Yeah, he seems like a super dude who not only turned his life around but decided to go *far* out of his way to help out others starting in the film industry.
I remember reading an interview with him around the time of the first Transporter and he talked a bit about his various training and how he was keen to be a proper, convincing action star. Seemed like he had a really good attitude. Have also heard that he's just generally a decent guy. An old colleague of mine used to work as an extra and of the stars that she personally crossed paths with he was one of the ones she remembered positively. She said she had spilled a drink over herself or something and was rushing to get cleaned up, very wet and flustered, but when they went by each other he stopped to make sure she was ok. Think being that sort of person can really help a film career.
Bryan Cranston. When most folks heard the goofy dad from Malcolm was going to be a bad guy, they wrote the show off. No way that guy could be taken seriously as a bad guy.
Now that BB has greatly eclipsed Malcolm in popularity, the public option has flipped. They can’t believe Bryan Cranston was the goofy dad from Malcolm.
I’ll also add John C. Reilly. He played a bunch of side characters in dramas. Then he starts to show off his comedic skill and becomes a huge star.
I just want to say I think playing Hal took an equal amount of ability as playing Walter white. Comedy can be hard and to this day his scenes in Malcolm still crack me up.
That's the thing. It's always the smaller roles people glaze over that you can really tell how great some of these actors are. Hank Azaria comes to mind that dude kills it in Live-action and in Cartoons!
Heath Ledger is another case of this. He was the young romantic lead with long blond hair, how could he possibly work as the Joker?
Of course he’d only just started in an Oscar winning movie as a gay cowboy, despite being a straight Australian. And he’d acted a mediaeval knight. Those might be romantic leads but they already showed range in comedic vs. dramatic tone, accent, etc.
I’ll raise you an earlier Chris Pratt on The OC he was the douchey ex boyfriend polar bears are dying guy, never thought he’d get past that role:
https://youtu.be/ncwmvSY3XL0?si=DR10Uzlr7KEYr9U1
I've never watched Parks & Rec, but when I saw how he physically transformed himself to play the lead in Guardians of the Galaxy I was very impressed with his commitment!
Even though I find him getting cast as the lead for almost everything to be a bit repetitive, it's nice for him that he can get work and not have to audition for it. Since he confirmed in an interview that he hasn't auditioned for a role since playing Star-Lord
There was also that scene where he completely destroyed a light switch with a briefcase and Rob Lowe was so shocked he literally turned into Chris Traeger for a few seconds.
He’s the go to example for how an actor’s look affects the roles they can get. Early in his career he’s typecast as the douche coworker or shitty boyfriend that loses the girl. Then, according to him, he gained weight because his then-wife loved to bake; suddenly he’s able to be the funny fat friend. He gained more popularity with that and then was able to slim down to become a leading man.
Especially during the first season. He was not even a fun character until later seasons.
But that is true of much of that show. Once they stopped trying to be a rehash of The Office and figured out how to draw comedy from their amazing ensemble it got great.
I never saw it when it first came out, but when it was recommended to me, the person recommended skipping the short first season.
I sat through the first season, but it definitely found itself & took off in the second season.
> tanked their careers
The Transformers series has made nearly $5 *billion* and his IMDB shows he's starring in 1-4 movies per year for like 20 years.
Can my career get tanked this badly?
You need to go outside more, cuz he starred in a movie that made $400m last year. Just cuz the vocal minority doesn’t like him for something that happened 30 years ago when he was a minor, doesn’t mean his career is tanked.
Somewhere else, someone explained there are fans who also can't handle when their hero is depicted as being less than winners.
It makes me think of the whining when John Cena or Dave Bautista had their characters get their asses handed to them, as Peacemaker and Drax respectively.
It seems like he managed to internalize the Black Adam lesson and hopefully this leads to him branching out a bit in his roles. He's got comedic chops and he can act, so maybe he'll get quirky with it like Bautista
Maybe he'll start choosing more ambitious projects now that people seem to have gotten bored of his usual schtick. I'd like to see him try and tackle a more serious role, similar to Adam Sandler when he's not doing his Happy Madison films.
Adam Sandler is **immensely** more talented as an actor than The Rock and that's why he can nail either dramatic or comedic roles.
The Rock simply can't do that...
Yea, this is the one for me, too. Leo acted his ass off in Gilbert Grape, and you could tell he had the acting chops, so it wasn't hard to imagine he could be successful.
Growing Pains was just a sitcom role, and on top of that, he was in a "Cousin Oliver" role, which is rarely successful.
Yeah, she was really good in Superbad, exceptionally charming and really stood out. But I didn't expect her to be suddenly this massive A-list start like a week later.
Matthew McConaughey. I loved Dazed and Confused, but never in a million years thought he'd turn in to the actor he is. Honestly ditto for Woody Harrelson (been a fan since Cheers), True Detective S1 couldn't have been what it was without both.
Apparently Woody’s dad who fun fact was a hitman, “knew” Matthew’s mom back in the day when his parents were separated. Then Matthew was born not long after. I can totally see the resemblance.
A few years ago I watched through all of Cheers (I was a little kid when it first aired) and was honestly blown away by Woody on that show. Obviously lots of fantastic comedic actors there, but he steals every scene he’s in.
I find fat Ben Affleck to be even more surprising from that movie. Must have watched it dozens of times as a teenager and it took me years to realize and accept that was Affleck.
Timothee Chalamet. First time seeing him was in Interstellar. His performance was solid but it didn't blow me away whatsoever either. Didn't expect him to blow up the way he did lol
I recently just found out he also has a sister named Pauline whose also an actress!
She's not as big as him, but she's one of the leads in this HBO Max show called The Sex Lives of College Girls
Dating myself significantly here, but I remember Adam Sandler as a background feature on an MTV gameshow where people in chairs were yeeted off stage by wrong answers, and his job was to make some crazy face and dumb noises. I thought it was the most juvenile, reductive, inane shit ever, and the dude was less funny than the average class clown.
Dating yourself indeed. I miss the days when Remote Control was the only non-music video style show on MTV.
Bring back YO! MTV Raps and Headbangers Ball!
Harry Melling springs to mind. Small forgettable role in the Harry Potter films hardly made him leap out as someone with a bright future.
He's been absolutely fantastic in everything I've seen him in, easily the most talented of the kid actors from those movies. Looking forward to whatever he does next.
The Devil All The Time changed my opinion of the acting skills for almost every actor in it. Like holy shit Spider-Man, Dudley Dursley and Cedric Diggory are all great actors. Bill Skarsgard is good in everything just like his dad so didn’t surprise me he was also great in that movie.
For whatever reason, Pattinson. I think I compared him to Lautner too much. didn't really like him when he was in Twilight but now he's one of my favorites.
On the opposite side, there's Cillian Murphy first saw him in Batman Begins where he was fantastic and I'm still baffled at how long it took him to break out on the movie scene
Cillian Murphy is an odd shout because, from my perspective, he's been a big name since 28 Days Later. There was that, Red Eye, and then Batman Begins. He was a pretty big name in the early-mid 2000s. Maybe not go-to, typical leading man fare, but undoubtedly a name that people took note of and watched out for.
I think because he took the lead on Peaky Blinders, shooting that possibly conflicted with a lot of his schedule and/or he didn't want to shoot other stuff that much while playing Tommy etc.
He went right into a Cronenberg movie after Twilight. ‘Ok’ I thought, ‘trying to not get tied down to a type’. But I was still suspicious. Than I saw fucking Good Time. Never thought I would be a hardcore Pattinson fan but now here we are.
Rob has been amazing in everything I’ve seen him in except twilight (not his fault). He is revolting in The Devil all the Time and his Batman is in my top three. He’s just an outstanding actor who deserves all his success.
I loved what he did in Devil all the Time. Growing up in the US south, I’ve seen those types of preachers and religious people and he really turned it up. Great performance
> Pattinson. I think I compared him to Lautner too much
I was honestly expecting Lautner to become a bigger star compared to Pattinson, even though he wasn't a good actor.
I thought he was appear in a lot of action blockbuster movies, now he's barely in anything anymore.
By far the best working wrestler to actor transition. I hope to see more of him in Dune 2.
He doesn't need to be Drax anymore. His dramatic work stands on its own.... Even though Drax is awesome....
Yeah, his super beefy appearance belies the impressive subtlety and depth of the performances I’ve seen from him of late.
Even his small role in Bladerunner 2049 had weight to it.
Looking forward to seeing what he does over the next few years.
Simu Liu.
From random cameos on TV shows like Nora from Queens, random YouTube appearances, and Kim's Convenience, hell, even our company still uses his stock photos for random things lmao. I never thought he'd be that big now.
I also don't think he's that great of an actor, so thought that might have limited him too.
It's crazy how he got the role of Shang Chi just from posting a tweet, telling Marvel he's ready to talk about playing the character.
I'm sure there was a process, but still he made it seem like getting it was so easy lol
Margot Robbie. Despite her skill, seeing her first as a sexpot in Wolf of Wall Street led me to believe those would be the roles she was limited to. So glad to be wrong. That woman is a powerhouse
Jenna Ortega. She was already big by X, but I saw X and thought Mia and Brittany stole the show, and I'm like "the church mouse is the one blowing up?"
I remember first seeing her in the second season of You, and I definitely didn't expect her to become huge.
However, I knew right away that her playing Wednesday Addams was going to launch her career!
Jeremy Renner. I remember seeing him on the Buffy spinoff Angel way back when, then Hurt Locker came out and I was like, “that guy?” Didn’t like him at first, but he totally won me over. Glad he’s been successful, and I hope he can come back from his big accident.
In a good way, Florence Pugh. Saw her in Fighting With My Family, a fairly small movie about the wrestler Saraya Knight aka Paige, then suddenly she has her big breakthrough role in Midsommar then the next thing you know she’s in like Marvel movies and stuff.
It wasn’t like I thought she’d be unsuccessful but like it was a real oh good for her moment
I remember Toni Collete in "Muriel's Wedding" in 1994. Great movie!! I loved her in it, but thought she was too weird to do normal roles. I'm so glad I was wrong. She has had an AMAZING career and she's still going strong.
Keanu Reeves, let's be honest, he doesn't have a huge range, and didn't really have the action star machismo of say Bruce Willis or Schwarzenegger, I thought after the *Matrix* he'd kind of fade away, but 20 years later he's still an A list celebrity and action star.
You have to watch **Destination Wedding** (if you haven't already) as it's a genuinely funny, off-beat comedy/drama that re-unites him with Winona Ryder. They are both great in it.
I always thought it would be 'Bill' that made it after 'Bogus journey' but Keanu surprised with a string of hits starting with 'Speed' and poor 'Bill' is hardly seen, except when they wheeled him out for the trilogy
John Cena, and he’s killing it. The guy has fantastic range, great delivery and real chops. He’s also an amazing human, has the world record for the most Make A Wish requests.
I really didn't know what to expect going in. I was thinking it would be along the lines of a grindhouse. It had so much more heart than I expected and it turned into one of my favorite super hero shows. Partly cause it was made for adults.
Mariska Hargitay.
I first remember her as the mousy little unit clerk on ER who played against Anthony Edwards.
I liked her then, but who expected her to kick SVU ass to the tune of $100 million net worth!
Michelle Williams. From Dawson's Creek to 5x Oscar nominee.
Helen Hunt - from Mad About You to Oscar winner.
Steve Carrell. As someone who did not watch The Daily Show, and HATED The Office, his work in movies has pleasantly surprised me.
Robert Downey Jr. His addictions and legal issues in the 90s could have completely derailed his life and career, and he was considered 'uninsurable' for productions. But he turned his life around and became one of the biggest stars in the world, beloved by audiences. 20-ish years ago, when he was fired from Ally McBeal, I never would have expected his career to turn out the way it has.
Disney kid actors don't have the best of luck as adults? Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling, Zac Efron would like a word.
Ryan Reynolds.
He was okay on the pizza-place show with the hot annoying blond. And the other guy. But I just thought he was the tall, slightly funny buddy.
And then the Van Wilder movies, I thought, well, that's his 15 minutes.
But holy shit. Homeboy is turning into a freaking mogul...
Tom Holland. He was a great child actor and definitely stood out in his breakthrough role in The Impossible so it’s not like it wasn’t evident that he was super talented from a young age. However given his look, statue and background I assumed he was designed to play character roles on British TV rather than becoming a leading man A-lister in Hollywood.
Not as famous as other people who were mentioned here, but I keep seeing Jack Quaid pop up in all kinds of things now, and I'm so happy for him! Been following his career for a while now, and it's crazy that this little known actor I proclaimed one of my favorites a few years back now showed up in Oppenheimer of all movies. Go Jack!
Diane Lane. She started with 'A Little Romance' in 1979 as a young girl, and recently played Superman's Mom. Nominated for every award extant, was, several times, the best looking actress breathing, and starred in the single finest film ever made, (drum roll)...
...Streets of Fire. Yessir.
Scarlett Johansson. I remember seeing this girl in Ghost World, a small, cult-like black-comedy movie starring Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi.
And.. I think you know who she is now.
Pretty much anybody from Skins. Watching the first series when it came out, I thought it was absolutely awful and that I was going mad because so many people around me were praising the hell out of it. I especially was not a fan of Nic Hoult or Dev Patel’s characters and thought they were dreadful actors because of it.
Fast forward two decades and now both Hoult and especially Patel are super successful actors that are both on my “must watch a film if they’re in it” list. In addition to that we’ve also seen some great performances by people like Hannah Murray, Joe Dempsie, Jack O’Connell and a several others that surprised me.
Who knows, maybe I’ll even revisit Skins one day and find myself not hating it as much as I did back then.
Ryan Reynolds. Almost every movie he's ever made has been pretty lousy. From 2000 to Deadpool I'm guessing he made 3 or fewer well regarded movies, but Hollywood REALLY wanted to make him happen and by God they eventually did it.
The Rock. i never realized a wrestling star could become one of hollywoods biggest actors. still kinda blown away....i mean hulk hogan tried it, and failed miserably. he was literally the biggest wrestler in history, he was absolutely massive in the 80s, everybody knew who he was, but he did a few movies and they were certified stinkers. he did a reality show and then kinda faded (relatively) away into obscurity. poeple still know him, but he's no dwayne johnson.
Danny Trejo. He has an unbelievable number of roles - check imdb.
He donates his time for film students too
Yeah, he seems like a super dude who not only turned his life around but decided to go *far* out of his way to help out others starting in the film industry.
Somewhere there is a Google doc called "Trejo's availability" which is the starting point for every movie's shooting schedule.
Jason Statham I first saw him as a side type character in the early guy Ritchie movies but he became the main man and has his own trademark style.
But does he like dags?
🤣🤣 I love that movie and Brad Pitt did very well with his incarnation as a 'Gypo'
I can't believe they made "Crank 2" but I'm glad they did.
Masterpiece. I'm not being in any way ironic.
He's a top bloke
Are you talking about the guy from this music video? https://youtu.be/uWu3JqLMImY?t=108
I remember reading an interview with him around the time of the first Transporter and he talked a bit about his various training and how he was keen to be a proper, convincing action star. Seemed like he had a really good attitude. Have also heard that he's just generally a decent guy. An old colleague of mine used to work as an extra and of the stars that she personally crossed paths with he was one of the ones she remembered positively. She said she had spilled a drink over herself or something and was rushing to get cleaned up, very wet and flustered, but when they went by each other he stopped to make sure she was ok. Think being that sort of person can really help a film career.
Hes said it himself, he cant act. He just shows up and acts like himself and hes lucky that people like that. He's said himself dont call me an actor
Handsome Rob gonna be handsome.
> He just shows up and acts like himself Also, be really ripped and handsome and have a super charming accent.
Especially given the egos of a lot of action stars. Being a dependable, easy going professional will get you pretty far.
Started watching the Transporter trilogy. Didn’t realize those movies were written with him in mind after they saw The One
He has so much presence or swagger or whatever you want to call it I can easily see why. He just owns any room that he's in.
Bryan Cranston. When most folks heard the goofy dad from Malcolm was going to be a bad guy, they wrote the show off. No way that guy could be taken seriously as a bad guy. Now that BB has greatly eclipsed Malcolm in popularity, the public option has flipped. They can’t believe Bryan Cranston was the goofy dad from Malcolm. I’ll also add John C. Reilly. He played a bunch of side characters in dramas. Then he starts to show off his comedic skill and becomes a huge star.
I just want to say I think playing Hal took an equal amount of ability as playing Walter white. Comedy can be hard and to this day his scenes in Malcolm still crack me up.
Comedy, in my opinion, is much harder to play than a serious role.
Cranston did a great role in the X Files back in the day
That's the thing. It's always the smaller roles people glaze over that you can really tell how great some of these actors are. Hank Azaria comes to mind that dude kills it in Live-action and in Cartoons!
Ryan Reynolds, Jack Black and Seth Green all had roles in X Files. Did a rewatch recently and it's fun spotting people who went onto bigger things.
I just finally realized like a month ago that Seth Green was in IT the television special.
I believe that role is what inspired Vince Gilligan (the creator of Breaking Bad) to wanting Bryan Cranston to play his lead character
I heard it was him as Tim Watley
That guy converted purely for the jokes!
You're anti-dentite!
If this wasn't my daughter's wedding I'd knock your teeth out you anti-dentite bastard.
Give me a schtickle of fluoride
Heath Ledger is another case of this. He was the young romantic lead with long blond hair, how could he possibly work as the Joker? Of course he’d only just started in an Oscar winning movie as a gay cowboy, despite being a straight Australian. And he’d acted a mediaeval knight. Those might be romantic leads but they already showed range in comedic vs. dramatic tone, accent, etc.
Yeah when I first saw the trailer for Talladega nights I was thinking of his role in Gangs of New York
Chris Pratt. I remember him being on Parks & Rec and never thought he would become this huge movie star ✨
I’ll raise you an earlier Chris Pratt on The OC he was the douchey ex boyfriend polar bears are dying guy, never thought he’d get past that role: https://youtu.be/ncwmvSY3XL0?si=DR10Uzlr7KEYr9U1
I'll raise you an earlier one. Anyone remember Everwood?
I've never watched Parks & Rec, but when I saw how he physically transformed himself to play the lead in Guardians of the Galaxy I was very impressed with his commitment! Even though I find him getting cast as the lead for almost everything to be a bit repetitive, it's nice for him that he can get work and not have to audition for it. Since he confirmed in an interview that he hasn't auditioned for a role since playing Star-Lord
I put your symptoms into this machine, and it said you have…network connectivity issues.
Still his best anything.
The comeback line was also great, just didn't make it to an episode.
There was also that scene where he completely destroyed a light switch with a briefcase and Rob Lowe was so shocked he literally turned into Chris Traeger for a few seconds.
One of the writers said he is pissed because it’s one of the best joke in the entire show, and Pratt improvised it
He’s the go to example for how an actor’s look affects the roles they can get. Early in his career he’s typecast as the douche coworker or shitty boyfriend that loses the girl. Then, according to him, he gained weight because his then-wife loved to bake; suddenly he’s able to be the funny fat friend. He gained more popularity with that and then was able to slim down to become a leading man.
Imagine being a fan of Everwood like me, a show most people have never heard of, and seeing his rise to fame from there.
Especially during the first season. He was not even a fun character until later seasons. But that is true of much of that show. Once they stopped trying to be a rehash of The Office and figured out how to draw comedy from their amazing ensemble it got great.
I never saw it when it first came out, but when it was recommended to me, the person recommended skipping the short first season. I sat through the first season, but it definitely found itself & took off in the second season.
Did not expect Marky Mark or the Fresh Prince to make the jump from music to film.
And then BOTH become highly sought after actors
Then both tanked their careers for being dumbasses off screen.
Well you gotta retire sometime lol
> tanked their careers The Transformers series has made nearly $5 *billion* and his IMDB shows he's starring in 1-4 movies per year for like 20 years. Can my career get tanked this badly?
Marky mark makes his money off producing. Doesn't even need to act in movies anymore.
You need to go outside more, cuz he starred in a movie that made $400m last year. Just cuz the vocal minority doesn’t like him for something that happened 30 years ago when he was a minor, doesn’t mean his career is tanked.
Never thought The Rock would be a big star, but now he is.
He started on Star Trek Voyager.
That was back when wrestling was on UPN and they would have wrestlers guest star on their shows.
I saw that episode with my son a few years ago and we were like, WTF?! The Rock!
The Net and That 70s Show were before Voyager.
TSUNKATSE!
I know with the right material he could become a star after the Rundown.
My favorite Rock movie, especially the 'passing the torch' bit with Arnold. "Good luck!"
IT DOESNT MATTER WHAT YOU THINK!
Yeah he is on the downhill slope of that now.
Learning that he has a “no losing/dying” clause for all of his roles kinda ruins any tension from the movies he makes.
Not sure how to square that with his very obvious death in The Other Guys.
Very easy to explain actually. That movie was made before The Rock started putting those clauses in his movies.
Or that reddit people suck at reading and dont know the clause is only about fast and furious cause he hates vin
Imagine the fragile ego he must have to have that in his contacts
It could be a fragile ego. It could be he thinks it's necessary to protect his brand.
watching Once Upon A Time In Hollywood made me understand why the Rock would do that
Somewhere else, someone explained there are fans who also can't handle when their hero is depicted as being less than winners. It makes me think of the whining when John Cena or Dave Bautista had their characters get their asses handed to them, as Peacemaker and Drax respectively.
Are you sure? I thought that was Vin Diesel that had that
It seems like he managed to internalize the Black Adam lesson and hopefully this leads to him branching out a bit in his roles. He's got comedic chops and he can act, so maybe he'll get quirky with it like Bautista
Maybe he'll start choosing more ambitious projects now that people seem to have gotten bored of his usual schtick. I'd like to see him try and tackle a more serious role, similar to Adam Sandler when he's not doing his Happy Madison films.
Adam Sandler is **immensely** more talented as an actor than The Rock and that's why he can nail either dramatic or comedic roles. The Rock simply can't do that...
That mentally challenged kid from What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.
Not as much of a long shot as the kid they introduced in the later seasons of Growing Pains who was homeless and lives with the family.
Heroin addict in Basketball Diaries
Yea, this is the one for me, too. Leo acted his ass off in Gilbert Grape, and you could tell he had the acting chops, so it wasn't hard to imagine he could be successful. Growing Pains was just a sitcom role, and on top of that, he was in a "Cousin Oliver" role, which is rarely successful.
Never go full R. Walk home empty handed. -Kirk Lazarus
You mean Lincoln Osiris. Kirk never breaks character until after the DVD commentary.
Or the boy who was in Critters 3.
You mean the main character from This Boys Life?
Emma Stone, didn’t expect much out of her after seeing her in Super Bad.
When I saw Superbad the first time I thought “oh it’s that daughter from Drive. Man that show was cancelled quick
Yeah, she was really good in Superbad, exceptionally charming and really stood out. But I didn't expect her to be suddenly this massive A-list start like a week later.
Matthew McConaughey. I loved Dazed and Confused, but never in a million years thought he'd turn in to the actor he is. Honestly ditto for Woody Harrelson (been a fan since Cheers), True Detective S1 couldn't have been what it was without both.
I know Matthew said he’d rather not have it confirmed, but I hope he and Woody get that DNA test done someday.
What?
They’re possibly half-brothers.
!
Apparently Woody’s dad who fun fact was a hitman, “knew” Matthew’s mom back in the day when his parents were separated. Then Matthew was born not long after. I can totally see the resemblance.
This is the craziest fun fact I’ve read all month
Time is a flat circle
A few years ago I watched through all of Cheers (I was a little kid when it first aired) and was honestly blown away by Woody on that show. Obviously lots of fantastic comedic actors there, but he steals every scene he’s in.
He had perfect timing as a comedic actor. I loved him and keifer Sutherland in The Cowboy Way.
And he really had some big shoes to fill.
I find fat Ben Affleck to be even more surprising from that movie. Must have watched it dozens of times as a teenager and it took me years to realize and accept that was Affleck.
Great choice. Hell of a career.
Timothee Chalamet. First time seeing him was in Interstellar. His performance was solid but it didn't blow me away whatsoever either. Didn't expect him to blow up the way he did lol
Had to watch the trailer again, I never realized it was him.
Wait he was in Interstellar? I've seen that movie like 4 times.
He was Coop’s teenage son.
What the fuck no way.
I recently just found out he also has a sister named Pauline whose also an actress! She's not as big as him, but she's one of the leads in this HBO Max show called The Sex Lives of College Girls
Dating myself significantly here, but I remember Adam Sandler as a background feature on an MTV gameshow where people in chairs were yeeted off stage by wrong answers, and his job was to make some crazy face and dumb noises. I thought it was the most juvenile, reductive, inane shit ever, and the dude was less funny than the average class clown.
Dating yourself indeed. I miss the days when Remote Control was the only non-music video style show on MTV. Bring back YO! MTV Raps and Headbangers Ball!
I remember Remote Control. He was in a skit called Beat the Bishop.
Adam Sandler has made crazy bank from series of movies I've never even heard of.
Stick Pin Quinn and The Stud Boy!
Harry Melling springs to mind. Small forgettable role in the Harry Potter films hardly made him leap out as someone with a bright future. He's been absolutely fantastic in everything I've seen him in, easily the most talented of the kid actors from those movies. Looking forward to whatever he does next.
The Devil All The Time changed my opinion of the acting skills for almost every actor in it. Like holy shit Spider-Man, Dudley Dursley and Cedric Diggory are all great actors. Bill Skarsgard is good in everything just like his dad so didn’t surprise me he was also great in that movie.
Ryan Gosling. Another Disney kid absolutely killing it.
I always forget he was a Disney kid
No matter what he does, Ryan Gosling will always be Sean Hanlon from Breaker High. (Just like Bradley Cooper will always be Will Tippin from Alias).
I never thought Jennifer Lopez's career would last and be as prominent as it has. Gotta give it to her for putting in the effort.
I mean, after Coming to America did we expect Samuel l Jackson to have THIS many credits?
For whatever reason, Pattinson. I think I compared him to Lautner too much. didn't really like him when he was in Twilight but now he's one of my favorites. On the opposite side, there's Cillian Murphy first saw him in Batman Begins where he was fantastic and I'm still baffled at how long it took him to break out on the movie scene
Cillian Murphy is an odd shout because, from my perspective, he's been a big name since 28 Days Later. There was that, Red Eye, and then Batman Begins. He was a pretty big name in the early-mid 2000s. Maybe not go-to, typical leading man fare, but undoubtedly a name that people took note of and watched out for.
He was big don't get me wrong. But not a superstar as I thought he would've been
I think because he took the lead on Peaky Blinders, shooting that possibly conflicted with a lot of his schedule and/or he didn't want to shoot other stuff that much while playing Tommy etc.
Just casually leaving out Sunshine?
Pattinson was absolutely the best part of Tenet.
Yeah I thought he was just going to be Edward Cullen. He’s spread his wings and shown he has real talent, and his Batman is fantastic.
He went right into a Cronenberg movie after Twilight. ‘Ok’ I thought, ‘trying to not get tied down to a type’. But I was still suspicious. Than I saw fucking Good Time. Never thought I would be a hardcore Pattinson fan but now here we are.
Rob has been amazing in everything I’ve seen him in except twilight (not his fault). He is revolting in The Devil all the Time and his Batman is in my top three. He’s just an outstanding actor who deserves all his success.
I loved what he did in Devil all the Time. Growing up in the US south, I’ve seen those types of preachers and religious people and he really turned it up. Great performance
I also grew up in the US south in the 1940s and couldn’t agree more. I always hated when preachers would knock up my sister
> Pattinson. I think I compared him to Lautner too much I was honestly expecting Lautner to become a bigger star compared to Pattinson, even though he wasn't a good actor. I thought he was appear in a lot of action blockbuster movies, now he's barely in anything anymore.
Giovanni Ribisi. He's done a lot more things than I ever thought he would.
He’s one of those guys whose always “around” but never the lead name.
Another one with a great X-Files episode!
I always loved when he'd pop up on Friends. Frank Jr was one of the best recurring characters. Also loved him in That Thing You Do!
Batista
By far the best working wrestler to actor transition. I hope to see more of him in Dune 2. He doesn't need to be Drax anymore. His dramatic work stands on its own.... Even though Drax is awesome....
Yeah, his super beefy appearance belies the impressive subtlety and depth of the performances I’ve seen from him of late. Even his small role in Bladerunner 2049 had weight to it. Looking forward to seeing what he does over the next few years.
> Even his small role in Bladerunner 2049 had weight to it. He absolutely owned that scene and proved what a good actor he really is.
His part in BR2049 was unexpectedly incredible. His miracle speech was fantastic
Simu Liu. From random cameos on TV shows like Nora from Queens, random YouTube appearances, and Kim's Convenience, hell, even our company still uses his stock photos for random things lmao. I never thought he'd be that big now. I also don't think he's that great of an actor, so thought that might have limited him too.
It's crazy how he got the role of Shang Chi just from posting a tweet, telling Marvel he's ready to talk about playing the character. I'm sure there was a process, but still he made it seem like getting it was so easy lol
Margot Robbie. Despite her skill, seeing her first as a sexpot in Wolf of Wall Street led me to believe those would be the roles she was limited to. So glad to be wrong. That woman is a powerhouse
Jenna Ortega. She was already big by X, but I saw X and thought Mia and Brittany stole the show, and I'm like "the church mouse is the one blowing up?"
I remember first seeing her in the second season of You, and I definitely didn't expect her to become huge. However, I knew right away that her playing Wednesday Addams was going to launch her career!
Johnny Knoxville had a nice run as a movie star. I never saw that coming.
Jeremy Renner. I remember seeing him on the Buffy spinoff Angel way back when, then Hurt Locker came out and I was like, “that guy?” Didn’t like him at first, but he totally won me over. Glad he’s been successful, and I hope he can come back from his big accident.
Anya Taylor Joy. She came totally out of left field for me but I've loved every movie / series I've seen her in so far.
In a good way, Florence Pugh. Saw her in Fighting With My Family, a fairly small movie about the wrestler Saraya Knight aka Paige, then suddenly she has her big breakthrough role in Midsommar then the next thing you know she’s in like Marvel movies and stuff. It wasn’t like I thought she’d be unsuccessful but like it was a real oh good for her moment
I remember Toni Collete in "Muriel's Wedding" in 1994. Great movie!! I loved her in it, but thought she was too weird to do normal roles. I'm so glad I was wrong. She has had an AMAZING career and she's still going strong.
When she showed up in the Sixth Sense and was so good in such a bit role I was like "oh yes I hope this is the beginning of good things!" and it was!
Bob Odenkirk
Olivia Coleman used to appear in shitty car insurance commercials in the UK. Then she got an Oscar. Huh…
There was a lot of awesome work in between those two things… Broadchurch Peep show Beautiful people Rev Fleabag Tyrannosaur Just to name a few
Keanu Reeves, let's be honest, he doesn't have a huge range, and didn't really have the action star machismo of say Bruce Willis or Schwarzenegger, I thought after the *Matrix* he'd kind of fade away, but 20 years later he's still an A list celebrity and action star.
You should see him attempt Shakespeare in Much Ado About Nothing. Wild stuff.
Lol, my second favorite of his roles. Right behind Ted Theodore Logan.
God bless him and Winona for attempting Dracula
Hi minor part in Always Be My Maybe on Netflix ( actual funny rom com) all ways make me chuckle when I think about his opening scene.
You have to watch **Destination Wedding** (if you haven't already) as it's a genuinely funny, off-beat comedy/drama that re-unites him with Winona Ryder. They are both great in it.
I always thought it would be 'Bill' that made it after 'Bogus journey' but Keanu surprised with a string of hits starting with 'Speed' and poor 'Bill' is hardly seen, except when they wheeled him out for the trilogy
Him as a quarterback in The Replacements…
Anytime Pete Davidson shows up, I’m like, this guy again? Why?
Lol I like the jokes that suggest he's more famous for the women he's dated than any of his own work.
Guy's face freaks me out
He looks like the human version of Ren Hoëk
I like “alive version of Beetlejuice”
John Cena, and he’s killing it. The guy has fantastic range, great delivery and real chops. He’s also an amazing human, has the world record for the most Make A Wish requests.
Peacemaker is a national treasure
I really didn't know what to expect going in. I was thinking it would be along the lines of a grindhouse. It had so much more heart than I expected and it turned into one of my favorite super hero shows. Partly cause it was made for adults.
Melanie Lynskey has been gaining a higher profile the last couple of years which I think is well deserved, but still surprises me.
I have loved her since I saw her in Ever After. She’s been one of my favorites for years!
Same! I've loved her since the 90's, but I don't recall her ever getting the attention she has been getting since Yellowjackets & Last of Us.
Mariska Hargitay. I first remember her as the mousy little unit clerk on ER who played against Anthony Edwards. I liked her then, but who expected her to kick SVU ass to the tune of $100 million net worth!
Michelle Williams. From Dawson's Creek to 5x Oscar nominee. Helen Hunt - from Mad About You to Oscar winner. Steve Carrell. As someone who did not watch The Daily Show, and HATED The Office, his work in movies has pleasantly surprised me. Robert Downey Jr. His addictions and legal issues in the 90s could have completely derailed his life and career, and he was considered 'uninsurable' for productions. But he turned his life around and became one of the biggest stars in the world, beloved by audiences. 20-ish years ago, when he was fired from Ally McBeal, I never would have expected his career to turn out the way it has.
Gal Gadot, who has neither acting chops nor screen presence but who nevertheless has had a very big career.
She gets paired with more talented male and female costars and I assume she keeps getting cast for her looks.
Who expected the would be robber from Coming to America would grow up to be Samuel Mother fucking Jackson?
Michael B. Jordan. I remember back when he was just Reggie from All My Children.
Where the fuck is Wallace? Was my first introduction to his acting
maybe jonah hill? or maybe he just expanded his roles
Disney kid actors don't have the best of luck as adults? Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling, Zac Efron would like a word.
Ryan Reynolds. He was okay on the pizza-place show with the hot annoying blond. And the other guy. But I just thought he was the tall, slightly funny buddy. And then the Van Wilder movies, I thought, well, that's his 15 minutes. But holy shit. Homeboy is turning into a freaking mogul...
Tom Holland. He was a great child actor and definitely stood out in his breakthrough role in The Impossible so it’s not like it wasn’t evident that he was super talented from a young age. However given his look, statue and background I assumed he was designed to play character roles on British TV rather than becoming a leading man A-lister in Hollywood.
This is going to sound crazy, but coming off Bosom Buddies, Tom Hanks.
Leonardo DiCaprio, never thought Luke from Growing Pains would be the biggest name in Hollywood.
Pedro Pascal. I remember seeing him on Buffy for 1 or 2 episodes, then he apeared on Game of Thrones. And now, he's everywhere.
Not as famous as other people who were mentioned here, but I keep seeing Jack Quaid pop up in all kinds of things now, and I'm so happy for him! Been following his career for a while now, and it's crazy that this little known actor I proclaimed one of my favorites a few years back now showed up in Oppenheimer of all movies. Go Jack!
Well probably helps that his parents are Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan
Diane Lane. She started with 'A Little Romance' in 1979 as a young girl, and recently played Superman's Mom. Nominated for every award extant, was, several times, the best looking actress breathing, and starred in the single finest film ever made, (drum roll)... ...Streets of Fire. Yessir.
A background character from Hamilton is an Oscar Winner (Ariana Debose)
Scarlett Johansson. I remember seeing this girl in Ghost World, a small, cult-like black-comedy movie starring Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi. And.. I think you know who she is now.
Pretty much anybody from Skins. Watching the first series when it came out, I thought it was absolutely awful and that I was going mad because so many people around me were praising the hell out of it. I especially was not a fan of Nic Hoult or Dev Patel’s characters and thought they were dreadful actors because of it. Fast forward two decades and now both Hoult and especially Patel are super successful actors that are both on my “must watch a film if they’re in it” list. In addition to that we’ve also seen some great performances by people like Hannah Murray, Joe Dempsie, Jack O’Connell and a several others that surprised me. Who knows, maybe I’ll even revisit Skins one day and find myself not hating it as much as I did back then.
I will always be surprised at the sheer number of movies Nicolas Cage stars in every year.
Martin Freeman
Vin Deisel - to this day, I don’t get it.
Ryan Reynolds. Almost every movie he's ever made has been pretty lousy. From 2000 to Deadpool I'm guessing he made 3 or fewer well regarded movies, but Hollywood REALLY wanted to make him happen and by God they eventually did it.
Kristen Stewart. Not sure how she has a career since every time I've seen her in anything she jas the personality of an unseasoned chicken wing
Tom Hiddleston
Who the hell watched WWE and ever thought Cena or Bautista would be so great? But here we are. Best 2 wrestlers turned actors bar none.
The Rock. i never realized a wrestling star could become one of hollywoods biggest actors. still kinda blown away....i mean hulk hogan tried it, and failed miserably. he was literally the biggest wrestler in history, he was absolutely massive in the 80s, everybody knew who he was, but he did a few movies and they were certified stinkers. he did a reality show and then kinda faded (relatively) away into obscurity. poeple still know him, but he's no dwayne johnson.