You gotta start somewhere. C’mon, you’re a kid from Indiana,
you took a Greyhound to Hollywood, you’ve got a job at TGI Friday’s ... You’re
going to take whatever you can get.
And that’s especially the case if you weren’t already famous
through some other route – Hollywood royalty, Broadway, TV, singer, comedian … I’m
talking Julie Andrews, Carrie Fisher, Jennifer Anniston, Doris Day, Bette
Midler, Will Smith, Eddie Murphy …
Now, chances are it’s not going to be a starring role
either. I mean, it’s bad enough to be in Zombie Bikers from Outer Space, but if
you’re also an extra, or uncredited, or 2nd barmaid, it’s gonna hurt
even more. (That said, you might just be a nobody in a really good flick. Did you
know, for example, that Morgan Freeman’s first role was as an extra in The
Pawnbroker?)
So, who are these folks?
Methodology
- Looked at a couple of lists of the top 100 actors and actresses
- Found their first movie on IMDb (excluding shorts, videos, etc. – but more than happy to include TV movies)
- Saw what the ranking was, going with those that were less than 5.0 out of 10
- Listed them here
12 Tom Hanks
He Knows You’re Alone – 4.9
Elliot
A reluctant bride to be is stalked by a
serial killer who only kills brides and the people around them. While her
friends get whacked one by one, a hard boiled renegade cop whose bride had been
killed years before tries to hunt him down before it is too late. Meanwhile,
the bride has to figure out if it is all in her imagination or not, aided by
her ex-boyfriend.
"Every girl is frightened the night before
her wedding, but this time... there's good reason!"
11 Tom Cruise
Endless Love – 4.8
Billy
Two young teenagers, Jade Butterfield and
David Axelrod, fall in love with each other. But the passion is too consuming
for Jade's bohemian parents. Her parents try to stop them from seeing each
other. But when this doesn't work, David burns down the house and is sent to a
mental hospital. This doesn't stop him from seeing her. When he gets out, he
goes to look for her and remains in love with her. But in the end, the passion
for his first love is too strong and she has to leave or this love will kill
both of them.
"She is 15. He is 17. The love every parent
fears."
10 Joe Pesci
Hey, Let’s Twist! – 4.8
Dancer at the Peppermint Club (uncredited)
The rise, fall and rise again of the
Peppermint Lounge nightclub is chronicled. The sons of the Peppermint Lounge
nightclub owner nearly topple the club's initial success by redesigning the
place but realize their mistake.
"The Exciting Movie About THE Sensation!"
9 Paul Newman
The Silver Chalice – 4.7
Basil
A Greek artisan is commissioned to cast the
cup of Christ in silver, and sculpt around its rim, the faces of the disciples
and Jesus. He travels to Jerusalem and eventually to Rome to complete the task.
Meanwhile, a nefarious interloper is trying to convince the crowds that he is
the new Messiah, by using nothing more than cheap parlor tricks.
"I bid you seek the lost Silver Cup... for
Sin is rising like the swollen rivers..."
8 Demi Moore
Choices – 4.7
Corri
Partially deaf teenager Carafotes becomes
alienated when prevented from playing football because of his handicap. He must
deal with his parents, coach, teammates, his new girlfriend and a bad crowd he
almost falls into, before confronting the school board.
"Youth won't always take no for an answer!"
7 Leonardo Di Caprio
Critters 3 – 4.3
Josh
In what appears to be a cross between
Critters and The Towering Inferno, the residents of a shoddy L.A. apartment
block are chased up to the roof by hoards of the eponymous hairy horrors.
"You are what they eat"
6 Robin Williams
Can I Do It Until I Need Glasses? – 4.3
Lawyer / Man with Toothache
A comedy comprised of short sexually suggestive skits
"It's the nuttiest, naughtiest, looniest, gooniest, funniest
madcap comedy of the year!"
Actually a year or two before
5 Charlize Theron
Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest – 4.1
Eli’s Follower (uncredited)
Two young Gatlin residents are orphaned after the younger
brother kills their father. So, the terror of Gatlin goes urban when the two
boys are placed in the custody of two foster parents. The younger brother (who
by this point is established as the "evil one") bought some corn
seeds along for the road and plants them in the courtyard of an abandoned
warehouse, bring He Who Walks Behind the Rows to the city. He winds up
possessing his high school peers, and soon his older brother feels called to
stop him.
"An Adult Nightmare is about to show its face in the heart of
a city!"
4 George Clooney
Grizzly II: The Concert – 3.8
Ron
All hell breaks loose when a giant Grizzly,
reacting to the slaughter of Grizzlies by poachers, attacks at a massive
big-band rock concert in the National Park.
"The Stage Is Set... And The Dinner Is Served."
3 Julia Roberts
Firehouse – 3.1
Babs (uncredited)
Some sexy women get out of Fire Fighter School and go for
the jobs they trained for, but first they must survive their male counterparts
teasing them.
"When the fire's out...the heat is on"
2 Sandra Bullock
Hangmen – 3.0
Lisa Edwards
Danny Greene is just like every sixteen-year-old
kid...except that a secret splinter group of the CIA wants him dead. Danny
Greene is running for his life. Enter Danny's father, an ex-Greene Beret
equipped with a rag-tag bunch of urban guerillas and an entire arsenal of
weaponry. But can five former commandos defeat the largest, most thorough
network of government-sanction assassins in the world? In this high-stakes world,
before the case even gets to trial, someone's already called the Hangmen.
"In this world no one is innocent, and if you want to live,
you've got to beat the Hangmen."
Yup, that's a kaffeya
1 Harrison Ford
Malibu Hot Summer – 2.5
John Logan
John Logan is a poor little rich boy. He learns to love from
three nubile L.A. newcomers that will do anything to be introduced into the
sizzling nightlife of the City of Angels. Portraying the Malibu beach life by
day, and the L.A. club life by night, Sizzle Beach U.S.A. is a stunning insiders
critique on the sex and drug lifestyle of the West Coast swinger scene in the
early 80s.
"Hot sand! Hot bodies! Hot Costner!"
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