History Main / RetroActiveRecognition

** Shortly after that film, he became ''Series/RemingtonSteele'', a role that would eventually lead him to becoming Bond (while ironically ''also'' delaying his appearance in the franchise; Creator/TimothyDalton followed Moore because Brosnan was tied up with ''Steele'').

* '''[[http://i.imgur.com/GfsYs.jpg Tobey Maguire]]''' was in ''Film/TheWizard''.

* '''Creator/TomBaker''' ChewingTheScenery as a [[EvilIsHammy hammy, evil]], [[PlaysGreatEthnics vaguely-Arabic]] wizard is always a fun experience for ''Series/DoctorWho'' fans in ''Film/TheGoldenVoyageOfSinbad'', which (like all the Creator/RayHarryhausen special effects movies) often gets repeated on British television.

** Ricky Linderman, the titular bodyguard in ''Film/MyBodyguard''.

** For movies, he was one of the Wasteland Scraps in ''Film/DemolitionMan'', the pilot in ''Film/{{Waterworld}}'', the bully in ''Film/TheNeverendingStoryIIIEscapeFromFantasia'', the hero's redneck squaddie brother in ''Film/MarsAttacks'', an arms dealer in ''Film/TheJackal'', a young republican in ''Film/BobRoberts'', a bit part in ''Film/{{Airborne}}'', a weedhead in ''Film/IStillKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer'', Creator/MatthewBroderick's friend in ''Film/TheCableGuy'', and AsHimself in his band Music/TenaciousD in ''Film/BioDome''. He was also in ''Film/EnemyOfTheState'' as one of the bad guys.
** For TV, he had some minor roles in an episode of ''Series/TheXFiles'', and some early episodes of ''Series/MrShow''. He's also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfLgSdAAHMA a big fan]] of ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}''.

* Although nowadays he's perhaps best known for his voice acting in video games and cartoons, '''Creator/BrianBloom''' was a teen heartthrob in the 1980s, appearing on shows like ''Series/AsTheWorldTurns'' and ''Series/BeautyAndTheBeast1987.''
* '''Creator/OrlandoBloom''' was a victim on ''Series/MidsomerMurders''. His screen debut was as a "rent boy" in 1997's ''Wilde''.

* '''Hannibal Buress''' used to pop up in occasional cameos on ''Series/ThirtyRock'' (a show he wrote for), often as a hobo.

* '''Creator/GaryBusey''' had a tiny role as a construction worker in ''Film/ThunderboltAndLightfoot''.
* '''Creator/RoseByrne''' has a teeny tiny role in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' as one of Padme's handmaidens.

* '''Creator/KimCattrall''''s career goes back to the '70s. Highlights include ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina'', the first ''Film/PoliceAcademy'', ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'', and even ''Film/{{Porkys}}''.

** Also popped up in a episode of ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' as the unlucky Maggie Murphy.

** Even before that, he was the young kid and main character in ''Series/TheVoyageOfTheMimi''.

* A young '''Tatyana Ali''' appeared in the drawing sequences of the Creator/JimHenson Play-Along Video "Wow, You're A Cartoonist!".

** For movies, he was one of the Wasteland Scraps in ''Film/DemolitionMan'', the pilot in ''Film/{{Waterworld}}'', the bully in ''Film/TheNeverendingStoryIIIEscapeFromFantasia'', the hero's redneck squaddie brother in ''Film/MarsAttacks'', an arms dealer in ''Film/TheJackal'', a young republican in ''Film/BobRoberts'', a bit part in ''Film/{{Airborne}}'', a weedhead in ''Film/IStillKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer'', Creator/MatthewBroderick's friend in ''Film/TheCableGuy'', and AsHimself in his band Music/TenaciousD in ''Film/BioDome''.
** For TV, he had some minor roles in an episode of ''Series/TheXFiles'', ''Film/EnemyOfTheState'', and some early episodes of ''Series/MrShow''. He's also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfLgSdAAHMA a big fan]] of ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}''.

* Before she'd booked any onscreen acting roles, '''Creator/GemmaChan''' appeared as one of the models in the first series of ''Project Catwalk'', the British version of ''Series/ProjectRunway''. She later played one of the astronauts in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' special "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E16TheWatersOfMars The Waters of Mars]]," as well as [[YouLookFamiliar two separate bit characters]] in ''Series/TheITCrowd'' (one of whom was the female Sulu in Douglas' ''Series/StarTrek''-themed sex tape).

* Prior to his StarMakingRole as M'Baku in ''Film/BlackPanther'', '''Creator/WinstonDuke''' appeared in several episodes of ''Series/ModernFamily'' as Dwight, a high school football star who briefly moved in with Mitch and Cam. Before that, he played a recurring drug lord in ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', and also showed up as a victim of a [[BedTrick rape by deception]] in an episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''.

* Long before he played King T'Chaka in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' and ''Film/BlackPanther'', '''John Kani''' played Willie alongside Matthew Broderick and Zakes Mokai in the 1985 [[MadeForTVMovie Made-for-Showtime]] presentation of Athol Fugard's ''Theatre/MasterHaroldAndTheBoys''.

* Before her StarMakingRole in ''Film/BlackPanther'', '''Creator/LetitiaWright''' had a number of under the radar roles on British TV shows. These included a teenage kidnap victim in the police procedural ''Chasing Shadows'', a young lesbian in ''Banana'' and an apparent murder victim in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E10FaceTheRaven Face the Raven]]." American audiences were most likely to recognize her from the "[[Recap/BlackMirrorBlackMuseum Black Museum]]" episode of ''Series/BlackMirror''.

* Before voicing Angelica in ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', '''Cheryl Chase''' did voice-acting for English dubs of anime, with her playing Pinky in ''Anime/{{Noozles}}'' and Mei in the original English dub of ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro''.

* '''Teryl Rothery''', best known as Dr. Janet Fraser from ''Series/StargateSG1,'' had roles in anime dubs produced by The Ocean Group, such as A-Ko in ''Anime/ProjectAKo'' (the sequels) and as the first voice of Kodachi Kuno in ''Anime/RanmaOneHalf''.

* '''Creator/HughLaurie''' appeared on ''Series/{{Friends}}'' [[http://11even.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/rachel-friends-dr-house.jpg flying with Rachel to England]]. There is also a twofer in the live action ''Film/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'': Laurie is [[ThoseTwoBadGuys one of Cruella's henchmen]] alongside Mark "[[Film/HarryPotter Arthur Weasley]]" Williams. While Laurie had been famous in the UK for many years, he wasn't very recognizable to American audiences until the success of ''Series/HouseMD''.

* Before his role as Comicbook/{{Bucky|Barnes}} in the [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]] made him famous, '''Creator/SebastianStan''' appeared in a ''Series/LawAndOrder'' [[RippedFromTheHeadlines that was based on the D.C. sniper incident]], which also featured future ''Series/ModernFamily'' star '''Creator/TyBurrell''' as his father. He was also one of the obnoxious ski patrol guys in ''Film/HotTubTimeMachine''.

* ''Creator/CharlieCox'' got his big break starring as Tristan Thorn in British cult comic-fantasy film ''Film/{{Stardust}}'' (which also featured a young Creator/HenryCavill, and Creator/MarkStrong - not so young, but it was when he started his long-running habit of playing villains), before going on to play [[Series/Daredevil2015 Matt Murdock a.k.a. Daredevil]]

* '''[[Series/KeyAndPeele Keegan-Michael Key]]''' showed up in a few episodes of ''Series/{{Reno 911}}'' as a recurring criminal who would constantly "hypothetically" describe crimes he'd committed to the police. He and his costar Jordan Peele also showed up in Music/WeirdAlYankovic's music video for "White & Nerdy".

* Before playing several roles in DC superhero movies, '''Creator/ZacharyLevi''' played Dave's nephew Toby in ''[[Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel]]''. This resulted in a [[MemeticMutation meme]] spawning during the release of ''[[Film/Shazam2019 Shazam]]'' where people would post images of his role as Toby with the text "Is this the Shazam movie you're talking about?" on Twitter.
* Before starring on several Creator/DisneyChannel shows, '''Creator/PeytonRList''' was in episodes of ''Series/AsTheWorldTurns'' and ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. She also played a piglet on an episode of ''WesternAnimation/WonderPets''.

* '''[[Series/GroundedForLife Donal Logue]]''' was Deacon Frost's unlucky [[TheDragon Dragon]] in ''Film/{{Blade}}''. Before that, he was the scientist behind the BlackBox in ''Film/{{Sneakers}}''.

* 2-3 years before her Oscar-winning performance in ''Film/TheHelp'', '''Octavia Spencer''' played a professor who recognizes Echo as Caroline on ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}''.

* A young '''Creator/TaraStrong''' was the voice of Hello Kitty in ''WesternAnimation/HelloKittysFurryTaleTheater''.

* Before his career ''behind'' the camera as a director in ''Film/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'', ''Film/HuntForTheWilderpeople'', and ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' led him to fame outside of his native UsefulNotes/NewZealand, '''Creator/TaikaWaititi''' was in Film/GreenLantern playing Hal Jordan's Thomas Kalmaku. The fact that he [[FakeAmerican used an American accent]] and didn't have his trademark BeardOfDirectors at the time for that movie probably doesn't help.

** Speaking of Franchise/TheMuppets, a young '''Raven Symone''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fspvvzM8I6A sang to Kermit]] in the special ''The Muppets At Walt Disney World''.

* '''Creator/MichaelCera''' made his acting debut in ''Series/TheNoddyShop'' episode "Big Bullies". He also played Brother Bear in the 2003 version of ''WesternAnimation/TheBerenstainBears'' and the younger version of Uncle Gizmo in ''WesternAnimation/RoliePolieOlie''.

* Filipino actor '''John Arcilla''' first starred in a 90s Phillipine TV commercial for a brand of bacon in which he uttered "Coffee na lang, dear" (Just coffee, dear) before landing his iconic role of historical figure Gen. Antonio Luna in the [[Film/HeneralLuna eponymous 2015 biopic]].
* '''Ashley Argota''' from ''Series/TrueJacksonVP'', was a classmate of the PowerTrio in the ''Series/ICarly'' episode "iHave a Lovesick Teacher".

* Filipino actor '''John Arcilla''' first starred in a '90s Phillipine TV commercial for a brand of bacon in which he uttered "Coffee na lang, dear" (Just coffee, dear) before landing his iconic role of historical figure Gen. Antonio Luna in the [[Film/HeneralLuna eponymous 2015 biopic]].

** Her first film was the ''[[Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial E.T.]]'' ripoff ''Film/MacAndMe,'' as an uncredited dancer in [=McDonald's=].
** She had a key role in an episode ''Series/QuantumLeap'' as the future love interest of Sam's current host.
** She also played Creator/MayimBialik's evil stepsister in the very short-lived series ''Molloy'' (it was canceled in favor of Bialik's other vehicle, ''Series/{{Blossom}}'').

* Filipino actor '''John Arcilla''' first starred in a 90s TV commercial for a brand of bacon in which he uttered "Coffee na lang, dear" (Just coffee, dear) before landing his iconic role of historical figure Gen. Antonio Luna in the [[Film/HeneralLuna eponymous 2015 biopic]].

* Before she played the role of [[Series/TheBigComfyCouch Loonette]] and started her voice acting career, '''Creator/AlysonCourt''' played Ruthie in ''[[Film/SesameStreetPresentsFollowThatBird Follow That Bird]]''. She also appeared in a few episodes of ''Series/MrDressup''.

* '''Creator/MickeyRourke''' made his film debut in ''Film/NinteenFortyOne'' as a marine during the DinerBrawl.

* Before she'd booked any onscreen acting roles, '''Creator/GemmaChan''' appeared as one of the models in the first series of ''Project Catwalk'', the British version of ''Series/ProjectRunway''. She later played one of the astronauts in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E16TheWatersOfMars The Waters of Mars]]," as well as [[YouLookFamiliar two separate bit characters]] in ''Series/TheITCrowd'' (one of whom was the female Sulu in Douglas' ''Series/StarTrek''-themed sex tape).

* Before she'd booked any acting roles, '''Creator/GemmaChan''' appeared as one of the models in the first series of ''Project Catwalk'', the British version of ''Series/ProjectRunway''. She later played one of the astronauts in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[/Recap/DoctorWhoS30E16TheWatersOfMars The Waters of Mars]]," as well as [[YouLookFamiliar two separate bit characters]] in ''Series/TheITCrowd'' (one of whom was the female Sulu in Douglas' ''Series/StarTrek''-themed sex tape).

* Long before '''Creator/ChantalStrand''' was known for the roles of [[WesternAnimation/DragonTales Cassie]] and [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Diamond Tiara]], she played Holly, one of the children in ''Series/TheCharlieHorseMusicPizza''.

** She was Creator/TomHanks' daughter in ''Film/TheBonfireOfTheVanities''.

** Even though the three actors playing the other three leads (Creator/LisaOrtiz, Creator/EricStuart, and Creator/VeronicaTaylor) were also breaking out at the time, all three of them would wind up working for the not-too-fondly-thought-of Creator/FourKidsEntertainment, as did most of the other actors who worked on ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}''; when CPM started to fall under, Freeman rose to stardom working for other companies dubbing more popular, un-{{Bowdlerise}}d anime, mostly those licensed by Creator/BandaiEntertainment.

* ''Theatre/TheBookOfMormon'' star '''Creator/AndrewRannells''' used to work for Creator/FourKidsEntertainment as a voice director and voice actor. His voice credits include [[Anime/YuGiOh Mako Tsunami, Noah Kaiba]], [[Manga/ShamanKing Ren Tao]] (or, rather, ''[[DubNameChange Len]] Tao''), [[Anime/SonicX Decoe, Bokkun, and Mr. Stewart.]]