More of the First Movies of Famous Actors

Movies are a group effort between writers, directors, producers, hair-do technicians, food supervisors, posse coordinators, light bulb screwers and of course the actors. Actors bring so many different characters to life and yet with their own special trademark look and personality a lot of the time. Here are some more of the first films that started the careers of some of Hollywood's favorite sons.

Sean Penn - Taps: Mr. Penn started out with some voice over work on Little House On the Prairie and followed that up with some other television work, however Taps brought him into the feature movie business. I would have guess Fast Times At Ridgemont High, but before he was that classic surf stoner he was Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer in 1981's military drama Taps.

Brad Pitt - Happy Together: Brad Pitt landed some unaccredited roles in two 1987 films, and did a long stint of television work with shows such as Dallas and Growing Pains. However, for the intents and purposes of this exploration of film firsts, his first movie role came in 1989 with the Patrick Dempsey starring romantic comedy Happy Together. Pitt played someone named Brian. Of course the film Thelma and Louise really brought him to the attention of the ladies.

George Clooney - Predator: The Concert: An odd fact is that George Clooney had roles in two different television shows entitled ER, about doctors.; two different roles. The second ER shot him to fame, but before the fame and aside from television projects Clooney made his debut in the horror movie Predator: The Concert. It was a lovely story about a killer grizzly bear attacking a concert.

Will Smith - Where the Day Takes You: Before kicking alien butts in Independence Day, or drug dealers butts in Bad Boys, Will Smith made his feature film debut with Where the Day Takes You. Will played Manny in this drama about homeless youths on the streets of Los Angeles.

Michael Douglas - Hail Hero!: In 1969 Michale Douglas took on the lead role of Carl Dixon in the film Hail Hero! He was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Most Promising Newcomer.

Christopher Walken - Me and My Brother: The King of Creepy-Cool, Walken's film credits are so lengthy he has pretty much starred in everything. So it is sort of difficult to pinpoint his exact debut on film, however he , like many, started with television and some TV movies as well. However, 1969's Me and My Brother saw him with a small role amongst the drama.

Benicio Del Toro - Big Top Pee-wee: It is really fun to look back at some of the acting roots of big name stars. Benicio Del Toro has come a long way since the 1988 film Big Top Pee-wee. Big Top Pee-wee was the sequel to the Pee-wee Herman movie Pee-wee's Big Adventure and Del Toro starred as the Dog Faced boy in a circus misplaced on to Pee-wee's front lawn by a storm.

Kevin Spacey - Heartburn: In 1986 Kevin Spacey was a Subway Thief. Well, not literally, but that was his first role in movies for the flick Heartburn. Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson headlined the film.

Edward Norton - Primal Fear: Norton was in some project called Only In America in 1994, however, all sources list Primal Fear as his feature debut in 1996. Norton played the murderous alter boy Aaron Stampler.

Josh Hartnett - Halloween H2O: Josh began his career with a series of film sin 1998, with his first being the an edition to the Michael Myers horror franchise, via Halloween H2O. He played John Tate, son of Jamie Lee Curtis' character.

Vin Diesel - Strays: Vin Diesel got his film start in the 1997 film Strays. He played Rick and pitched the film as a "multicultural Saturday Night Fever." He also write and directed it.

Dennis Hopper - Rebel Without A Cause: Actor Dennis Hopper began his steps into film history as a Goon in the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause. Hopper, did have some bit parts prior to that which he did not seek credit for.

Tobey Maguire - This Boy's Life: Spiderman, Spiderman, doot doot Tobey Maguire man, appeared first in a bit part without credit in that 80's video game movie The Wizard. However, after some television work he get his way back into the big show with the film This Boy's Life. He went in auditioning for the main role that went to Leonardo DiCaprio, however ended up with the smaller friend part as Chuck Bolger.

Val Kilmer - Top Secret!: Val kilmar got his first shot at film acting and as a leading man with the 1984 spoof comedy Top Secret! He played Nick Rivers, a rock and roll singer turned spy.

Kevin Costner - Chasing Dreams: It seems like Kevin Costner has been around for a lot longer than 1982, well to me who was born that year anyway. However, 1982 is indeed the year of his first film entitled Chasing Dreams. He had a small role credited simply as Ed.

Lawrence Fishburne - Cornbread, Earl, and Me: Many like to think Lawrence Fishburne got his start in the war film Apocalypse Now, which started filming when he was 14 and ended when he was about 16. Yes, he was in that movie, but he had work prior to that with his debut being entitled Cornbread, Earl, and Me. The movie came out in 1975 and Fishburne had the role of Wilford Robinson.

Jake Gyllenhaal - City Slickers: Jake Gyllenhaal truly busted on to the film scene in 2001 and 2002 with films like Donnie Darko and Bubble Boy. However, in 1991 he was in the Billy Crystal comedy City Slickers. He played Danny Robbins, son to Crystal's character.

Williem Dafoe - The Loveless: In 1980 William Dafoe failed to get his credit for showing up in the flop Heaven's Gate. However, in 1982 he was cast and credited as Vance in The Loveless. Dafoe was the lead in this film with a tagline reading: "Muscles clad in black leather...incest...and murder!"

Clint Eastwood - Francis In The Navy: Clint Eastwood's acting career spans all the way back to the 1955 science fiction horror film: Revenge of the Creature. However, his role as a lab technician was not officially noticed via film credit. His first credit did come in that same year though, as Jonesey in the film Francis In the Navy.

SOURCES:

A coordinated investigation of online entertainment encyclopedias such as Wikipedia, entertainment blog sources of a random nature, my own unfortunate brain's knowledge, films, and of course IMDB was helpful along the way.