35 Celebs Who Played Very Minor Roles in TV Shows Before Becoming Superstars
These actors played minor roles that served as stepping stones to greater things.
Some stars look like they arrived fully formed, but plenty of them spent years popping up in tiny TV parts before anyone knew their names. Those early roles were often blink-and-you-miss-it appearances, yet they helped set the stage for much bigger careers.
This list rounds up 35 celebrities who showed up on television long before they became major movie stars or household names. From one-scene guest spots to oddball supporting parts, these credits are a reminder that even the biggest careers can start small.
Some of the cameos are so random they are hard to forget. Read on for the full lineup.
1. Before being cast as Dwight on The Office, Rainn Wilson acted as a demon alchemist on Charmed
The WB2. The Pretty Little Liars star, Shay Mitchell, appeared on Degrassi: The Next Generation
CTV3. Yara Shahidi once acted as a young Olivia Pope in Scandal before starring in Grown-ish
ABC
4. Actor Dylan Minnette played President Fitz's teenage son on 13 Reasons Why
ABC
5. Lord of the Rings star, Orlando Bloom, once acted as a womanizing thief on Midsomer Murders
ITV
Some of these early credits are a lot stranger than the later fame that followed.
6. Jane the Virgin actor, Gina Rodriguez, featured on The Mentalist
CBS
7. Before doing the 'Carpool Karaoke' segments on The Late Late Show, the host portrayed a Colchester man in Doctor Who
BBC
8. In a different season of Doctor Who, Spider-Man's Andrew Garfield acted as a 1930s New Yorker
BBC
9. Tiffany Haddish portrayed a museum tour guide on That's So Raven before cracking everyone up in Girls Trip
Disney
10. The Grey's Anatomy star, Ellen Pompeo, acted as an old college classmate of Ross and Chandler's on Friends
NBC
A few of these appearances are easy to miss unless you already know where to look.
11. The Office actor Leslie David Baker acted as a janitor on That '70s Show
Fox
12. Meghan Markle played a murderer on Castle before joining the royal family
ABC
13. Sebastian Stan once acted as a teenage sniper on Law & Order before starring in Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Nbc / Getty Images
14. Matthew McConaughey played a murder victim as his first role on Unsolved Mysteries
NBC
15. The American Horror Story star, Evan Peters, previously acted as a friend of Phil's in Phil of the Future
Disney
That kind of early-TV trivia is exactly what makes this list fun.
Also, check out the secret twins of your favorite stars, including the celebrities whose lookalikes hide in plain sight.
16. James Marsden once acted as Maggie's boyfriend on The Nanny before he starred on Westworld and Dead to Me
CBS
17. Sterling K. Brown, who starred on This Is Us, once played a hospital lawyer on ER
NBC
18. Millie Bobby Brown had her bike stolen on Modern Family long before she starred on Stranger Things
ABC
19. Hasan Minhaj previously acted as a medical student on Arrested Development before featuring on The Daily Show
Netflix
20. Zac Efron got his very first role as a young Dr. Simon Tam in a Firefly episode before starring in High School Musical
Fox
Some of the biggest names on the list barely had a line to their name at the time.
21. The Brooklyn Nine-Nine actress, Melissa Fumero, previously acted as one of Blair's minions on Gossip Girl
The CW
22. Bradley Cooper, who is the director of A Star is Born, acted in his first role in Sex and the City
HBO
23. Dakota Johnson acted as Kevin's replacement in the 'The Office' series finale before starring in Fifty Shades of Grey
Fox
24. The X-Men star, Jennifer Lawrence, first acted as a school mascot on Monk
USA
25. The Bohemian Rhapsody actor, Rami Malek, got his first role as a student on Gilmore Girls
The WB
By this point, the pattern is hard to ignore.
26. Jeremy Renner acted as a vampire on Angel before joining The Avengers
The WB
27. Before Brie Larson played Captain Marvel, she acted as a student on Community
NBC
28. Timothée Chalamet, who acted in Little Women, played the vice president's son on Homeland
Showtime
29. Pedro Pascal, who was part of the Game of Thrones cast, appeared on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The WB
30. Model Emily Ratajkowski played Gibby's girlfriend on iCarly before starring in Gone Girl and I Feel Pretty
Nickelodeon
The last stretch is packed with some especially memorable throwback roles.
31. The Sharp Objects star, Amy Adams, featured in Smallville as a girl who craved body fat after going on a diet of meteor-infested veggies
The WB
32. Lili Reinhart, who solved weird crimes on Riverdale, once played a teenage murderer on Law & Order: SVU
NBC
33. Chris Hemsworth appeared in The Saddle Club long before he acted as Thor
ABC
34. The X-Men actor James McAvoy starred in Band of Brothers as a soldier
HBO
35. All My Children star, Mark Consuelos, was a cop who pulled Rachel over on Friends
NBC
Looking at these movie stars’ trajectories to stardom, starting from small roles that any entry-level artist could play perfectly, you can only stand and stare in great awe. We can all derive inspiration from their journeys to the limelight.
Which movie stars’ developments amazed you the most? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
Some of these careers really did start with a tiny spark.
