The Academy Awards are this Sunday night, so it’s time for one of our favorite annual traditions. No, not the picks and predictions (because those are later this week); no, not the red carpet predictions (because blech), but our yearly compilation of the early, often unsung, film and television appearances of this year’s acting nominees. And rest assured, we’re not just doing this to point and laugh (at least, that’s not the main reason). It’s to remind you young, up-and-coming actors — and, frankly, all you established thesps working with them — that the next Oscar nominees and winners could be anyone: a one-line day player, a Freddie Kruger-battling ingénue, a movie theater hold-up man, or even a bathroom Madonna-slapper.
The Early Roles of Your 2015 Oscar Nominees from Flavorwire on Vimeo.
Edited by Jason Bailey Music by David Holmes
FILM CLIPS (in order of appearance) Body of Evidence (1993) A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) Mirror, Mirror 2: Raven Dance (1994) Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990) Tales From the Crypt (1990) Wet Hot American Summer (2001) Celebrity (1998) Lucky Louie (2006) Superbad (2007) Die Another Day (2002) Dead Poets Society (1989) Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1977) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) The Twilight Zone (1963) The Chase (1966) Countdown (1967) Explorers (1985) Dad (1989) Mystery Date (1991) White Fang (1991) Primal Fear (1996) Everyone Says I Love You (1996) The People Vs. Larry Flynt (1996) The Dentist (1996) 54 (1998) Safe Men (1998) The Ref (1994) The First Wives Club (1996) Homicide: Life on the Streets (1996) thirtysomething (1990) Inside Monkey Zetterland (1992) Medium (2005) The Rocker (2008) White Lightning (1973) Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974) Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1982) Mask (1985) Innocent Lies (1995) Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) Princess of Thieves (2001) The Hole (2001) Bend It Like Beckham (2002) Secret Service (1977) Julia (1977) The Deer Hunter (1978) Manhattan (1979) Curly Sue (1991) The Dana Carvey Show (1996) Tomorrow Night (1998) Homegrown (1998) Alias (2001) My Little Eye (2002) The Last Cowboy (2003) Tipping the Velvet (2002) Fortysomething (2003) Atonement (2007) The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) Like Minds (2006) The Good Shepard (2006) Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) Powder Blue (2009) Rabbit Test (1978) Night Shift (1982) Mr. Mom (1983) Taxi (1998) Pretty Things (2001) Big Fish (2003) Innocence (2004) The Worst Witch (1998) Northanger Abbey (2007) Brideshead Revisited (2008) Cheri (2009) The Man in the Moon (1991) A Far Off Place (1993) Jack the Bear (1993) Freeway (1996) The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag (1992) The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) Benny & Joon (1993) The Libertine (2004) Fracture (2007) Pride and Prejudice (2005)