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Let’s face it, we love a good horror movie. We love the twists and turns, the ghouls and gore, and a good horror movie marathon is the perfect recipe to get you in the Halloween mood. While we’ll always enjoy the classics like Scream and Halloween, and going to see the newest ones at the theater like Megan and Renfield, There’s nothing better than a 1970s, 1980s, or even 1990s horror film. Not just because of the film itself, but when you notice the current A-listers that got their start there.
While we know Scream Queens Neve Campbell and Jamie Lee Curtis got started in the horror game extremely early, they’re definitely not the only ones. What if we told you Jennifer Aniston’s first ever film role was the lead in a 1993 horror movie? and Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio’s first film rolls were playing bit parts in horror movies?
Seriously, there are way more a-listers than you think that got their first ever or first film role in a horror movie that you’ve probably seen over and over again on your Hulu recommendations.
So to get ourselves in the Halloween spirit, and strengthen our ever-growing need to know all entertainment facts, we’ve gathered the perfect list.
See which actors had either their first-ever film role and/or first-ever role in a horror movie below:
Johnny Depp
Before Johnny Depp became the actor that truly worked in every genre, his first big break and first film role was as Glen Lantz In the original Nightmare on Elm Street.
Leonardo DiCaprio
Even before his breakout success in the hit drama film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Leonardo DiCaprio’s first film role was to play a boy named Josh in the wacky horror film Critters 3.
Neve Campbell
Neve Campbell has always been and always will be one of the biggest horror Queens in our hearts. Before her success as the iconic final girl Sydney Prescott on the Scream films, and even before her role in the cult classic The Craft, her first film role was in the 1993 film The Dark.
Elizabeth Olsen
While Elizabeth Olsen did appear as a child in her twin sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s films, her first film roles as a serious actor came out at the same time. In 2011, she starred in the critically acclaimed mystery Martha Marcy May Marlene and in the horror film The Silent House, which was about a girl trapped in her family home and being tortured by supernatural forces.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Years before Seinfeld, and long before she became the TV Queen we all know and love, Julia Louis-Dreyfus had her first film role in the 1986 fantasy horror film Troll.
Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank got her first film role as one of the high schoolers in The Buffy the Vampire Slayer film.
Chloë Grace Moretz
Remember when Chloë Grace Moretz played the little girl in the 2005 Amityville Horror? That was her first film role!
Jennifer Aniston
Two years before her superstardom thanks to playing Rachel Green on Friends, Jennifer Aniston starred in the 1993 horror film Leprechaun.
Tom Hanks
He Knows You’re Alone followed a bride-to-be being stalked by a serial killer, and many might not know this, but the 1980 film was Tom Hanks’ first ever film role.
Anya Taylor-Joy
Anya Taylor-Joy is no stranger to the terrifying, strange, and offbeat; and her first film role as Thomasin in the VVitch showed everyone she’s a horror icon that is here to stay.
Bella Thorne
Bella Thorne has been in horror projects for years now. While she did play an extra in a few projects and even had a very small voice role in Ants, her first film role in a live-action setting was for the 2007 film The Seer.
Patricia Arquette
Did you know Patricia Arquette’s first-ever role was as the lead Kristen Parker in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors?
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis’ first-ever film role was as the iconic Final Girl Laurie in 1978’s Halloween?!
Eva Mendes
While she started in a few music videos, Eva Mendes started film as a bit player in Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror.
Adam Scott
Adam Scott’s first bigger film role (and second-ever film role) was in Hellraiser: Bloodline.
Jason Alexander
That’s right, another Seinfeld alum got their start in horror! Jason Alexander was in the 1981 film The Burning.
John Travolta
John Travolta’s first film role was in the 1975 film The Devil’s Rain.
Jennifer Connelly
Before her big break on Labyrinth, Jennifer Connelly starred in the 1985 film Phenomena, but she did have one film role beforehand.
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