I knew this one for years but it cracked me up to drop it on unsuspecting people…
Vincent D’Onofrio as Thor in Adventures in Babysitting and also as Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket. And there’s plenty more roles he’s had that are almost indistinguishable from his normal looks or other parts. But those two, to me, are demonstrate the hugest gap.
Muscular blond god versus pudgy maniac. Decisions, decisions. Guess I’d still take either (or both!), just because I have such a crush on him. Sigh.
(From ‘Just Shoot Me’)
I remember my ‘aha!’ moment from this also. Even though I saw Galaxy Quest 7 years ago I was watching Just Shoot Me a few months ago. Elliot (the photographer) did a voice almost like his Galaxy Quest character. Me: “Hey, he sounds like the alien from… wait a minute… what the… that is him!!”
It took me almost the whole movie to figure out that the Prince from Syriana was Dr. Bashir from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The beard and the scary good acting threw me off.
My “whoa” moment was sort of backwards: realizing that the obnoxious overgrown bully with a paddle in Dazed and Confused was the player Ned from Shakespeare in Love, Ben Affleck.
Did not know that about Vincent D’Onofrio! Loved Thor.
Heh, not to brag, but I had the opposite experience: I saw maybe five seconds of his eyes in the trailer and went ‘Bashir!’ But I was in the process of watching DS9 all the way through right then, so it’s not that impressive.
Just Shoot Me, thank you, yes. And I too only realized a few months ago.
Well to be fair to myself, I knew I recognized him from somewheres. And I hadn’t seen a DS9 in like forever.(Its never on, anymore)
An IMDB search also shows that Alex Siddig was also in Kingdom of Heaven. I completely missed him in that movie.
As I mentioned in another thread, it took me about a dozen viewings of **Band of Brothers **to realize that guy who played Private Blithe was the same guy who’s in **Hustle **.
Originally Kattral was supposed to play Saavik, the character that Kristie Alley played in Wrath of Kahn. And it was originally supposed to be Saavik as the vulcan traitor character in VI.
For me it was Becky’s husband from Roseanne and Doyle from Angel. (in my defense I didn’t really watch Angel at all in the first two seasons) Same actor…and now he’s dead. Sad times.
I never would have guess and I have probably watch Real Genius a dozen times over the years.
Biggest surprise for me was the Actor who played Ralph Houk in *61 and Walter Hagen in The Legend of Bagger Vance was Bruce McGill who was D-Day in Animal House and the Sheriff in My Cousin Vinny. Animal House was his first major role and he never stopped working since and I never recognized him until I was trying to confirm that Houk & Hagen were the same actor.
My Cousin Vinnie is one of my favorite movies. The actor playing Sheriff Dean Farley always seemed familiar but I couldn’t quite place him. Saw him some more on Quantum Leap and McGyver. Finally got around one day to looking him up on IMDB.
Recently I watched the beginning of a not-so-hot action movie called Sunset Grill. There was a scene that featured a skinny, surly Latino punk getting pushed around. The guy looked hauntingly familiar, but it was only after a visit to the IMDb that I learned that it was Benito Martinez, who is so good as Police Captain Aceveda (later City Councilman Aceveda) in The Shield.
Tell me about it. My husband is still trying to convince me that Edgar from Men in Black is the same guy as Orson Welles in Ed Wood. I still don’t believe it.
Here’s one from a couple of old films I just recently realized:
Gottlieb, Groucho’s nemesis in A Night at the Opera was Seargent Schultz in Stalag 17. His name was Sig Ruman
And Burt Saxby in the James Bond Film Diamonds are Forever was the leading man, Jack Driscoll, in the original King Kong – Bruce Cabot.
That reminds me Agnes Moorehead is well known as Endora in Bewitch. She was also Mary Kane in Citizen Cane and in a famous Twilight Zone Episode “The Invaders”
Elsa Lanchester might be known to you as Katie Nanna in Mary Poppins or Aunt Henrietta in the Nanny and the Professor and Aunt Queenie Holroyd in Bell Book and Candle. All very similar parts. She was the Bride of Frankenstein.
That may be the weirdest simulpost ever. Not only because it’s a weird coincidence, but who doens’t recognize Bruce McGill? He looks exactly the same in every role!
I’ve been watching a lot of Seinfeld reruns lately and it’s a gold mine for stuff like this. Hey! That’s Lauren Graham and Jerry’s girlfriend! Hey, that’s Paula Marshall as Jerry’s girlfriend! Hey, that’s Michael Chiklis as the guy who threw the party!
The 13 year-old mayor’s daughter from Animal House (“I got a lot of catching up to do…”) was also Maggie the Irish girlfriend from Caddyshack. (“You replaaace the butter…if sombody drops a fark ya givem another one”)
