10 Actors Who Started Their Careers in TV Commercials

Long before a name appears on a movie poster, plenty of actors are doing something far smaller. They’re holding a cereal bowl, smiling at a puppy, or selling soap to a camera crew. Commercials have quietly been a training ground for decades.

The work is steady and fast, and it’s open to children who can follow direction. For many future stars, a thirty second spot was the first time anyone paid them to act. These ten actors are well documented examples.

Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster was around three years old when she appeared in a Coppertone sunscreen commercial in the mid 1960s. She was the child in the ad whose swimsuit a small dog tugs at. It’s one of the earliest screen credits of her career.

From there she moved into television series and then film. By her early teens she was working in features such as Taxi Driver. The sunscreen ad remains a handy reminder of how early her career began.

Brooke Shields

Brooke Shields began modeling as a baby, and one of her first jobs was an Ivory Snow soap advertisement. She was only a few months old at the time. Her mother managed her early bookings.

The ad work led to more modeling and then film roles in the late 1970s. She became a household name as a teenager. Her start in advertising was, quite literally, from infancy.

Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore comes from an acting dynasty, yet her own first screen work was a dog food commercial. She appeared in a Gaines Puppy Chow ad when she was still a baby, roughly eleven months old. It’s frequently cited in her biographies.

Her film debut came a few years later, and then E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial made her famous at seven. She has since worked as an actress, producer, and talk show host. The puppy food spot sits at the very beginning of that long run.

Sarah Michelle Gellar

Sarah Michelle Gellar was a very young child when an agent spotted her in a New York restaurant. That introduction led to commercial work, and she appeared in dozens of ads as a kid. A Burger King spot is among the best known.

She later moved into soap operas, winning attention on All My Children. Buffy the Vampire Slayer then made her a star in the late 1990s. Her early commercial experience gave her years of on set practice.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio’s first paid acting jobs were in television commercials and educational films in Los Angeles. Among the products often mentioned from that period are Matchbox toy cars and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. He was a child at the time.

He then landed small television roles before appearing in This Boy’s Life and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. The latter earned him an Oscar nomination at nineteen. It’s a long way from toy car ads, though the early experience clearly helped.

Kirsten Dunst

Kirsten Dunst started in front of cameras at around three years old, modeling and appearing in television commercials. She has been reported to have done dozens of them as a child. That steady work built her comfort on set.

Her breakout film role came in Interview with the Vampire when she was eleven. She later led films such as Little Women and the Spider-Man trilogy. Her path shows how commercials can lead straight into major studio work.

Dakota Fanning

Dakota Fanning’s first on screen job was a Tide laundry detergent commercial, which she did at about five years old. She had been taking acting lessons and impressed casting directors quickly. Television guest roles followed soon after.

In 2001 she appeared in I Am Sam, and her performance made her one of the youngest nominees for a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has kept working steadily into adulthood. The detergent ad was where it all started.

Hilary Duff

Hilary Duff grew up in Texas and began acting as a young child, with early appearances in television commercials. Her mother supported the effort, and the family eventually moved toward Los Angeles for better opportunities. Small parts in the 1990s came before her big break.

That break was the Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire, which premiered in 2001. It turned her into a teen star and opened doors to films and music. Her early ad credits were modest, but they got her into the industry.

Elisabeth Shue

Elisabeth Shue appeared in television commercials as a teenager, including work for Burger King. She was balancing that with school before she moved into acting more seriously. Advertising gave her an early foothold in a competitive business.

She then landed a role in The Karate Kid in 1984, followed by Adventures in Babysitting. Later she earned an Oscar nomination for Leaving Las Vegas. Her career took a quieter route than some child stars, but it started in the same place.

Neve Campbell

Neve Campbell trained as a ballet dancer in Canada before turning to acting. During her teens she appeared in Canadian television work, including commercials, as she built up credits. She was young and still finding her direction.

Her breakthrough was the American series Party of Five in 1994. Soon after, she starred in Scream, which made her a recognizable face in horror cinema. She has returned to the franchise several times since.