# Which of those "before they were stars" roles do you actually remember seeing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 20, 2009, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702 "2009-04-20T06:32:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/1 "2009-04-20T06:32:32Z")
For some strange reason, I remember Matt Leblanc’s Heinz commercial. I also remember his role in _Married, With Children_, but the Heinz ad is the more appropriate one. I also remember Zac Efron’s _CSI: Miami_ role before _High School Musical_ was a gleam in its producer’s eye. Anyone else? (First roles that made them stars, like Cameron Diaz in _The Mask_, are out of the spirit of this, I think, especially if that project, like _The Mask_, was a big-time production.) ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/2 "2009-04-20T09:30:02Z")
Leo DiCaprio on _Growing Pains_. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/3 "2009-04-20T09:45:42Z")
I actually remember when Dustin Hoffman did commercials for Volkswagens. And I remember John Travolta in a Band-Aid commercial and in one for MONY Insurance. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/4 "2009-04-20T10:03:23Z")
I remember Bruce Willis from that episode of _Miami Vice_. ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/5 "2009-04-20T11:06:35Z")
I watched Nicole Kidman in BMX Bandits. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/6 "2009-04-20T11:40:25Z")
I remember- “remember” not simply as “in retrospect can recall”, but “remember” as in they actually stood out and made an impression on me- both Courtney Cox and Campbell Scott on Family Ties. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/7 "2009-04-20T11:48:10Z")
Jennifer Aniston is still Ferris Bueller’s sister to me. ---
**Author:** ![Nom\_de\_Plume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85f322/32.png) [@Nom\_de\_Plume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nom_de_Plume)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/8 "2009-04-20T11:54:28Z")
> [@planetcory](#): > > Jennifer Aniston is still Ferris Bueller’s sister to me. I believe that was Jennifer Grey ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/9 "2009-04-20T11:55:29Z")
> [@Nom\_de\_Plume](#): > > I believe that was Jennifer Grey [![](http://c.getbackimages.com/uri/w514_h676_cfalse_K1219214344/ferris-bueller-jennifer-aniston-ekg/image/4/0/4/2/4042302.jpg) ](http://c.getbackimages.com/uri/w514_h676_cfalse_K1219214344/ferris-bueller-jennifer-aniston-ekg/image/4/0/4/2/4042302.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/10 "2009-04-20T12:09:17Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > I remember- “remember” not simply as “in retrospect can recall”, but “remember” as in they actually stood out and made an impression on me- both Courtney Cox and Campbell Scott on Family Ties. I remember Geena Davis on that show. I remember seeing Alicia Witt on an episode of That’s Incredible when she was like 5 years old. Apparently she was some kind of genius who skipped several grades or something. I still remembered the name when I saw her in movies years later. I remember Helen Hunt from a low-budget sci-fi movie called Trancers. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/11 "2009-04-20T12:10:11Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > I remember- “remember” not simply as “in retrospect can recall”, but “remember” as in they actually stood out and made an impression on me- both Courtney Cox and Campbell Scott on Family Ties. I beat that, I remember Courtney Cox from Misfits of Science. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/12 "2009-04-20T12:19:12Z")
To me, Soledad O’Brien will always be the Sun Microsystems Infogal from Nextstep on the Discovery Channel: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYZaz00oUt8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYZaz00oUt8) ---
**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:** [April 20, 2009, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/13 "2009-04-20T12:23:07Z")
Tom Hanks’s two appearances on Family Ties as Ned Donnerly, Elyse’s brother, who stole a bunch of money to keep his company from buying another company that would fire all their employees and then became a drunk who punched out Alex but called AA after Stephen told him to leave his house and not to come back…Yeah, I remember that. I do remember Matthew Perry’s appearances as Carol’s boyfriend who got killed in a drunk driving accident. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/14 "2009-04-20T12:31:50Z")
> [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > I remember Geena Davis on that show. Yeah, but do you remember her from [Buffalo Bill](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0084992/)? Sadly – or remarkably – I do. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2009, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/15 "2009-04-20T12:35:54Z")
I remember Brad Pitts’s two day appearance on the soap “Another World” as a high school basbetball player who convinced John Hudson, who had been a star college basketball player before being drafted and crippled in the Vietnam war and was now terribly embittered thinking that he could do nothing and was sick of living off his rich brother Michael, that he could still coach basketball. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/16 "2009-04-20T12:36:29Z")
George Clooney on _Facts of Life_. I thought he was a to-tal doo-fus. 😃 Years later- _ER_. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/17 "2009-04-20T12:37:40Z")
> [@Idlewild](#): > > I watched Nicole Kidman in BMX Bandits. How about as one of the bridesmaids in Pat Wilson’s “Bop Girl” video? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/18 "2009-04-20T12:40:26Z")
I liked watching both Vincent D’Onofrio and Tony Shalhoub rise from little-known actors to stardom. In _Quick Change_, I saw Shalhoub and said, “Hey, it’s Antonio!” Likewise, when Edgar The Bug made his appearance in _Men In Black_, I was surprised that Private Pyle had survived his head-wound. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/19 "2009-04-20T12:43:39Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > George Clooney on _Facts of Life_. I thought he was a to-tal doo-fus. 😃 > > Years later- _ER_. Sigh. George Clooney in the orginal E/R. And in a very good role in Roseanne, where he played wonderfully off of Laurie Metcalf’s Jackie. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2009, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/20 "2009-04-20T12:56:18Z")
Geena Davis in **Buffalo Bill** Mark Hamill and Gary Busey in **The Texas Wheelers**. Barbara Feldon in that advertisement where she sat on an animal print rug, and as a guest star in **The Man From UNCLE** (“The Never Never Affair” – one of the show’s best). Robert Urich in **Soap** Joanne Worley in **The Mad Show** (an off-Broadway show). Bette Midler in **Fiddler on the Roof** (Broadway) The Flying Karamozov Brothers at Novacon 9 West SF convention. They were paid $200 and passed the hat after the show. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702.md?page=2)