# Cases of Retrognition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 23, 2005, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489 "2005-02-23T05:44:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/1 "2005-02-23T05:44:56Z")
Sometimes I’ll rewatch a movie I’ve seen years before and realize for the first time that it features a now famous actor or actress I didn’t recognize at the time and didn’t remember as having been in there. Examples: I didn’t remember Renee Zellwegger as the bimbo wife suing for divorce in _Liar, Liar_ Billy Bob Thornton as a gambler in _Indecent Proposal_ Orlando Bloom as the prostitute Oscar eyes in _Wilde_ Are there any actors you’ve retrognized upon seeing the movie again? ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/2 "2005-02-23T06:26:19Z")
Billy Bob Thornton as “Johnny Tyler” in _Tombstone_. ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/3 "2005-02-23T11:16:12Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Renee Zellwegger as the bimbo wife suing for divorce in _Liar, Liar_ That was actually Jennifer Tilly, not Renee Zellwegger. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/4 "2005-02-23T11:46:33Z")
Benicio Del Toro as a knife-wielding young henchman in **Licence To Kill** , the disastrous last Timothy Dalton Bond movie. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/5 "2005-02-23T12:06:18Z")
Renee Zellwegger is a good one though. I had seen and forgotten her in _Reality Bites_, _8 Seconds_ and _Empire Recprds_ before _Jerry Maguire_ and they were all reasonable roles. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/6 "2005-02-23T12:45:42Z")
I annoy my friends with this habit all the time. I’m hell to watch movies and TV shows with. I may not always know actors’ names but I’ll watch a performance, going, “Where have I seen her/him before?” “Locke” from _Lost_ was the _Stepfather._ Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes in _Wildcats._ I swear to God I spotted Michael Clarke Duncan in an uncredited role in \*A Soldier’s Story \* as the MP who arrests Denzel Washington at the movie’s end. If that’s not him, I want to know who else black in Hollywood is that huge. NYPD Blue’s Dennis Franz was a Rough House Boy in _Popeye._ Realizing that edgy Radio Raheem from _Do The Right Thing_ is now pudgy Joe Robertson in the \*Spider-Man \* movies. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/7 "2005-02-23T12:52:46Z")
I just watched the Pacino “Scarface” on DVD (after not having seen the movie for 10 years) and was surprised to see a younger F. Murray Abraham as a drug lord’s henchman. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/8 "2005-02-23T13:05:28Z")
One of my favorite movies, Dazed and Confused is chock full of soon to be famous people. I think the only one who _didn’t_ go on to become famous was the leads Mitch Kramer and Jason London. Ben Affleck played a mean and stupid bully, Mathew McConaughey was a creepy older guy who liked to hit on the high school girls. When I saw Saving Private Ryan that German soldier killed Adam Goldberg I thought immediately of the wuss who got his ass kicked at the kegger. Rory Cochran from CSI: Miami played a pot head. Milla Jovovich, Paker Posey. ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/9 "2005-02-23T13:06:15Z")
John Cleese in _The Great Muppet Caper_. The first time I saw that film, at age ~10, I knew nothing of Monty Python… ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/10 "2005-02-23T13:51:48Z")
M_A_S_H_ episodes can be good for this - I’ve seen Ron Howard, Pat Morita, John Ritter, and a bunch of other character actors. It’s also fun to watch late, great '80s shows - MacGuyver had Cuba Gooding Jr. on once. I’m sure there more. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/11 "2005-02-23T14:04:50Z")
**Benny Hill** in one of the early James Bond films (Moonraker?). **Jackie Chan** in Cannon Ball Run II (and he was so young). ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/12 "2005-02-23T14:12:41Z")
I just remembered another one. **John Ratzenberger** (Cliff on Cheers), was an American Jeep driver (for C. Bergan playing Margaret Brooke-White) in Ghandi. The weird thing though is that I am sure someone else does his voice. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/13 "2005-02-23T14:12:45Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > I annoy my friends with this habit all the time. I’m hell to watch movies and TV shows with. I may not always know actors’ names but I’ll watch a performance, going, “Where have I seen her/him before?” This is an ongoing contest between Mr. S and me. It’s always a race to see (1) who can figure out where the person is familiar from and (2) who can come up with the definitive line from that other role to make the pther person guess who it is. Yes, we’re movie trivia dorks. > [@Askia](#): > > I swear to God I spotted Michael Clarke Duncan in an uncredited role in \*A Soldier’s Story \* as the MP who arrests Denzel Washington at the movie’s end. If that’s not him, I want to know who else black in Hollywood is that huge. I thought I saw him in one of those Blockbuster “no more late fees” commercials, but Mr. S identified the guy as the photo-place guy who had the hots for George on _Seinfeld_ and sent him a “boudoir” photo of himself. Don’t know if he’s as big as MCD, but he’s quite burly. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/14 "2005-02-23T14:29:57Z")
Oh, I remember being shocked at seeing The Pathmark Guy (James Karen) become a zombie in Return of The Living Dead. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/15 "2005-02-23T14:46:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Benny Hill in one of the early James Bond films (Moonraker?). I don’t think Benny Hill appeared in any of the James Bond films. He _did_ appear in the intro to **Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines** It was, I believe, one of very few films he did. Rowan Atkinson (Blackadder, Mr. Bean) appeared with Sean Connery in the non-Eon Bond film **Never Say Never Again** , a case of retrocognition for me. I thought it was a hoot that he went on to do **Johnny English**. And, by the way, by no means is “Moonraker” an “early” Bond film. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/16 "2005-02-23T14:56:33Z")
Sylvester Stallone shows up as a thug in Woody Allen’s **Bananas**. He was unknown then, but today you watch the film and everyone gasps when you get thatr unmistakable full-face shot of Stallone. He also shows up (with other familiar faces) in **Mean Streets**. I was surprised to see Ted Danson playing the philanderer who gets drowned by betrayed husband Leslie Nielsen in **Creepshow**. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/17 "2005-02-23T15:03:12Z")
As a student in the UK in the mid-'80s, I used to watch _The Young Ones_ on TV. One of the first episodes I ever saw was “Bambi,” in which the boys are on a university-challenge type quiz show against some students from a posh school. Seeing it again a few years later, I was astonished to recognize the posh students as Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, and Hugh Laurie. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/18 "2005-02-23T16:34:41Z")
In high school I quite liked _True Romance_ - imagine my surprise on re-watching it to realize the guy who beats the living crap out of Patricia Arquette is James Gandolfini! ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/19 "2005-02-23T16:47:49Z")
Zsofia. That’s a good one. felt the same way when I rewatched GOODFELLAS and realized Michael Imperioli "was Spider, the kid Joe Pesci shot. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489/20 "2005-02-23T16:56:07Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > I just watched the Pacino “Scarface” on DVD (after not having seen the movie for 10 years) and was surprised to see a younger F. Murray Abraham as a drug lord’s henchman. You can’t trust him! He killed Mozart! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cases-of-retrognition/291489.md?page=2)