Actors and Celebrities in their Early Roles

Stars who have appeared in horror movies include, clockwise from top left, Paul Rudd, John Travolta, Matthew McConaughey and Renée Zellweger, and Tom Hanks Courtesy Everett Collection (4)

Everyone has to start somewhere, and taking a look at the early film roles of now-esteemed Hollywood A-listers is a great way to prove it. In addition to delivering thrills, chills and excitement, revisiting low-budget horror flicks provides a window into the often-forgotten turns that gave some future stars a chance to cut their teeth.

To prove that film talent can truly be found anywhere, The Hollywood Reporter pays tribute to the performers — including Jennifer Aniston, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Octavia Spencer and Scarlett Johansson — who made the most of their early-career gigs in scary movies.

Brad Pitt in ‘Cutting Class’ (1989)

Image Credit: Screenshot

Bad-boy basketball star Brad Pitt is a suspect in a string of mysterious murders at the local high school that leaves one teacher dead in the copy room.
Eva Mendes in 'Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror' (1998)

Image Credit: Screenshot

The first film role for Eva Mendes came in the Children of the Corn franchise’s fifth installment, released direct-to-video, in which her character, Kir, joins the teenagers’ cult before meeting a fiery end.
George Clooney in ‘Return of the Killer Tomatoes’ (1988)

Image Credit: New World Releasing/Courtesy Everett Collection

A suave, mullet-sporting George Clooney plays the roommate of a pizza delivery boy who becomes inadvertently involved in a diabolical plan to transform tomatoes into human replicas.
Jennifer Aniston in ‘Leprechaun’ (1993)

Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection

An evil, murderous leprechaun bent on reclaiming his precious pot of gold terrorizes a spoiled teenager portrayed by Jennifer Aniston after her family accidentally frees him from their basement.
John Travolta in ‘Carrie’ (1976)

Image Credit: Courtesy of Everett Collection

Carrie, a teen outcast with telekinetic powers, is asked to the prom by the boyfriend of one of her tormentors, only to be cruelly pranked by a group that includes John Travolta’s Billy Nolan, which prompts the girl to exact revenge on her classmates in the Stephen King adaptation.
Johnny Depp in 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' (1984)

Image Credit: New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection

The iconic Freddy Krueger pulls Johnny Depp (Glen Lantz) into his bed before spewing him out in a geyser of blood in Depp’s feature film debut, A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus in 'Troll' (1986)

Image Credit: Empire Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection

In her first-ever film role, Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Jeanette Cooper, an actress who performs a striptease for the villainous title creature.
Katherine Heigl in ‘Valentine’ (2001)

Image Credit: ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

Thirteen years after cruelly rejecting David Boreanaz (Jeremy Melton) at a junior high school dance, Katherine Heigl (Shelly Fisher) is confronted with her past when the outcast Melton comes back for revenge.
Kevin Bacon in ‘Friday the 13th’ (1980)

Image Credit: Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection

As a storm rages outside, camp counselors Kevin Bacon (Jack Burrell) and Jeannine Taylor (Marcie Cunningham) seek shelter in their cabin and make love. But Bacon’s fun comes to an abrupt end when an arrow impales his throat from under the bed.
Leonardo DiCaprio in 'Critters 3' (1991)

Image Credit: Screenshot

A group of demonic alien furballs attempt to eat everyone in a Los Angeles apartment building, including a young Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays the stepson of the building’s landlord.
Matthew McConaughey and Renée Zellweger in 'Texas Chainsaw: The Next Generation' (1995)

Image Credit: New Line Cinema / Courtesy Everett Collection

On her prom night, Renée Zellweger (Jenny) stumbles upon a secluded farmhouse where she is then pursued by the cannibalistic, chain saw-wielding Leatherface and his brother Vilmer, played by a young Matthew McConaughey. “You and I are gonna have some fun,” whispers McConaughey.
Octavia Spencer in ‘Halloween II’ (2009)

Image Credit: Screenshot

A decade before she starred in the creepy Ma, Octavia Spencer meets her vicious demise in a small role in the tenth installment of the Halloween franchise, this one from director Rob Zombie.
Paul Rudd in 'Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers' (1995)

Image Credit: Dimension Films/Courtesy Everett Collection

The sixth installment in the Halloween franchise stars Paul Rudd as Tommy Doyle, whom Laurie Strode babysat back in 1978. The film hit theaters in September 1995, two months after the release of Clueless, which features Rudd’s breakout role opposite Alicia Silverstone.
Sam Rockwell in ‘Clownhouse’ (1989)

Image Credit: Triumph Releasing/Courtesy Everett Collection

The fear of clowns is revisited in this carnival-themed horror film, which stars Sam Rockwell in his debut role as the older brother of a boy who suffers from coulrophobia, and is later targeted by three escaped mental patients who have donned clown suits.
Scarlett Johansson in ‘Eight Legged Freaks’ (2002)

Image Credit: Warner Brothers/Courtesy Everett Collection.

Scarlett Johansson was 17 years old when the David Arquette-starring monster film Eight Legged Freaks hit theaters. She portrayed Ashley Parker, daughter of Sheriff Samantha Parker (Kari Wuhrer), in the story about a small town terrorized by humongous mutated spiders.
Tom Hanks in 'He Knows You’re Alone' (1980)

Image Credit: MGM/courtesy Everett Collection

In his film debut, Tom Hanks plays a pompous psych major who survives when a bride killer targets one of his friends, a bride-to-be who thinks she’s being stalked.