# You first knew actor/actress from a role different from one they're widely known in. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 16, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139 "2015-03-16T19:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [March 17, 2015, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/41 "2015-03-17T03:51:57Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > My favorite one is Kyle Maclachlan. To so many people (when he showed up on HIMYM) he was “that guy from Sex and The City” but a lot of us got to know him as Coop from Twin Peaks. > > Jane Krakowski pops up from time to time and a lot of people just know her from 30 Rock, but for me she’ll always be from Ally McBeal. You mean, the lead in Lynch’s _Dune_ (though Dale Cooper _became_ his face, yeah) and the fill-in host on Live! that Regis nicknamed “Krakow!”? (OK, yeah, I knew her from Ally McBeal too, and I barely watched that show. She’s very memorable.) More seriously, am I the only person to whom Nathan Fillion is the third guy on _Two Guys and a Girl_? ---
**Author:** ![ch51](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ch51/32/3111_2.png) [@ch51](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ch51)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/42 "2015-03-17T04:06:12Z")
To me George Clooney is Sela Ward’s boyfriend Detective James Falconer from “Sisters”. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/43 "2015-03-17T09:10:48Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > To me, Michael Richards is first and foremost Stanley Spadowski from _UHF_. To me, Richards is memorable from an ep of “Night Court” where he thought he was invisible and so tried to rob a bank. “I dunno how I git caught. They must have had some high-tech detection system…” “Yeah - it’s called _broad daylight_!” > [@kunilou](#): > > Never got the girl? Dan charmed the ravishing Rebecca (Teri Polo) and may or may not had a fling with the not-so-shabby Bobby Bernstein (Lisa Edelstein.) > > Compared to Casey and his timid approach to the romantically challenged Dana, Dan was a stud. Dan was the ladies man of the pair, pretty well established before Rebecca. It was also confirmed that he slept with Roberta Bernstein at the Hotel D’Espana, but hadn’t realized Bobbi was short for Roberta or that the hotel was in Spain. Tying back into the thread, Coulson on “Agents of Shield” is always the guy that bought the network at the end of “Sports Night” to me - years later he looks and acts the same. “Every time I see you, you’re in this bar. It worries me!” “Every time I see _you_ you’re in this bar, but I’m unconcerned.” ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/44 "2015-03-17T09:56:23Z")
Back in the 80s, HBO would play the same movies over and over again, and as a kid, I watched them repeatedly. - Willem Defoe will always be Raven Shaddock from [Streets of Fire](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088194/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1). Diane Lane will always be Ellen Aim. - Val Kilmer will always be Chris Knight from [Real Genius](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089886/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1). - John Cusack will always be Lane Myer from [Better Off Dead](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088794/?ref_=tt_rec_tt). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/45 "2015-03-17T10:24:30Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > I watched Hugo Weaving as a drag queen in _The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert_ years before he was Agent Smith or Elrond. I remember instantly liking Hugo Weaving in his first decent role, the TV mini-series _Bodyline_ in 1984. I recall both Ted Danson and James Woods from _The Onion Field_ in 1979. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/46 "2015-03-17T10:29:49Z")
Jennifer Aniston: Suzie, Herman’s sister, _Herman’s Head_. Jane Sibbett: Heddy, _Herman’s Head_. Yeardley Smith: Louise, _Herman’s Head_. Hank Azaria: Jay, _Herman’s Head_. Geez, whatever happened to Herman? Everyone else’s careers boomed. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/47 "2015-03-17T10:42:01Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > More seriously, am I the only person to whom Nathan Fillion is the third guy on _Two Guys and a Girl_? No, no, you are not. And that goes for Ryan Reynolds, too. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/48 "2015-03-17T10:56:57Z")
Viggo Mortensen is forever some random Amish dude (_Witness_, 1985). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/49 "2015-03-17T11:21:49Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Viggo Mortensen is forever some random Amish dude (_Witness_, 1985). I think of Satan, from _The Prophecy_. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/50 "2015-03-17T11:29:36Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > Geez, whatever happened to Herman? Everyone else’s careers boomed. I always remember him as the kid from _Fright Night_. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2015, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/51 "2015-03-17T11:36:28Z")
Jennifer Aniston will always be Jeannie Bueller to me. Always. To me ‘Friends’ was Jeannie Bueller’s new TV show. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/52 "2015-03-17T11:41:57Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > When I was a kid at our house Bob Denver was far more known as Maynard G. Krebs than he was as Gilligan. This. And since I was never into Gilligan, he’s still Maynard G. Krebs to me. And I was one of the handful of people who enjoyed David Hyde Pierce in \*The Powers That Be," \*prior to _Frasier._ ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/53 "2015-03-17T11:53:15Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I knew him first as Max’s (Peter Riegert’s) Scottish sidekick Oldsen from 1983’s [Local Hero](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085859/reference). “You say the darndest things Marina” I will never think of him as anything but. > [@MrDibble](#): > > No, no, you are not. > > And that goes for Ryan Reynolds, too. Me too. And Traylor Howard when she popped up on _Monk_. For me the entire cast of _Band of Brothers_ will always be the guys from _Band of Brothers_. That does not include Ron Livingston and David Schwimmer who were too established before the show. But it does include Donnie Wahlberg regardless of what he did before. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/54 "2015-03-17T12:00:34Z")
Whenever I see Jeff Goldblum I always think “Was he Tenspeed or Brownshoe?” Not really, but I do tend to think of his obscure work like _Vibes_ or _Earth Girls Are Easy_ or _Transylvania 65000_, rather than his prominent roles like _Jurassic Park_ or _The Fly_ or _Independence Day_. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/55 "2015-03-17T12:05:05Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > I watched Hugo Weaving as a drag queen in _The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert_ years before he was Agent Smith or Elrond. This was the one I came in to mention. When I first saw _Fellowship_ in the theater with my dad and Elrond appeared, Dad whispered “It’s Agent Smith!” and I replied “It’s Mitzi!” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/56 "2015-03-17T12:38:04Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I probably first saw both Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Carlyle in a British series called _The Last Enemy._ Robert Carlyle is [Hamish MacBeth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamish_Macbeth_(TV_series)), with his doggie Wee Jock! I just saw a rerun of that recently - it was much worse than I remember it being at the time, although that had nothing to do with Carlyle and everything to do with terrible scripts and directing. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/57 "2015-03-17T12:48:03Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Me too. And Traylor Howard when she popped up on _Monk_. Whereas I think of Traylor Howard first and foremost as the love interest on the short-lived _Boston Common_. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/58 "2015-03-17T13:48:59Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > Jennifer Aniston: Suzie, Herman’s sister, _Herman’s Head_. > Jane Sibbett: Heddy, _Herman’s Head_. > Yeardley Smith: Louise, _Herman’s Head_. > Hank Azaria: Jay, _Herman’s Head_. > > Geez, whatever happened to Herman? Everyone else’s careers boomed. He quit while he was still ahead. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/59 "2015-03-17T15:01:26Z")
Before he was Happy Gilmore or Opera Man, Adam Sandler was that guy from the American Express commercial furnishing his apartment to impress a cute female neighbor. He even put in a girl mannequin. Hope he paid it all off in one month! ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139/60 "2015-03-17T15:12:34Z")
Alec Guinness was the hilarious fellow in those great Ealing comedies, before he was the Colonel in “Bridge Over the River Kwai,” before he utterly defined George Smiley in “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” and “Smiley’s People.” Obi Wan-Kenobi? Nah! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-first-knew-actor-actress-from-a-role-different-from-one-theyre-widely-known-in/715139.md?page=4)