# Films with Post Facto ensemble casts **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 18, 2010, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606 "2010-08-18T07:07:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/41 "2010-08-19T02:15:48Z")
The example I have is _The Lords of Flatbush_ (1974). Three of the four stars are Sylvester Stallone, Henry Winkler, and Perry King. All near the beginning of their careers. I have to disagree with several of these choices. The cast of _The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai_ (1985) were modestly well known. _Uncommon Women and Others_ (1917) is a little dubious. Jill Eikenberry in an early lead role is interesting. Swoozie Kurtz is further down the cast list. Meryl Streep is even further down the cast list. Alexander Scourby was already well known. Nobody else has had much of a career. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/42 "2010-08-19T02:53:07Z")
I’m not sure what you mean by “ensemble casts,” but here are three classics: **Citizen Kane** Orson Welles Joseph Cotton Agnes Moorehead Ruth Warrick Ray Collins Everett Sloane The actors were appearing in their first major film, and many went on to long careers. **MASH** Donald Sutherland Elliott Gould Tom Skerrit Robert Duvall Sally Kellerman Roger Bowen Gary Burghoff Rene Auberjonois John Schuck Michael Murphy But Cort All were virtual unknowns when the movie was made. Only Sutherland made any important movies. **American Grafitti** Ron Howard Harrison Ford Richard Dreyfuss Cindy Williams Candy Clarke Mackenzie Philips Joe Spano Suzanne Somers Paul Le Mat Charles Martin Smith Howard, of course, was known as Opie, but was not a movie star and was only appearing sporadically as an adult actor. ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/43 "2010-08-19T16:19:22Z")
By the standards of this thread just about any movie could qualify. Wow, turns out the entire cast were a bunch of random actors, who proceeded to make some other movies as well. Big whoop. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/44 "2010-08-19T16:36:04Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > > The kids in \*Stand By Me \* : > > > > - River Phoenix > > - Quinn Malory from _Sliders_ > > - Wesley Crusher from _Star Trek TNG_ > > Did you just forget to mention Jack Bauer? How about John Cusack too? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/45 "2010-08-19T16:40:49Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > > The kids in \*Stand By Me \* : > > > > - River Phoenix > > - Quinn Malory from _Sliders_ > > - Wesley Crusher from _Star Trek TNG_ > > Did you just forget to mention Jack Bauer? And Corey Feldman and John Cusack. It’s hard to believe the fat kid from that film grew up to be so handsome. The Outsiders had a fair few, none of who had (according to the IMDB) been in anything big before: Matt Dillon … Dallas Winston ``` Ralph Macchio ... Johnny Cade Patrick Swayze ... Darrel Curtis Rob Lowe ... Sodapop Curtis Emilio Estevez ... Two-Bit Matthews Tom Cruise ... Steve Randle ``` I haven’t included C. Thomas Howell as I don’t think he counts as famous enough afterwards, or Sofia Copolla because her main success if as a director, not an actress. It’s also an actual ensemble cast, to satisfy the purists. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/46 "2010-08-19T17:25:48Z")
Animal House: In addition to John Belushi, Donald Sutherland, and John Vernon, you had: ``` Tom Hulce Stephen Furst Kevin Bacon Karen Allen Tim Matheson Peter Riegert Bruce McGill ``` None of whom were very large at the time, and all of whom have had significant careers since (except that Bacon guy – whatever happened to him?). ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/47 "2010-08-19T17:52:29Z")
Not quite along the same lines, but as a friend pointed out to me recently- who thought the two leads in _Ten Things I Hate About You_ would end up two of the most respected actors of their generation? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/48 "2010-08-19T17:55:25Z")
In addition to Cruise & Kilmer, who were already famous at the time, _Top Gun_ had Meg Ryan and Tim Robbins in small roles. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/49 "2010-08-19T17:57:18Z")
Of their generation? Heath Ledger did one classic role, died and then stole the Batman movie. Julia Stiles? I think “10 Things” is the last movie of hers I have seen. I had no idea that she was considered the best of her generation. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/50 "2010-08-19T18:11:54Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Of their generation? Heath Ledger did one classic role, died and then stole the Batman movie. > > Julia Stiles? I think “10 Things” is the last movie of hers I have seen. I had no idea that she was considered the best of her generation. **Troy McClure SF** is referring to Joseph Gordon Levitt, who is a pretty big deal as far as young actors go. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/51 "2010-08-19T20:01:26Z")
I think of these as “Hey, I didn’t know HE was in this” movies. The classic example is [Cool Hand Luke,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_Hand_Luke) which included a cast of mostly vaguely-familiar-looking unknowns. For many years afterwards, every time we watched it on television, another “unknown” would have become famous in the interim, e.g., a very young Dennis Hopper. Mind you, this is different from many examples above in that **CHL** did not _make_ them famous (except for George Kennedy, who won an Oscar). I think there’s one shining **HIDKHWIT** in each generation, but it won’t be recognized until twenty years later (for obvious reasons). For forty-somethings (pushing fifty, yikes) I give you [Hamburger Hill.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger_Hill) ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/52 "2010-08-19T20:54:03Z")
**Revenge of the Nerds** definitely falls into this category. Among other actors, it features: -Anthony Edwards (ER) -James Cromwell (Babe, LA Confidential) -Ted McGinley (famous for causing TV shows to jump the shark) -John Goodman Along with a bunch of less well known people who have shown up all over the place -Timothy Busfield (West Wing, Field of Dreams) -Donald Gibb (Bloodsport) -David Wohl (Saving Private Ryan) -Bernie Casey (Bill and Ted) Lead-billed Robert Carradine is still working steadily, but has never really made it big. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/53 "2010-08-19T21:19:39Z")
The Sure Thing: John Cusack Daphne Zuniga Anthony Edwards Tim Robbins Nicollette Sheridan ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/54 "2010-08-19T23:32:24Z")
“Can’t Hardly Wait” had a solid soon-to-be-mainstays of Cable Television cast. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ethan Embry, Seth Green, Peter Facinelli (most recently on Nurse Jackie)Lauren Ambrose, Freddy Rodriguez and Eric Balfour (all were on Six Feet Under) and a score of folks. Jason Segil and Jamie Pressly also had small parts. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/55 "2010-08-20T13:18:11Z")
Hard to believe, but the cast of _Carrie_ was pretty much unknown in the film world when the movie was made Sissy Spacek as Carrie White Piper Laurie as Mrs. White Amy Irving as Sue Snell William Katt as Tommy Ross Betty Buckley as Miss Collins Nancy Allen as Chris Hargensen John Travolta as Billy Nolan ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/56 "2010-08-20T16:46:58Z")
While not exactly unknown at the time, the cast of _Boogie Nights_ still only had one Oscar nominee (William H. Macy) among them when it was released. 10 years later, that number had jumped to seven, adding Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Don Cheadle, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Mark Wahlberg in the interim. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/57 "2010-08-21T18:06:42Z")
Casring Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey in _The Color Purple_ was definitely a leap of faith for Spielberg. As usual, he knew what he was doing. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/58 "2010-08-22T04:51:45Z")
[The Bounty](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000358/) had then-unknown **Daniel Day Lewis** and **Liam Neeson** in small parts. **Mel Gibson** (already a star) headed the cast which also featured **Anthony Hopkins** , who was known at the time, but was not the A-Lister he became later (after _Silence of the Lambs_). ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/59 "2010-08-22T04:53:57Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > The Sure Thing: > > John Cusack > Daphne Zuniga > Anthony Edwards > Tim Robbins > Nicollette Sheridan …and future Atlanta radio celebrity Jimmy Baron. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606/60 "2010-08-22T05:03:43Z")
[Lucas](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091445/fullcredits#cast) had a pre-stardom: Corey Haim Charlie Sheen Winona Ryder Jeremy Piven Gary Cole [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-post-facto-ensemble-casts/550606.md?page=2)