Famous actors who had early roles in horror movies

The story of Clooney’s career is often told. The years of struggles and small sitcom roles before he got “ER” and stardom arrived. There were also, of course, bad horror movies. In fact, his first two movies were horror sequels about returns: “Return to Horror High” and the memorable “Return of the Killer Tomatoes.”

This is one you are likely well aware of at this point. Before she was Rachel Green on “Friends,” Aniston had a key role in the first “Leprechaun” movie. This was many years before he went to space or “the hood.” Since her rise to superstardom, advertising around “Leprechaun” has shockingly become more Aniston focused.

One of Bacon’s first starring roles was in the fun horror comedy “Tremors.” That alone would get him on this list. However, he also had a role in the original “Friday the 13th.” Bacon survives the graboids in “Tremors.” He had less luck at Camp Crystal Lake.

One of the first time most people recognized Depp as a future star was in the TV show “21 Jump Street.” A couple years before that, though, like Bacon he had a role in the first film in what would become a long-running horror series. Depp plays Glen in “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” and his death is pretty brutal.

DiCaprio has been acting since he was a kid, but even he had to do his time in a horror film. It feels pretty well known at this point that Leo’s first movie role was in “Critters 3.” A couple years later he got critical acclaim for starring alongside Depp in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?”

Curtis used to have a scream queen reputation, and it all tracks back to an early role. Her mother, Janet Leigh, famously met a grisly end in “Psycho.” Curtis was a little luckier. She makes it through “Halloween” to return to the sequels, as well as the reboot.

Tom Hanks. What a likable guy, right? He could never play a villain, right? Think again! His first film is the horror movie “He Knows You’re Alone.” Not only that, Hanks is the titular he that knows you’re alone. That’s right, Hanks was the slasher in a slasher movie. Believe it or not.

Like Hanks, Zellweger has two Oscars. Also like Hanks, Zellweger had an early role in a horror movie. That movie is 1994’s “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation.” It was originally called “The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” but was retitled in 1997 and the marketing was refocused on Zellweger and another star we will get to later.

Louis-Dreyfus is a sitcom legend. She’s got more Emmys than she knows what to do with. In fact, she was even on “Saturday Night Live” for a few seasons. After that run on “SNL” ended, though, Louis-Dreyfus made her movie debut. That came in “Troll,” a forgettable horror film known best for its insane “sequel” “Troll 2.”

The Arquette family aren’t strangers to horror movies. David has a recurring role in the “Scream” franchise. Patricia has done her time in horror flicks as well. Like her future “Ed Wood” co-star Depp, Arquette’s first movie is in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise. She first popped up in the third film, subtitled “Dream Warriors.”

Rudd was in two movies that came out in 1995. One was “Clueless,” which was a smash hit and started many people’s crush on Rudd that has continued to this day. The other was “Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers.” That one…has less of a following.

A few notable actors had early roles in the original “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” the 1992 film starring Kristy Swanson that led to the iconic TV show. Ben Affleck and Seth Green both have small uncredited roles. Swank, on the other hand, made her movie debut as a character with an actual name and role, Kimberly Hannah.

Mendes had a couple early roles in sequels in franchises that have largely been forgotten. She appears in both the fifth “Children of the Corn” movie and the second “Urban Legends” movie. Yes, apparently they made “Urban Legends” sequels. And yet, it’s another early movie that may have been the bleakest of them all: “A Night at the Roxbury.”

The “Parks and Recreation” star and “Step Brothers” scene stealer has been perfectly happy to poke fun at some of his early roles. While “Torque” gets a lot of the jabs, Scott has also made note of his role in “Hellraiser: Bloodline,” which did not end well for the world’s biggest U2 and R.E.M. fan.

Remember how DiCaprio got his start in “Critters 3.” Well Bassett one ups him in a way. By that we mean she’s in “Critters 4.” However, unlike Leo, she was an adult actress trying to get a foothold in the business. The same year as “Critters 4” she was in “Boyz n the Hood.” That likely helped her career more.

Before he was “McDreamy,” and even before he starred in the ‘80s romantic comedy “Can’t Buy Me Love,” Dempsey was making his debut in a horror film. Though he was not credited, Dempsey first appeared on screen in “The Stuff” as “Underground Stuff Buyer #2.” Apparently money can buy you the stuff. If you are wondering about the arrow on the photo, the only image available of Dempsey in the stuff comes from an appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" when they were riffing on his first role.

Speaking of uncredited roles, there’s a chance you will blink and miss Theron in “Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest.” Then again, it feels hard to imagine missing a future star like Theron when she’s on screen. A couple years later she made a more-memorable splash in “The Devil’s Advocate,” a movie as insane as any sweaty horror sequel.

Remember when we mentioned that Zellweger wasn’t the only future star in “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation.” Well while McConaughey had already made a splash in “Dazed and Confused” as Wooderson, that didn’t immediately turn him into a movie star. The next year he was appearing alongside Zellweger in that “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” sequel with the fitting name of “Vilmer Slaughter.”

“Species” is a horror movie, and Williams is in that. However, we only found that out when we were looking at her filmography to find out her character’s name in “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later.” In that film, her character has a bigger role, and is even featured on the poster. Also in that movie? Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, of course.

As a member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Olsen is now a major star. She may play a witch (or at least Scarlet Witch) in the MCU, but she’s not a horror movie style witch. The younger sister of the Olsen twins first got noticed in 2011 with “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” which is one of three movies that came out that year. That same year she also starred in the horror film “Silent House,” which was part of an impressive debut year for the actress.