The “Before They Were Famous” List: 10 Actors Who Appeared as Extras in Major Films

Every big movie has a crowd somewhere in the frame. Partygoers, students, subway muggers and disco patrons fill the edges of the shot, and most viewers never think about who they are.

Some of those faces now belong to people with household names. Here are ten actors who started out in the background, with the films and the details that put them there.

Brad Pitt in Less Than Zero

Before anyone was paying attention to Brad Pitt, he was an uncredited partygoer in 1987’s Less Than Zero. He was billed as “Partygoer / Preppie Guy at Fight.”

He also spent that year popping up anonymously in several other movies. It’s a useful reminder that even a future leading man can spend a stretch of his early career as part of the scenery.

Renée Zellweger in Dazed and Confused

Look closely at the students in Dazed and Confused and a young Renée Zellweger is among them. The film is known for its large ensemble, which made it an easy place for a newcomer to blend in.

Her uncredited appearance came years before Jerry Maguire made her instantly recognizable. Her background moment is now a favorite pause and rewind trick for fans.

Sylvester Stallone in Bananas

Sylvester Stallone was an extra in Woody Allen’s 1971 film Bananas as a subway mugger. That was years before Rocky made him a star.

He was also an uncredited extra in Jane Fonda’s 1971 thriller Klute, as a disco patron. Two films in one year, both with no real lines to speak of.

Kristen Stewart in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas

Years before Twilight, Kristen Stewart had an uncredited childhood appearance in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas. It was one of two tiny movie appearances she made before landing more substantial roles.

The other was a Disney Channel movie. She was just eight years old and had no lines when she appeared briefly in 1999’s The Thirteenth Year. Her first major role came later, in Panic Room alongside Jodie Foster.

Julia Roberts in Firehouse

Julia Roberts had a humble start with a minor appearance in the film Firehouse. She played an uncredited character named Babs in the low budget 1987 comedy.

That was well before her breakout role. Firehouse is hardly a household title, so this one is more of a trivia find than a famous scene.

Samuel L. Jackson in Ragtime and The Exterminator

Samuel L. Jackson is famous for his performance as Jules Winnfield in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film Pulp Fiction. Long before that, he worked in the background.

He got his start in uncredited roles in films like Ragtime (1981) and The Exterminator (1980). He then moved on to small roles in the Spike Lee films School Daze and Do the Right Thing.

Clint Eastwood and the Central Casting Years

In the 1950s, Clint Eastwood was an eager member of Central Casting. That meant he took background work wherever the studios needed bodies.

He was an uncredited extra in several films before breaking into leading man roles. Those parts eventually led to Westerns and later Dirty Harry.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in Field of Dreams

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were extras for the Fenway Park scenes in Field of Dreams (1989). Both were young then, and they were still years away from writing and starring in Good Will Hunting together.

Crowd scenes like this one rely on large numbers of local extras. A baseball stadium shot is a good example of why a film needs so many of them.

James Dean in Sailor Beware

In the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy Sailor Beware (1951), James Dean was an extra with one line. It was a brief moment, but it put him on screen in a studio comedy.

Dean’s fame came only a few years later and was tragically short. This early bit part is a small piece of a career that is mostly remembered for just a handful of leading roles.

Jackie Chan in Fists of Fury and Enter the Dragon

As a teenager, Jackie Chan appeared as an extra and stunt performer in Bruce Lee’s Fists of Fury (1971) and Enter the Dragon (1973). Both films are landmarks of martial arts cinema.

These early experiences helped shape his action comedy style. He went on to build one of the most recognizable stunt driven careers in film.