The Ten Strangest Film Debuts of A-Listers

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Seriously Random Lists | Comments (46)

10. Vince Vaughn in Rudy

9. Johnny Depp in Nightmare on Elm Street

8. Sylvester Stallone in The Italian Stallion

7. Will Ferrell in Men Seeking Women

6. Tom Cruise in Endless Love

5. Tom Hanks in Mazes and Monsters

4. Julia Roberts in Satisfaction

3. Jack Black in Bob Roberts

2. George Clooney in Return of the Killer Tomatoes

1. Jennifer Aniston in The Leprechaun

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Hmmmm...I've seen four of these...and completely forgot who was in them.

I may have to watch the Nightmare on Elm Streets again.

Posted by: Shadows of Dakaron at September 16, 2009 3:06 PM

Are you kidding? Vince Vaughn an A lister? Will Ferrell, Sly Stallone, Jack Black, Jennifer Aniston? They'd all be lucky to be pissed on by an A lister.

I can't take this shit seriously.

Posted by: Cindy at September 16, 2009 3:08 PM

Clooney wins this one, hands down.

Posted by: Xtreme at September 16, 2009 3:13 PM

That's my favorite scene in "Revenge of the Killer Tomatoes." Way too meta (before it was cool), and what was mockery then is now what we see in movies. Too classic.
Clooney needs to do more comedy.

Posted by: Robby at September 16, 2009 3:15 PM

Actually, I consider Leprachaun to be Aniston's finest work and her greatest departure from stereotype (The Good Girl was nowhere close to as good as the reviews claimed: she's amazing because her hair isn't perfect in every scene?)

Posted by: PaddyDog at September 16, 2009 3:16 PM

Sigh, I meant Return.

Posted by: Robby at September 16, 2009 3:16 PM

Actually, I think Tom Hank's first movie was the craptastic masterpiece known as "He Knows You're Alone", which was shot in my hometown of Staten Island, NY. It was (sadly) one of the few things we watched with pride as kids, mainly for the sheer fact that someone actually made a film on our stinkin' borough.

Posted by: Cranky Kitten at September 16, 2009 3:19 PM

Jack Black was was wonderfully creepy in Bob Roberts. I need to watch that movie again.

Posted by: Captain Splendid at September 16, 2009 3:20 PM

O Brother Where Art Thou
Oceans 11
Oceans 12
Oceans 13
Intolerable Cruelty
One Fine Day
Waiting for Woody
South Park: Bigger Longer Uncut

How much comedy would you like him to do?

Posted by: PaddyDog at September 16, 2009 3:20 PM

Jim Carrey in the Dead Pool as the whacked out rock star making a video of, I believe, 'Welcome to the Jungle'.

Hilarious

Posted by: Odnon at September 16, 2009 3:22 PM

I take exception to the equation of "strangest" with "in a horror movie". Apparently it's an easy way to break into the business.

Also, I would submit the video clip that was on Pajiba some while back of Ben Affleck in a roid rage on an Afterschool Special. Although I suppose it doesn't count because it's TV and I don't know if it's his first role or not.

Posted by: MM at September 16, 2009 3:24 PM

I remember that MM! It was one of those "Lifestories: Families in Crisis." I used to laugh at the eating disorder one with Calista Flockhart. I am a bad person.

And I just learned Saturday morning that Vince Vaughn was in Rudy. I told the new boy that I HATED that movie, and after his initial shock and dismay he convinced me to watch it just one more time to see Vaughn's cameo and make him happy. I am...a good person.

Posted by: Julie at September 16, 2009 3:40 PM

The best part about the number one choice is that the movie DVD prominently advertises (STARRING JENNIFER ANISTON).

Posted by: "luker" the barbarian at September 16, 2009 3:42 PM

I guess it depends if you think Bruce Willis in Blind Date was a strange film debut.

"Let's do it right here in the fur coats, Nadia!"

Posted by: branded at September 16, 2009 3:46 PM

How is this not number 1? Because it's the strangest debuts, not the awesomest?

bhttp://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/09/15/patrick-swayze-in-skatetown-usa

Posted by: Three-nineteen at September 16, 2009 3:47 PM

I wish Johnny Depp would make more horror movies. Like, real horror movies. Not Tim Burton horror movies.

Posted by: stardust savant at September 16, 2009 3:50 PM

Julie:

The best part about the Calista Flockhart one is that she has more weight on her bones in it than she had in subsequent roles such as McBeal.

The other great thing about that special was that she's supposed to be a track star and whenever they show her running, it's obvious she's not a runner.

Note to producers: most people break a sweat after 1500 metres.

Posted by: PaddyDog at September 16, 2009 3:51 PM

I would submit:
Jack Nicholson as the masochistic dental patient in the first Little Shop of Horrors.
Aslo, I don't know if shes a-list but wasn't Courtney Cox's first film role in Masters of the Universe, aka the He-man movie?

Posted by: s. pisaster at September 16, 2009 3:55 PM

Why can't stupid moronic commenters ever get their links to work right?

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/09/15/patrick-swayze-in-skatetown-usa

Posted by: Three-nineteen at September 16, 2009 4:03 PM

no, really, this one wins for me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAli9a8bbys

Posted by: s. pisaster at September 16, 2009 4:07 PM

Yesterday I watched Donnie Darko in memory of Patrick Swayze, and realized that SETH ROGEN is in that movie. His first line is "I like your boobs." I nearly shit myself, it was awesome.

Posted by: Amy at September 16, 2009 4:28 PM

Three-nineteen, that clip is amazing. It's like a cross between Broadway, a gymnastic floor routine, ribbon dancing, and S/M. And Xanadu.

I don't normally say this, because it's an insult I don't like . . . but that shit was the gayest thing I have ever seen in my entire life.

Posted by: myysharona (formerly Sharon) at September 16, 2009 4:42 PM

No Ben Affleck in Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

No Kevin Costner in Night Shift?

Or do only speaking roles count?

Posted by: Lizzie (greeneyed fem) at September 16, 2009 4:44 PM

Bah ha ha ha!
Something's apparently up with the sound compression in that Endless
Love clip. Tom and the boys all sound like munchkins.
And speaking of Tom and his boys... those shreddy short shorts he's wearing?
I *think* I almost copped me a widdle looksie. Woooo!

Posted by: Ms MoMo at September 16, 2009 4:44 PM

My eyes aren't what they used to be, so help me out youngun's... was that Aniston in her "pre-nose job" days?

Posted by: Spender at September 16, 2009 4:47 PM

That IS Aniston pre-nose job. Her face was rounder and softer too.

Didn't any A lister first do a cameo in Law and Order? It's an inside joke on Broadway in NYC that anyone who makes it big there first played "Dead Guy #2" in Law and Order.

Posted by: scorzi at September 16, 2009 5:25 PM

Three nighteen that was Amazing! Did Swayze have nun-chucks during that routine? It was like an interpretive dance of the life and times of a ninja.

Posted by: nieve at September 16, 2009 5:33 PM

What, no Leonardo DiCaprio in Critters 3?

Posted by: Jesse M. at September 16, 2009 5:42 PM

I still, even with video evidence, am not entirely convinced Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a real movie, and even if it is, it couldn't possibly be worse, or have more unintentional comedy, than Batman and Robin.

Posted by: George at September 16, 2009 5:45 PM

Agreed, Paddy. I don't think it was her that made me so underwhelmed, but by the time Gyllanhaal catches her in bed with her brother-in-law, I was done. That was only halfway in, but I didn't watch the rest.

Did it ever get less...bran?

Posted by: Jo 'Mama' Besser at September 16, 2009 6:22 PM

nieve, since those clips are on Dan Savage's blog, I think it's OK to call it gay. The second clip has no skating sequence, but it does have (among other things) Arnold Horshack playing the heavy(!) and the immortal line "I do all right on the street, but this is SKATETOWN USA!"

Posted by: Three-nineteen at September 16, 2009 6:24 PM

Jack Black was kickin Ohio surf rollerblade ass in Airborne fully 3 years before the unwatchable Mars Attacks.

Posted by: renaldo at September 16, 2009 6:30 PM

I feel strongly that Vincent D'Onofrio's debut in a Troma flick should be on this list.

Posted by: Eep at September 16, 2009 7:15 PM

You missed, Ben Affleck in Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Posted by: returnofthesmith at September 16, 2009 7:16 PM

Oh I assure you George that Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a real movie, replete with an (intentionally) obviously dubbed Asian scientist, for whom the following classic line was crafted:

Asian Scientist: "Actually, tomatoes are fags."
Other Scientist: "He means fruit."

I think it would be a difficult line to draw between intentional and unintentional comedy in that movie.

Posted by: Eep at September 16, 2009 7:48 PM

I really, really hope Skatetown USA is a real place because I want to go to there.

Posted by: nieve at September 16, 2009 8:19 PM

Clooney's rocking the John Stamos "Full House" mullet. ALSO: I heard DiCaprio will kill you if you bring up Critters 3 in his presence.

Posted by: stryker1121 at September 16, 2009 8:40 PM

Ummmm...Jack Black as the lead bully in The Neverending Story III...

Posted by: Christina at September 16, 2009 10:47 PM

How about John Travolta in The Devil's Rain?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV30yho9ssM

(That's him falling down the stairs, I believe)

Posted by: Mollie at September 17, 2009 1:09 AM

hells yes, good to see mazes and monsters on the list. saw that when it came out, and still prefer pre-millionaire hanks to his current tripe.

oh and p.s. havent seen leprachaun, but love seeing big dollar earners in their humble beignnings, even crapsters like aniston. that girl has pretty feet but can;t act her way out of a clog. how in f*ck did she get where she is?

Posted by: idleprimate at September 17, 2009 3:56 AM

Er, call me naive but what in the FUCK is Sly Stallone doing in that movie? Like, physically, what the hell is he doing? I'd assume something porn-esque but the blond guy he's holding hands with seems to just be doing some kind of weird, embarrassed dance. Man, I just don't know...

Posted by: Ali at September 17, 2009 5:29 AM

Kevin Costner played the dead body in The Big Chill... granted most of his scenes were cut, but you can catch a glimpse of him...

It must suck as an actor to be cut when you're a dead body. HOW bad can your acting be?

Posted by: missh at September 17, 2009 8:46 AM

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Posted by: Casper at September 17, 2009 9:16 AM

Hey, isn't that fat dude in Leprechaun the same guy who was Francis in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure??
("I know you are, but what am I?")

Posted by: courtney at September 17, 2009 12:38 PM

Aniston's an A Lister???

Posted by: Andrew at September 18, 2009 2:59 PM

I don't believe it was his debut but the first role I saw Matthew McConaughey in A Time to Kill. It is strange seeing him in anything else because after watching that I thought he was a good actor. Apparently not.

Posted by: Matt at October 31, 2009 6:16 PM

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The Ten Strangest Film Debuts of A-Listers

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