Great actors before they became great

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This might just do nobody any good.
And then one day you notice Michael Shannon in Groundhog Day...




Not sure whether you'd consider Tom Hardy 'great' (he's done some great things and some not so in my opinion) but he's very bad in Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006) (although excellent a year later in Stuart A Life Backwards).
He was great in Star Trek: Nemesis, and A for Andromeda. It was obvious how good he was even then.



Another who comes to mind on this subject and I've mentioned it many times...Heath Ledger was the best thing about a mediocre teen comedy called Ten Things I Hate About You.



This might just do nobody any good.
He was great in Star Trek: Nemesis, and A for Andromeda. It was obvious how good he was even then.
He's fun in Rock N' Rolla, which, again, depending on your definition of "great", featured a few notable actors like Idris Elba, Thandie Newton and Mark Strong, all of whom I hadn't heard of up to that point.

I'm kind of fascinated by this one -



A late 80s comedy about an English art dealer traversing America, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.

I haven't seen it but I'm really curious as to what "actor-with-a-capital-A" Daniel is like in a light comedy.



He's fun in Rock N' Rolla, which, again, depending on your definition of "great", featured a few notable actors like Idris Elba, Thandie Newton and Mark Strong, all of whom I hadn't heard of up to that point.
Mark Strong's always been good. The first thing I remember seeing him in was Our Friends in the North, alongside Christopher Eccleston and Daniel Craig, both of whom ended up playing iconic characters. Strong hasn't to my knowledge but he's had a really good film career.

I'm kind of fascinated by this one -

A late 80s comedy about an English art dealer traversing America, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.

I haven't seen it but I'm really curious as to what "actor-with-a-capital-A" Daniel is like in a light comedy.
Yeah, that would be interesting.



I agree with foster that great actors, like great singers have "it" - a special talent that shines through even in early performances. Some that come to mind for me are:

Julia Roberts in Mystic Pizza

Harrison Ford in American Graffii

I'm not sure the acting or the films were A list at that point, but the actor had a certain charisma that made you sit up and notice them. Although Harrison and Julia have been thought of more as mega stars than for their craft; I believe both are fine, skilled actors and have grown in their skills since these early films.

Two more who I believe just 'hit the ground running' :that is, even their first bit part roles showed tremendous talent are:

Robert Duvall - playing Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird and

Of course-

Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider