These acting debuts blew everyone away! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the most memorable performances by first-time movie actors, who may or may not have previously acted in another medium.
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00:00So go play somewhere else.
00:06I need to think.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the most memorable performances by first-time
00:13movie actors who may or may not have previously acted in another medium.
00:17I told you she was tricky.
00:21Shall we begin?
00:24Number 30.
00:25Amanda Seyfried.
00:26Mean Girls.
00:27As the world turns, viewers of the early 2000s watched Amanda Seyfried grow up as Lucy Montgomery,
00:34but a whole new generation got to know her as the breakout name in Mean Girls.
00:38Her Karen Smith character gets some of the biggest laughs as the Plastics' resident airhead.
00:44What are you?
00:45I'm a mouse.
00:47Duh.
00:48She also ends up having the biggest heart in the high school clique.
00:51As much as you love to hate her peers, Seyfried's charm and emotional intelligence
00:56turn Karen into an unexpected underdog.
00:59From this iconic role came a diverse career with many complicated leading roles.
01:04While Seyfried has obviously gone much deeper than Karen,
01:07the flair she brought to her humble movie debut is unforgettable.
01:11Hi, this is Karen Smith.
01:13It's 68 degrees and there's a 30% chance that it's already raining.
01:19Number 29.
01:20Dev Patel.
01:21Slumdog Millionaire.
01:22Danny Boyle elevated Slumdog Millionaire with huge names in Indian cinema,
01:27but British actor Dev Patel claimed the lead role of Jamal Malik at age 17.
01:32He had already earned a teen fan base as Anwar Karal on the E4 drama Skins.
01:38As a poor orphan trying to survive the streets of Mumbai
01:42and who wants to be a millionaire, he touched the world.
01:45Are you nervous?
01:46What?
01:49Am I nervous?
01:51It's you who's in the hot seat.
01:52My friend?
01:53Oh, yes.
01:55Sorry.
01:56Patel achieved his own instant fortune after Slumdog Millionaire swept the Academy Awards.
02:01He himself was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Actor
02:05and won several awards for Breakout Performance.
02:08I knew you'd be watching.
02:10He's since lived up to those accolades as a versatile lead actor.
02:14With every man charm and emotional depth,
02:17Patel has his own incredible underdog story from his first film.
02:2228. Charlto Copley – District 9
02:25And what we do here at this department is we try to
02:29engage with the prawn on behalf of MNU and on behalf of humans.
02:35Copley was a small-time film and TV producer before taking a different role
02:39for his friend Neil Blomkamp's feature film debut.
02:42Blomkamp wasn't the only revelation in District 9,
02:46which explores the social marginalization of extraterrestrials settled in South Africa.
02:51Copley stars as Vikas Vandamurva,
02:54a human bureaucrat mutated by exposure to alien fluid.
02:57It's a horrifying, action-packed process that the first-time actor carries with visceral intensity.
03:03I want to see you again, baby, and I'm gonna fix my arm,
03:06and I'm gonna see you again, and I'm gonna kiss you, and I'm gonna hold you again.
03:11District 9 became a watershed classic in sci-fi,
03:15launching the particularly acclaimed Copley into a prolific acting career.
03:19It turns out his talents are better suited in front of the camera.
03:23Number 27. Brad Dourif.
03:25One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
03:27Dourif's intensity can be horrifying.
03:30In his debut in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, it was absolutely heartbreaking.
03:34Director Milos Forman was impressed with the stage actor and cast him as Billy Bibbit,
03:40a psychiatric patient struggling with neuroses.
03:43Why did you want to marry her?
03:45Well, I was in love, in love with her.
03:50He wound up being the most tragic character in this devastating commentary on mental health care,
03:55and Dourif became one of the most talked-about names when Cuckoo's Nest
03:59dominated the 1975 awards season.
04:02The Golden Globes declared him the new star of the year.
04:05Aren't you ashamed?
04:10No, I'm not.
04:11Since then, Dourif's fiery presence and voice have consistently stolen the show,
04:16particularly in horror movies.
04:18Still, there's no comparison to the horror of Billy Bibbit's brilliantly acted story.
04:23Number 26. Anne Hathaway.
04:26The Princess Diaries.
04:27After debuting in the sole season of Fox's Get Real,
04:30Hathaway became an overnight sensation in The Princess Diaries.
04:34So too did the lead character of Mia Thermopolis,
04:37an average American teenager who discovers that she's heir to the throne of Genovia.
04:41Me? A princess?
04:45Shut up!
04:47The royal family affair got mixed reviews, but was a sleeper hit at the box office.
04:51It has since become a cult classic.
04:54Everyone at least agrees that Hathaway was a natural headliner,
04:58with impeccable comic timing and mature range at only 18 years old.
05:02Why me?
05:03Because you saw me when I was invisible.
05:06Following 2004's The Princess Diaries 2, Royal Engagement,
05:09she rose to more adult roles across all genres.
05:13More than 20 years later, Hathaway is now true Hollywood royalty.
05:17Number 25. Cameron Diaz.
05:20The Mask.
05:21This professional model quickly became one of Hollywood's most alluring starlets
05:25after debuting in The Mask.
05:28But she brought so much more than beauty to Tina Carlyle,
05:31a jazz singer and protagonist, Stanley Ipkiss' love interest.
05:35Diaz had smoke and chemistry with Jim Carrey,
05:38with a witty charisma to ground his supernatural slapstick antics.
05:42The freshman actress is also known for her
05:43unparalleled sense of humor and humorousness.
05:46She's also known for her unparalleled sense of humor and humorousness.
05:49She's also known for her unparalleled sense of humor and humorousness.
05:52She's also known for her unparalleled sense of humor and humorousness.
05:54slapstick antics.
05:56The freshman actress's natural magnetism
05:58elevated the role and made her an instant superstar.
06:01The Mask.
06:05It's the guy inside the mask.
06:08It's you all along.
06:12In addition to carrying many more comedies and genre movies since The Mask,
06:16Diaz has proven to be just as enchanting in dramas.
06:19You only need to see her breakout role to recognize that she can command the screen,
06:23as well as light it up.
06:25Number 24.
06:26Jamie Bell.
06:27Billy Elliot.
06:28Of the thousands who auditioned for the title role in Billy Elliot,
06:3113-year-old Jamie Bell jumped out and stuck the landing.
06:35He underwent extensive dance training to portray a working-class kid
06:39who defies expectations by studying ballet.
06:42However, Bell seemed effortless in richly emoting
06:45Billy's tense yet graceful underdog story.
06:54This remarkably mature performance helped propel the film into an uplifting classic.
06:59With no prior acting experience,
07:01Bell became the youngest ever winner of the BAFTA for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
07:06Just there, flying, like a bird, like electricity.
07:17The breakout child prodigy then toured internationally in a variety of challenging roles
07:22and is still a celebrated star today.
07:25Talk about a debut that hit all the right moves.
07:27Number 23.
07:29Kevin Kline.
07:30Sophie's Choice.
07:31While Meryl Streep's Oscar-winning performance makes Sophie's Choice a classic,
07:35Kevin Kline gave just as much with less film experience.
07:39The established soap opera and Shakespearean actor
07:42first hit the big screen as Nathan Landau.
07:45I have the honor to request your hand in marriage.
07:53He brings tremendous charm to the character of Sophie's brilliant yet unstable lover.
07:58But when Nathan turns, Kline is equal parts terrifying and heartbreaking.
08:03This complex portrayal of mental illness brings another layer of tragedy
08:07to the already emotionally turbulent Sophie's Choice.
08:11Your magnum southern opus.
08:14Your puling adolescent self-pity for your poor dead mother.
08:20Knock it off, Nathan.
08:21While Kline was eclipsed by Streep during the awards season,
08:25his accoladed breakout performance is now recognized as no less important.
08:29Never mind that it launched a long and distinguished career for the versatile movie star.
08:34Number 22.
08:36Lupita Nyong'o.
08:3712 Years a Slave.
08:38After working on production crews and Kenyan television,
08:42Lupita Nyong'o found her big break in 12 Years a Slave.
08:45She portrays the historical figure Patsy,
08:48who endures unimaginable horror as an enslaved woman in the American South.
08:53The whole film is a soberingly raw portrait of such real-life atrocities.
08:58Why would you consign me to damnation with such an ungodly request?
09:02There is God here.
09:05God is merciful.
09:08Although Patsy has relatively little screen time,
09:11Nyong'o captures the tension and tragedy of a whole institution.
09:15She was physically and emotionally immersed in the role
09:18to a degree that challenged her veteran co-stars.
09:20This breakout won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress,
09:24among many other accolades.
09:26The Lord knows that's all.
09:30You're a liar.
09:31And you, blind with your own covetousness.
09:34Patsy would be the first of many unforgettable roles elevated by Nyong'o.
09:39Number 21.
09:40James Dean – East of Eden
09:42After some TV work and uncredited movie parts,
09:45James Dean became a household name with East of Eden.
09:48The John Steinbeck adaptation follows Caleb Trask
09:51as he struggles to find direction in his life and connection with his father.
09:55Talk to me, father.
10:02I gotta know who I am.
10:03I gotta know who I'm like.
10:04I gotta know.
10:06Dean leads this character study with youthful charisma and a natural intensity
10:10that was rare in contemporary Hollywood melodramas.
10:13He was a leading man from the beginning,
10:15scoring a massive fan base and an Oscar nomination.
10:19Sadly, he wouldn't be around to see the latter.
10:22Dean died in a car accident in 1955 with Rebel Without a Cause and Giant posthumously promising
10:28what could have been one of the greatest acting careers of a generation.
10:32But East of Eden alone made a lasting impression.
10:35I remember.
10:36Man has a choice, and the choice is what makes him a man.
10:42See, I do remember.
10:44Number 20.
10:45Alan Rickman – Die Hard
10:47Hans Gruber is one of the greatest antagonists in movie history,
10:51and he was played by first-time film presence Alan Rickman.
11:02I don't know it, I'm telling you.
11:05Get on a jet to Tokyo and ask the chairman.
11:06I'm telling you, you're just gonna have to kill me.
11:10Okay.
11:10Rickman was an accomplished stage actor at the time,
11:13a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company,
11:15having trained at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
11:19I can't take the time now to mention all the Shakespearean roles you've done.
11:22In 1985, Rickman starred in productions of As You Like It and Troilus and Cressida,
11:28and he was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in Les Liaisons Dangereuses,
11:33one year prior to Die Hard.
11:34But it was Hans Gruber that made Rickman a star,
11:37his suave performance impressing critics and general moviegoers alike.
11:41Gruber was different from many 80s action villains.
11:44Stylish, calm, and wickedly intelligent.
11:47When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain,
11:50he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer.
11:59Benefits of a classical education.
12:01And Rickman played it all perfectly.
12:03Enough jokes.
12:05You made a pretty good cowboy yourself, Hans.
12:10What was it you said to me before?
12:13Yippee-ki-yay.
12:15Number 19.
12:16Jason Schwartzman.
12:17Rushmore.
12:18Directed by Wes Anderson and co-written with Owen Wilson,
12:22Rushmore concerns a love triangle between an elementary school teacher,
12:26a rich businessman, and a 15-year-old private school student.
12:30Max.
12:32Can I ask you something?
12:34Sure.
12:36Has it ever crossed your mind that you're far too young for me?
12:40The latter is portrayed by Jason Schwartzman, a member of the iconic Coppola family.
12:44The 17-year-old Schwartzman met the movie's casting director at a party,
12:48and he earned the role of Max Fisher over 1,800 other teenagers.
12:53The collaboration between Schwartzman and director Wes Anderson proved an enormous success,
12:58and Schwartzman received critical acclaim for his debut performance.
13:01Sic transit gloria.
13:04Maybe we'll meet again someday, when the fighting stops.
13:08He's since become a frequent collaborator of Anderson's,
13:11both starring in his movies and co-writing the likes of The Darjeeling Limited and Isle of Dogs.
13:17Betty?
13:20I'm not doing this because you commanded me to.
13:23I'm doing it because I feel sorry for you.
13:27Kate Winslet – Heavenly Creatures
13:30This is Juliet Hume.
13:36Kate Winslet is one of the most acclaimed actresses of our time,
13:39the recipient of seven Academy Award nominations,
13:42and she began her film career playing a murderer.
13:45Winslet debuted in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures,
13:48which dramatizes the Parker-Hulme murder case of 1954.
13:52One of the criminals was Juliet Hulme,
13:55a teenage girl who conspired with her best friend Pauline Parker to murder Parker's mother.
14:00I know what to do about mother.
14:07We don't want to go to too much trouble.
14:09Some sort of accident.
14:13Hulme served five years for the murder,
14:15and forty years later she was played by future Hollywood legend Kate Winslet.
14:19Winslet was widely acclaimed for her disturbing performance,
14:21and walked away with various accolades,
14:24including an Empire Award and a London Film Critics Circle Award.
14:28Your mother is rather a miserable woman, isn't she?
14:33Number 17.
14:34Barbara Streisand – The Dark Knight
14:37Barbara Streisand – Funny Girl
14:40Serving as one of the most popular and acclaimed musicals of all time,
14:43Funny Girl tells the semi-autobiographical story of Broadway star Fanny Bryce
14:48and her relationship with con artist Nicky Arnstein.
14:51I'd rather be blue over you than be happy with somebody else.
15:04Smile.
15:05I'm crazy about you.
15:08Debuting on Broadway in 1964,
15:11Funny Girl was nominated for eight Tony Awards,
15:14including Best Performance by a Leading Actress for Barbara Streisand.
15:18The performance proved so instantly iconic
15:20that Streisand reprised the role of Fanny Bryce for the 1968 film adaptation,
15:26making her film debut in the process.
15:28And what a debut it was.
15:30Streisand put just as much effort in front of the camera as she did on stage,
15:34and she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in the process.
15:37Don't quit. Don't tell me.
15:40Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter.
15:43Life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter.
15:46Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade.
15:52Number 16.
15:53Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit
15:55Lawyer Decker would not wish me to consider anything under $325,
16:00but I will settle for $320 if I am given the $20 in advance.
16:05Hailee Steinfeld was introduced to acting through her Emmy Award-winning cousin,
16:09True O'Brien, who has garnered fame playing Paige Larson on the soap opera Days of Our Lives.
16:15When Steinfeld was 13 years old,
16:17she landed the role of Maddie Ross in the Coen Brothers adaptation of True Grit.
16:21It's an incredibly difficult role,
16:23with Steinfeld needing to deliver complex, outdated dialogue
16:27and starring opposite the legendary Jeff Bridges.
16:30It would be a challenge for experienced actors, let alone a 13-year-old girl.
16:34But Steinfeld was up for the challenge,
16:36and she was consistently praised by critics for her debut performance.
16:40For her efforts, Steinfeld received her first
16:42and so far only Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
16:46I did not think you were gonna do it.
16:48What do you think now?
16:50One of my short ribs broke.
16:51You killed my father when he was trying to help you.
16:54I have one of the gold pieces you stole from him now.
16:56Give me the other.
16:57Number 15.
16:58Anya Taylor-Joy – The Witch
17:00When she was just 14 years old,
17:02Anya Taylor-Joy dropped out of school to pursue acting.
17:06She found modeling work instead,
17:08having been discovered outside London's Harrods department store.
17:11She subsequently found acting work through her modeling
17:14and made her film debut in Robert Eggers' period horror movie The Witch.
17:18She plays Thomason, a banished Puritan who is accused of witchcraft by her family.
17:22I made no bargain.
17:23No soul belongs to Christ.
17:25I made no bargain.
17:26The devil hath no interest in thee.
17:28I am no witch, father.
17:29What did I but see in my house?
17:32Will you not hear me?
17:34I pray that you come back.
17:35Why have you turned against me?
17:36Taylor-Joy is excellent in the role,
17:39balancing passivity with outrage, fear, and eventual confidence.
17:42The Witch proved one of the most acclaimed horror films of 2015,
17:46with the screenplay, direction, atmosphere, and performances earning particular attention.
17:52It made Taylor-Joy a star,
17:54and she subsequently became one of the most popular actresses of the latter 2010s.
17:59Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?
18:04Yes.
18:07Wouldst thou like to see the world?
18:11Number 14.
18:13Sidney Poitier
18:14No Way Out
18:15One of the greatest, most influential, and most groundbreaking actors in movie history,
18:20Sidney Poitier, was the star of many iconic films dealing with race relations in mid-century America.
18:26Shut up, shut up.
18:28You're talking to a doctor.
18:30A doctor?
18:31Him?
18:34Lie back and lie still.
18:35You're in my charge.
18:36In 2002, Poitier earned an Honorary Academy Award for his historic accomplishments in film.
18:43Poitier made his debut in the controversial 1950 movie No Way Out,
18:47playing Dr. Luther Brooks,
18:49an African-American doctor confronted with racism in a hospital prison ward.
18:53The film proved Poitier's talents as an actor,
18:56and signaled his prolific career in films dealing with racial tensions.
19:00He's not even human, he's a mad dog.
19:02You kill mad dogs, don't you?
19:04Don't you think I'd like to?
19:05Don't you think I'd like to put the rest of these bullets through his head?
19:08Then go ahead.
19:09I can't.
19:09Why not?
19:11Because I've got to live too.
19:12Almost 13 years after the release of No Way Out,
19:15Poitier became the first black man to win the Best Actor Oscar,
19:18which he received for Lilies of the Field.
19:21Well, how'd you get there before I came along?
19:22We walk every Sunday, now we got you.
19:25Now, damn it!
19:26You ain't got me.
19:27Goodnight, you.
19:28Now, get that very screen!
19:31And cut that out.
19:32Number 13.
19:33Quevenginé Wallace – Beasts of the Southern Wild
19:37Beast it! Beast it! Beast it! Beast it! Beast it!
19:46Wallace auditioned for Beasts of the Southern Wild when she was just five years old,
19:51having lied about her age to break the minimum age requirement of six.
19:55The director, Ben Zeitlin, was reportedly impressed by her ability to burp on command,
20:00winning her the part of Hush Puppy.
20:02The movie sees Hush Puppy and her temperamental father, Wink,
20:05living in a secluded Louisiana bayou.
20:08Wallace gave an impassioned, complex and mature performance of someone far beyond her years,
20:13and won a slew of accolades throughout the 2013 awards season.
20:17Don't cry, idiot.
20:21Don't cry.
20:23She also became the youngest actress ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress,
20:28beating Whale Riders' Keisha Castle-Hughes by four years.
20:31Number 12.
20:32Robert Duvall – To Kill a Mockingbird
20:35Dill, I don't want you playing around that house over there.
20:37There's a maniac lives there and he's dangerous.
20:40See? I was just trying to warn him about Boo, but he wouldn't believe me.
20:44Prior to his role in To Kill a Mockingbird,
20:46Robert Duvall was an accomplished stage actor working in New York.
20:50In 1957, he starred in a play called The Midnight Caller, which was written by Horton Foote.
20:56Duvall's performance impressed Foote, and when he adapted Harper Lee's iconic novel for the screen,
21:01he recommended Duvall to the movie's producers.
21:04Duvall was cast as the famous recluse Boo Radley, and the rest is movie history.
21:09Hey, Boo.
21:12Miss Jean Louise.
21:14Mr. Arthur Radley.
21:19I believe he already knows you.
21:21Like the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird was a resounding success,
21:25earning eight nominations at the 35th Academy Awards.
21:28Unfortunately, Duvall was not one of them.
21:31No matter, he would later earn seven,
21:33the first of which came one decade later with The Godfather.
21:37Number 11.
21:38Oprah Winfrey.
21:39The Color Purple.
21:40This period drama proved an enormous departure for director Steven Spielberg,
21:44who, prior to this, had been known for his summer blockbusters.
21:48The Color Purple, on the other hand, is a dramatic and introspective look
21:52into the African American experience of the early 20th century.
21:55You children are so clean.
21:57Would you like to work for me?
21:59Be my maid?
22:01Hell no.
22:06It's based on a Pulitzer-winning novel,
22:08and stars Whoopi Goldberg as a rural Georgian named Celie.
22:12Oprah Winfrey stars opposite Goldberg as Sophia,
22:15a strong-willed woman who refuses to be oppressed.
22:18At the time, Winfrey was working as a morning talk show host in Chicago.
22:22With The Color Purple, she proved her incredible capabilities as an actress,
22:26and earned both a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination.
22:30I never thought I had to fight in my own house.
22:36I loves Hopper.
22:38God knows I do.
22:41But I kill him dead before I let him beat me.
22:45Number 10.
22:46Edward Norton.
22:47Primal Fear.
22:48For his film debut, Edward Norton was forced to play two people.
22:52Kind of.
22:53He plays a sociopathic murderer named Roy,
22:56who pretends to suffer from dissociative identity disorder
22:59in order to get out of a murder charge.
23:01The other personality is the innocent, passive, and stuttering altar boy, Aaron Stampler.
23:07I surely be great.
23:08Great for anything you could do for me.
23:10You're welcome.
23:12Now, your full name is?
23:17Aaron Luke Stampler.
23:21At the time, Norton was a struggling New York actor working in theater.
23:24He was then discovered by a casting director named Shirley Rich,
23:28who introduced Norton to the executive producers of Primal Fear.
23:32He obviously got the job and was often singled out in reviews as the best aspect of the movie.
23:37It sounds to me like they're gonna shoot old Aaron so full of poison,
23:40it's gonna come out his eyes.
23:43Where is Aaron?
23:44Aaron's crying off in some corner somewhere.
23:46You scared him off.
23:47You gotta deal with me now, boy.
23:50I'll give you a beating on principle.
23:52Norton earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor,
23:55the movie's only Oscar nomination, and Norton's first of three.
23:59There never was a Roy.
24:02Jesus Christ, Marty.
24:03If that's what you think, I am disappointed in you.
24:06I don't mind telling you.
24:10There never was an Aaron.
24:13Number 9.
24:14Gabourey Sidibe.
24:15Precious.
24:17A Harlem native, Gabourey Sidibe was working as a receptionist
24:20when she decided to audition in a nationwide casting call for Precious.
24:24The movie is based on the novel Push by Sapphire,
24:26and concerns the illiterate and pregnant Clarice Jones living in poverty in 1980s Harlem.
24:32Jones lives in Section 8 housing with her unemployed and mean-spirited mother, Mary.
24:37She say I eat all the time, but she always making me eat.
24:41And she call me a fat mess.
24:43She said her apartment little because of me.
24:47Only time she ever leaves is to play her numbers.
24:49Sidibe proved an exceptional and natural actress,
24:52thrilling critics with her tender debut performance.
24:56She was also one of the leading names of the 2010 awards season,
24:59receiving Best Actress nominations at the Golden Globes,
25:02BAFTAs, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Academy Awards.
25:06No, I never knew what you was until this day.
25:10Not even after all them things you did.
25:14Maybe I was too stupid.
25:16Maybe I just didn't want to.
25:20You ain't gonna see me no more.
25:21Sidibe rode this success to a prominent career in television,
25:25starring in Fox's Empire and numerous seasons of American Horror Story.
25:29I didn't know that there even were black witches.
25:32As it turns out, I'm an heir to Tituba.
25:36She was a house slave in Salem.
25:38She was the first to be accused of witchcraft.
25:41Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
25:52Like Funny Girl, Dreamgirls is often hailed as one of the greatest Broadway musicals of all time.
25:57Debuting in 1981, Dreamgirls won six Tony Awards during its initial Broadway run,
26:03including Best Performance by a Leading Actress for Jennifer Holliday playing Effie White.
26:2225 years later, American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson took the reins,
26:29proving herself both a commendable actress and a tantalizing performer in the process.
26:34The movie was praised for its musical numbers and performances,
26:37particularly those of Hudson and Eddie Murphy.
26:40Both received Academy Award nominations, with Hudson winning for Best Supporting Actress.
26:51Effie White is one of the all-time great Broadway characters,
27:01and Hudson beautifully inhabited the role in a thrilling movie debut.
27:15Eddie Murphy, 48 Hours
27:18And speaking of Eddie Murphy,
27:19he enjoyed a commendable movie debut himself in the buddy cop comedy 48 Hours.
27:38Murphy plays an imprisoned criminal named Reggie Hammond,
27:41who reluctantly teams up with a cop to help catch his criminal boss.
27:45Murphy had made a name for himself on Saturday Night Live,
27:48serving as both a cast member and writer. 48 Hours proved his acting capabilities,
27:53and the movie received praise for the chemistry and comedic interplay between Murphy
27:58and co-star Nick Nolte.
28:00Murphy received a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year,
28:15and it would prove to be his first of six.
28:19Jamie Lee Curtis – Halloween
28:30By October of 1978, Jamie Lee Curtis, the daughter of Hollywood legends Tony Curtis
28:41and Janet Leigh, was a little-known television actress, having starred in an episode of Columbo
28:46and the first season of an ABC sitcom called Operation Petticoat. She was subsequently cast
28:52as Laurie Strode in Halloween, with producer and co-writer Debra Hill admitting that Curtis
28:57was mainly cast for the publicity, her mother being such a prominent horror actress. Luckily,
29:02Curtis proved an excellent actress in her own right, and helped popularize the morally pure
29:07final girl trope through her performance. She exuded intelligence and proved a great screamer,
29:12becoming the seminal example of the scream queen.
29:19She carried this reputation into numerous future slashers,
29:23including Prom Night and Terror Train.
29:265. Julie Andrews – Mary Poppins
29:29An AFI Life Achievement Award recipient, Julie Andrews is one of the all-time
29:33greatest performers, with a career spanning nine decades. Andrews was a prominent stage
29:50actress throughout the 50s and 60s, starring in Broadway productions of My Fair Lady and
29:55Camelot. She earned a Tony Award nomination for both. After being passed over by producer Jack L.
30:01Warner for his My Fair Lady movie adaptation, Disney approached Andrews about starring in their
30:06upcoming movie Mary Poppins. She agreed to star as the title character, and it launched one of
30:11the greatest careers in movie history. Andrews won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and Mary
30:17Poppins herself quickly became a cinematic icon. 4. Natalie Portman – Leon the Professional
30:31Natalie Portman got off to quite a weird and disturbing start. In 1992, she became an
30:36understudy in the off-Broadway play Ruthless, which is about an ambitious young actress who
30:41commits multiple murders, including matricide. She then made her film debut in Luc Besson's
30:47Leon the Professional, which is about a hitman training a 12-year-old girl to commit murder
30:51so she can avenge her dead brother. The young Portman was continuously praised for her mature
31:10performance, with many finding her a great companion to seasoned French actor Jean Renaud.
31:16It was a movie and a performance beyond Portman's years, and the breakout role
31:20helped ensure Portman's reputation as one of Hollywood's greatest child actors.
31:243. Anna Paquin – The Piano
31:38This period drama concerns Ada and Flora McGrath, a mother-daughter duo who travel
31:42to New Zealand after Ada is sold into marriage by her father.
31:55To cast Flora, the producers hosted an open casting call that resulted in over 5,000
32:02auditions. The role went to a young New Zealand-Canadian girl named Anna Paquin.
32:07Both Paquin and lead actress Holly Hunter were unanimously praised by movie critics,
32:12and they both won Academy Awards for their performances. Hunter for actress,
32:16Paquin for supporting actress. Paquin was just 11 years old when she won the coveted Oscar,
32:21which makes her the second-youngest performer to win a competitive Academy Award.
32:35The first being…
32:362. Tatum O'Neill – Paper Moon
32:39Young Tatum O'Neill was born to actors Joanna Moore and the Oscar-nominated Ryan O'Neill.
32:44In 1973, Tatum and Ryan starred together in the road comedy Paper Moon, which sees a con artist
32:51taking a young girl under his wing during the Great Depression. The movie received strong
33:02reviews, with most of the praise going to first-time actor Tatum O'Neill. O'Neill won the
33:07most promising newcomer award at that year's Golden Globes, and just a few months later,
33:12she took home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Being just 10 years old,
33:17O'Neill became and remains the youngest performer to win a competitive Academy Award.
33:36It's a once-in-a-lifetime achievement for a once-in-a-lifetime child performance.
33:40Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get
33:45notified about our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or
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33:561. Orson Welles – Citizen Kane
33:59Orson Welles was just five days shy of his 26th birthday when Citizen Kane premiered at New York's
34:05Palace Theatre. It's an extraordinary accomplishment considering the young Welles wrote,
34:10produced, directed, and starred in the now-iconic film. Welles was prominent in radio
34:15at the time, and in 1939, he signed a controversial contract with RKO Radio Pictures to create two
34:22films. The first was Citizen Kane, which is now regarded as the most influential
34:40movie ever made. Welles stars as the titular Charles Foster Kane, proving himself just as
34:45capable in front of a camera as he was behind a microphone. The movie was well-received and earned
35:00nine nominations at the 14th Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Actor for Welles.
35:06What are your favorite first-time film performances? Make an impression in the comments!
35:16Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,
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