Ever see a star in a movie that features them so much younger/skinnier/different than you are used to you that you don’t even recognize them? Well, if you ever get a chance to see “My Best Friend is a Vampire”, watch closely for a very short scene with a much skinnier Kathy Bates.
Any other stars unrecognizable in a movie?
Hugh Beaumont had a brief appearance in an “Our Gang” short Good Bad Boys. Even knowing which character he is, I still don’t recognize him.
I watched Katharine Hepburn in Alice Adams a while back, and at first I did not recognize the young and very handsome male lead as Fred MacMurray.
What was the name of that silly dreck movie which starred Raquel Welch and Mae West? Myra Breckinridge, maybe? You may see a very young and extremely gorgeous Tom Selleck in that flick.
Does the disguise of well-done makeup count? I dare anyone to recognize a very young Alec Guinness under that rubber nose when he played Fagin in David Lean’s Oliver Twist.
If disguises count, check out The List of Adrian Messenger, which features appearances by Tony Curtis, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, and Robert Mitchum, all in such heavy makeup that they are hard to spot. At the end of the movie, each star peels off his prosthetic makeup, revealing his true identity.
Anne Carlisle - who starred as Margaret in the Liquid Sky. Granted, she’s not a household name, but most people who’ve seen her in this film initially don’t recognize her in her other big (well, cult) movie role - as Jimmy in…“the Liquid Sky”!
For whatever reason, I must have watched “Anchorman” 10 times before I recognised Tim Robbins. And he had the coolest lines in the whole film!
mm
It wasn’t until I saw the credits that I realised Dwight Yoakam was the evil boyfriend(stepdad?) in SlingBlade. I was looking for him the whole film.
Charlize Theron looked dramatically different in Monster, but as her haggard appearance was heavily featured in promos it doesn’t count.
Dwigh Yoakam again in Panic Room.
Dwight Yoakum shows up in the weirdest places. Check him out as the guy getting divorced in “Wedding Crashers.”
And yeah, Charlize Theron in “Monster” doesn’t count.
This one was probably obvious to everyone else (it certainly was to my wife), but until his voice hit a certain pitch, I didn’t recognize that Greg Kinnear’s agent in “Little Miss Sunshine” was none other than Bryan Cranston, the father from “Malcolm In The Middle.” Similarly, I didn’t recognize him at all in “Saving Private Ryan,” which I just saw for the first time about three weeks ago, until my wife pointed him out to me.
Walter Brennan and John Carradine had bit parts in “The Bride of Frankenstein”. I didn’t realize this until it was pointed on the a DVD audio commentary.
Anthony Michael Hall in Edward Scissorhands. And in Freddy Got Fingered, too.
That geeky kid grew up to be a pretty well-built and handsome guy.
Gene Hackman in Young Frankenstein.
I watched Zack Ward in the TV show “Titus,” finding him vaguely familiar, until I discovered he played Scut Farkus in A Christmas Story.
I also was a fan of the film My Bodyguard as well as Firefly, but it wasn’t until very recently that I realized the title character in the former was Adam Baldwin. Take a look at the photo (and the one in the middle is Matt Dillon).
Meryl Streep in the Lemony Snicket movie.
When Meg Ryan appeared as a Brooklyn-accented brunette in Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), I remember thinking, “Og! That’s one sweet chyk. Who was she?”
It wasn’t till her second appearance in the film (as another character) that I put 2 + 2 together and got Meg Ryan.
“Don’t you think I am aware there is a woman here? I can smell her, like, like a flower. I can taste her, like sugar on my tongue. When I’m 20 feet away I can hear the fabric of her dress when she moves in her chair…”
I didn’t recognize Goldie Hawn at the beginning of Overboard.
I also didn’t recognize William Forsythe in The Waterdance, having seen him previously in Raising Arizona. I had a lot more respect for him as an actor after that.
Ooo! Ooo! I have the perfect one.
Anthony Hopkins in the Elephant Man, 1980. Wow, I mean wow.
Didn’t know it was him 'till I read the credits, but I spotted John Hurt right away!
CMC fnord!
A very young Danny DeVito in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
