# Stars unrecognizable in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175 "2006-10-27T21:40:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/1 "2006-10-27T21:40:45Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/2 "2006-10-27T21:47:53Z")
Hugh Beaumont had a brief appearance in an “Our Gang” short [Good Bad Boys](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032542/). Even knowing which character he is, I still don’t recognize him. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/3 "2006-10-27T21:48:30Z")
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](http://www.archives.gov/calendar/features/2004/october/images/Hepburn-Macmurray.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/4 "2006-10-27T21:49:29Z")
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_. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/5 "2006-10-27T21:55:52Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/6 "2006-10-27T21:59:43Z")
Anne Carlisle - who starred as Margaret in [the Liquid Sky](http://imdb.com/title/tt0085852/). 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”! ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/7 "2006-10-27T22:00:28Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Tortuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Tortuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tortuga)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/8 "2006-10-27T22:04:09Z")
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. ---
**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:** [October 27, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/9 "2006-10-27T22:12:01Z")
Dwigh Yoakam again in Panic Room. ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/10 "2006-10-27T22:15:27Z")
[QUOTE=Tortuga] 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. [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/11 "2006-10-27T22:21:13Z")
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](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0186505/), 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. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/12 "2006-10-27T22:26:11Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/13 "2006-10-27T23:39:16Z")
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. ---
**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:** [October 27, 2006, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/14 "2006-10-27T23:44:38Z")
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](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman/GBF/bodyguard.htm) (and the one in the middle is Matt Dillon). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/15 "2006-10-28T00:51:22Z")
Meryl Streep in the Lemony Snicket movie. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/16 "2006-10-28T00:57:16Z")
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…” ---
**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:** [October 28, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/17 "2006-10-28T01:00:28Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/18 "2006-10-28T02:56:01Z")
Ooo! Ooo! I have the perfect one. Anthony Hopkins in the Elephant Man, 1980. Wow, I mean _wow_. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/19 "2006-10-28T03:03:15Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] Ooo! Ooo! I have the perfect one. Anthony Hopkins in the Elephant Man, 1980. Wow, I mean _wow_. [/QUOTE] Didn’t know it was him 'till I read the credits, but I spotted [John Hurt](http://www.earthphish.com/elephant_man.jpg) right away! 😛 CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175/20 "2006-10-28T03:06:26Z")
A very young Danny DeVito in **One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-unrecognizable-in-movies/378175.md?page=2)