17 (More) Now-Famous People You Didn't Know Were in Movies You've Seen

By Dustin Rowles | Lists | August 8, 2012 |

One of the most popular and strangely enduring posts on the site was a one I ran last February: 12 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were in Movies You’ve Seen (Seth Rogen in Donnie Darko!). Basically, it’s a collection of now stars who you wouldn’t have noticed during the movie’s original run because they weren’t famous, but who would stand out to you now if you were to re-watch the movie.

In the comments of that post, there were a lot of other suggestions, and I went through a collected the best 17 for this reader-suggested sequel (there were a slew of TV suggestions, as well, which I’ll hold for a later post).

Except for Phillip Seymour Hoffman (but not Todd Louiso), all of these came as a surprise to me, even Fillion. I have no idea how I missed that, and I’m a little embarrassed to admit it.

Courtney Cox in Masters of the Universe

Michael Shannon in Groundhog Day

Jim Carrey in Peggy Sue Got Married

Phillip Seymour Hoffman AND Todd Louiso in Scent of a Woman

Nathan Fillion in Saving Private Ryan

Aaron Paul in Mission: Impossible III

Liam Neeson in Krull

Jason Segel in SLC Punk

Mischa Barton in Notting Hill

Jane Lynch in The Fugitive

Gerard Butler in Tomorrow Never Dies

Jack Black in Waterworld

Ben Affleck in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (The Movie)

Jane Krakowski in National Lampoon’s Vacation

Richard Dreyfuss in The Graduate

Justin Long in Galaxy Quest

Matthew McConaughey (and Neal McDonough) in Angels in the Outfield





Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.