“My friends and I first saw her in Freeway and were obsessed with her. She was so badass in that movie.”
—k_punk
“My daughters and I watched Scream Queens when they were in high school, and we loved every scene he was in and couldn’t stop laughing. He was the best thing about that show. He stood out, and we knew he was going places.”
—Natural-Print
“Made an impact in only three episodes. This was right before The Pacific.”
—harebreadth
“When I saw the Hunger Games trailer, I was like, ‘Hey, it’s that girl from Winter’s Bone.’ Great movie all around. I still tell people to watch it.”
—shweatyshweatpants
“Freeman made the other characters on that soap look like cardboard cutouts. Even as a kid, I said, ‘What is that guy doing on this show?'”
—Flamebrush
6.
Drew Barrymore in Firestarter
“I am only two years older than her and knew zero about her family. Even at 9, I knew she would be a star. When I saw her in Firestarter, it cemented it for me because through the screen I felt I could FEEL what she felt. She never seemed like she was acting a part. You felt she was living the scene.”
—vikingvol
7.
Meryl Streep in an unnamed play
“Meryl Streep, who I saw in a walk-on role in a stage play. She had maybe one line, and I knew she would be big. I believe this was before she made any movie. The only thing I could equate would be seeing Elizabeth Taylor [as] a child in [a] small role in Orson Welles’s film version of Jane Eyre in 1943. She was magnetic, [and] so was Meryl.”
—hrdbeinggreen
8.
Tom Hanks on Bosom Buddies
“In 1980, a new sitcom called Bosom Buddies came out. It was about two guys who had to dress as women because the only apartment they could afford was one for women only. I kept telling my friends that they had to watch the show because there was this one guy who was hilarious and carried the entire show. The guy was Tom Hanks. ‘Sonny, Sonny, Sonny.'”
—HoselRockit
9.
Bruce Willis in Moonlighting
“One of the few TV shows I watched with my mum. I remember her and I agreeing (which is a bit of a collector’s item) that he ‘had it.’ I was 16, and mum was 45 at the time, so he really did have appeal across the generations.”
—EmbraJeff
10.
Jodie Foster in Kung Fu
“I saw her on Kung Fu when she was about 10 years old. She played ‘Simple Gifts’ on the mandolin, and I thought, ‘That kid is going to go far.'”
—Imightbeafanofthis
11.
Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live
“He was only 19 or 20 when he started there, and he was the star of the show immediately.”
—Arms_of_Atlas
12.
Helena Bonham Carter in A Room with a View
“She just had something about her that was quite wonderful to watch.”
—EastOfArcheron
13.
Robin Williams in Happy Days
“I just happened to catch his cameo on Happy Days WAAAAYYY back when and was gobsmacked. Pleased but not surprised at his stardom.”
—Wroena
14.
Cameron Diaz in The Mask
“Came here to say this. That first shot of her screamed ‘instant celebrity.'”
—Outrageous_Picture39
15.
John Cusack in Say Anything
“Skinny, gawky, charming, charismatic kid. Utterly romantic.”
—306heatheR
16.
Finally, Demi Moore in General Hospital
So which of these early career roles have you seen? More importantly, who else would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments below!
