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Let’s face it, we love a good horror movie. We love the twists, the ghouls and the gore, and a good horror movie marathon is the perfect recipe to get you in the Halloween spirit. While we always enjoy classics like Scream and Halloween and see the latest movies like Megan and Renfield in theaters, there’s nothing better than a horror film from the 1970s, 1980s, or even 1990s. Not just because of the film itself, but also when you look at the current A-listers who started there.
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While we know that scream queens Neve Campbell and Jamie Lee Curtis got their start in the horror game early on, they’re definitely not the only ones. What if we told you that Jennifer Aniston’s first film role was as the lead in a 1993 horror film? and the first film roles of Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio were supporting roles in horror films?
Seriously, there are a lot more A-listers than you think who landed their very first or first movie role in a horror movie that you’ve probably seen over and over again on your Hulu recommendations.
To get us in the Halloween spirit and fuel our ever-growing need to know all the facts for entertainment, we’ve put together the perfect list.
See which actors had their first-ever film role and/or their first role in a horror film below:
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Johnny Depp
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Image Source: Photo: ©New Line Cinema / Courtesy of the Everett Collection.
Before Johnny Depp became the actor who really worked in any genre, he got his first big break and film role as Glen Lantz in the original Nightmare on Elm Street.
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Leonardo Dicaprio
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Photo credit: Photo by Tyler Boye/`/Penske Media via Getty Images.
Even before his breakthrough success in the hit drama What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Leonardo DiCaprio played a boy named Josh in the crazy horror film Critters 3 in his first film role.
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Neve Campbell
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Image Credit: Photo by Andrew H Walker/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images.
Neve Campbell was and remains one of the greatest horror queens in our hearts. Before her success as the legendary final girl Sydney Prescott in the Scream films and before her role in the cult classic The Craft, she had her first film role in the 1993 film The Dark.
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Elizabeth Olsen
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Image Credit: ©Open Road Films/Courtesy Everett Collection.
While Elizabeth Olsen appeared as a child in the films of her twin sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, she also had her first film roles as a serious actress. In 2011, she starred in the critically acclaimed crime thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene and the horror film The Silent House, about a girl trapped in her family home and tortured by supernatural forces .
Amazon
$3.99 to rent
on Amazon.com
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Julia Louis Dreyfus
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Photo credit: (c) Empire Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection.
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.
Amazon
$3.99 to rent
on Amazon.com
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Hilary Swank
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Image source: (c) 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved.
Hilary Swank landed her first film role as one of the high school students in the film “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
Amazon
$3.99 to rent
on Amazon.com
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Chloe Grace Moretz
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Image credit: © MGM/courtesy Everett Collection.
Remember when Chloë Grace Moretz played the little girl in the Amityville Horror in 2005? This was her first film role!
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Jennifer Aniston
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Photo credit: Everett Collection.
Two years before she became a superstar thanks to her role as Rachel Green in Friends, Jennifer Aniston starred in the 1993 horror film Leprechaun.
Hulu
$5.99/month subscription on Hulu
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Tom Hanks
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Photo credit: (c) MGM/courtesy Everett Collection.
He Knows You’re Alone followed a bride-to-be who is stalked by a serial killer, and many may not know this, but the 1980 film was Tom Hanks’ first ever film role.
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Anya Taylor Joy
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Image source: ©A24/courtesy Everett Collection.
Anya Taylor-Joy is no stranger to the frightening, strange and offbeat; and her first film role as Thomasin in VVitch showed everyone that she is a horror icon that is here to stay.
Hulu
$5.99/month subscription on Hulu
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Bella Thorne
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Photo credit: Photo by Anna Pocaro/IndieWire via Getty Images.
Bella Thorne has been working on horror projects for years. While she played an extra in a few projects and even had a very small voice role in Ants, her first film role was in a live-action adaptation in the 2007 film The Seer.
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Patricia Arquette
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Photo credit: © New Line/Courtesy Everett Collection.
Did you know that Patricia Arquette first starred as Kristen Parker in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors?
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Jamie Lee Curtis
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Image Credit: Photo by: Kim Gottlieb-Walker/© Compass International Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection, CREDIT ITC – EDITORIAL USE ONLY HLW 014 L, (80879).
Jamie Lee Curtis’ first film role was as the legendary Final Girl Laurie in 1978’s “Halloween?!”.
Amazon
$2.99 to rent
on Amazon.com
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Eva Mendes
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Photo credit: Photo by Chelsea Lauren/`/Penske Media via Getty Images.
While she appeared in a few music videos, Eva Mendes started out as a supporting actress in Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror.
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Adam Scott
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Photo credit: Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images.
Adam Scott’s first major film role (and second film role ever) was in Hellraiser: Bloodline.
Amazon
$3.99 to rent
on Amazon.com
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Jason Alexander
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Photo credit: Photo by Mark Von Holden/Variety via Getty Images.
That’s right, another Seinfeld alum started in horror! Jason Alexander appeared in the 1981 film The Burning.
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John Travolta
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Photo credit: Everett Collection.
John Travolta’s first film role was in the 1975 film The Devil’s Rain.
Amazon
$3.99 to rent
on Amazon.com
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Jennifer Connelly
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Photo credit: (c)New Line Cinema/courtesy of the Everett Collection.
Before her big break in “Labyrinth,” Jennifer Connelly starred in the 1985 film “Phenomena,” but had previously had a film role.
Amazon
$3.99 to rent
on Amazon.com
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