathan Banks (AKA Mike in Breaking Bad) starred in a 1970s sex ed video. Linda's Film on Menstruation is about a girl who gets great at bowling after getting her first period. Her bowling partner is a young Banks. CRACKED.COM

The Rock

In 2000, The Rock played an alien bad guy on an episode of Star Trek: Voyager. In the episode, they kidnapped Seven of Nine and made her fight in an arena. Her first opponent was a young Dwayne Johnson in silver spandex. CRACKED.COM

Gillian Anderson

One of Gillian Anderson's first roles was a thriller with white supremacists. - WHAT C - the TURNING ... ILLS - In The Turning, she was the girlfriend of a guy who stays with white supremacists. On the video cover, she's unbuttoning her blouse. CRACKED.COM

Jennifer Aniston

EMBARRASSING EARLY APPEARANCES JENNIFER ANISTON in Leprechaun Aniston's film debut is this (not so) classic horror movie from 1993. The franchise has had eight movies, the last one featuring the daughter of Aniston's character. Spoiler alert: None are any good. CRACKED.COM

Emilia Clarke

EMBARRASSING EARLY APPEARANCES EMILIA CLARKE in Triassic Attack Just a year before Game of Thrones, Clarke's film debut was in this Syfy movie about dinosaur skeletons coming back to life. No, not as full-on dinosaurs, but as walking skeletons. Sounds awful, but at least it's not Terminator Genisys. CRACKED.COM

George Clooney

EMBARRASSING EARLY APPEARANCES GEORGE CLOONEY in Grizzly II: The Concert Partially filmed in 1976 but only finished in 2020, the awful horror flick Grizzly II: Wait, Does the Bear Really Attack a Concert? is Clooney's actual first movie. Suddenly Batman & Robin doesn't look so bad, uh? CRACKED.COM

Cate Blanchett

EMBARRASSING EARLY APPEARANCES CATE BLANCHETT in an Egyptian boxing movie When Blanchett began her film career in 1996, she had already appeared in 1990's Kaboria. Apparently, she was offered the role while backpacking, and never saw the movie out of embarrassment. CRACKED.COM

Courteney Cox

EMBARRASSING EARLY APPEARANCES COURTENEY COX in Masters of the Universe Three years after dancing with Bruce Springsteen, Cox appeared in 1987's infamous He-Man movie with Dolph Lundgren. We like Courteney Сох, but come on, if the movie wasn't even set in Eternia it didn't even have a chance. CRACKED.COM

Leonardo DiCaprio

EMBARRASSING EARLY APPEARANCES LEONARDO DICAPRIO in Critters 3 Yes, back in 1991 DiCaprio appeared in Gremli- sorry, in Ghoulies, wait, no, in Munchies? Hobgoblins? Oh, we got it, in Critters. Well, the third one, it was a whole genre back then. Leo then went on to better things, like a lifetime of dating 20-year-old models. CRACKED.COM

Emma Stone

EMBARRASSING EARLY APPEARANCES EMMA STONE voiced a dog on The Suite Life of Zack & & Cody A year before her big screen debut in Superbad, Stone voiced a Pomerainian named Ivana Tipton on the Nickelodeon show. It was the only time the dog talked. At least she also appeared on Malcolm in the Middle in 2006, which is actually cool. CRACKED.COM

Ryan Gosling

EMBARRASSING EARLY APPEARANCES RYAN GOSLING in Frankenstein and Me Gosling's very first film role was in this low-budget family horror, starring Burt Reynolds at a pre-Boogie Nights time when he, erm, wasn't exactly making good movies. The entire, awful-looking thing can be found on YouTube, '90s commercials and all. CRACKED.COM

Lena Headey

EMBARRASSING EARLY APPEARANCES LENA HEADEY was the last person to talk to MacGyver The MacGyver TV show ended in 1991, but there were two more TV movies in 1994. By the end of the very last one, Trail to Doomsday, Headey is the very last person MacGyver ever talks to. Well, not counting SNL's MacGruber. CRACKED.COM

Kristen Stewart

EMBARRASSING EARLY APPEARANCES KRISTEN STEWART in Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas Stewart's very first role was as a girl tossing a ring in a Flintstones movie nobody saw and nobody remembers. Now, in the scene itself you can only see her back, yet the role is pretty well-documented and there are even photos of her on set. CRACKED.COM

Jon Hamm

EMBARRASSING EARLY APPEARANCES JON HAMM in a '90s dating show Back in 1995, Hamm appeared on The Big Date and offered a foot massage to a girl that had just said she had a foot fetish. Yes, that sentence is insane, but it's nothing compared to Hamm's boy-band '90s hairstyle. CRACKED.COM

Jason Statham

EMBARRASSING EARLY APPEARANCES JASON STATHAM was an oily backup dancer In the early '90s, Statham did what is truly his finest work to date. Не was a backup dancer in a few music videos in which he would appear all oiled up, like in that oil fight scene from The Transporter, but less homoerotic. CRACKED.COM

Charlize Theron

EMBARRASSING EARLY APPEARANCES CHARLIZE THERON in Children of the Corn III Theron appears (uncredited) in 1995 as a cult follower in the B-tier horror franchise inspired by Stephen King. Nowadays, Theron has rather focused her interest in action movies, even appearing in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. CRACKED.COM

Tom Hanks

EMBARRASSING EARLY APPEARANCES TOM HANKS in a cheap slasher Many think Hanks' first movie was 1982's Mazes and Monsters, but he had a small role two years before in the Halloween knock-off (and surprisingly successful movie) Не Knows You're Alone. How was his character killed, you ask? Не wasn't, as the producers reportedly found him too likable. CRACKED.COM

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