Welcome to “Before They Were Famous“, where we take a look at some of the past exploits of today's biggest stars, be it from movies, television, Broadway, competitions, etc.! The more embarrassing, the better. Our memories are long, but the internet's memory is forever, so jump back in time with us to witness some of our favorite stars before they were marquee names.
Imagine putting in old home videos of a wedding or bat mitzvah and discovering Paul Rudd was your DJ/emcee. Yes, before he donned the Ant-Man costume, Rudd emceed a bat mitzvah (1992) and rocked a business up top, party below look: a canary yellow half-tuxedo mixed with shorts, a Pittsburgh Steelers hat, and Doc Martens. He made sure the birthday girl had a great time by ensuring she won the limbo, helped her blow out candles, and most importantly, rocked some air guitar for “Hound Dog”.
On Letterman, Rudd talked about his time as a DJ, “A friend of mine worked for a company called You Should Be Dancing and I thought, ‘That’s true, you should be dancing.’… I made a decent [amount of money] not great, but good enough and I didn’t have to work during the week and I could go to school. If I was ever requested to do a bar mitzvah, I got an extra $100.” Brb, going to check my old home videos for DJ Rudd.
Every actor has to start somewhere, right? Well, as it turns out, Evangeline Lilly got her start in commercials for the “dating” :wink wink: call-in service LiveLinks (2005). Oh yeah, I am sure all of the “singles” on the other end of the telephone calls are as hot as Evangeline. According to the Internet, and unfortunately for Evangeline, these commercials are still airing on Comedy Central. Has anyone come across one in the wild?
In one of his earliest roles, Ryan Reynolds stars in ORDINARY MAGIC (1994). He plays a young boy named Jeffrey (nicknamed Ganesh) who spent the early years of his life in India. However, he is forced to move to Canada to live with his extended family after his father dies. As a fish out of water with a different accent and a different way of living, Jeffrey is immediately singled out amongst his peers. But as time progresses and Jeffrey uses his positive outlook to save his Aunt’s house from destruction, the community begins to rally around him.
Is it really a surprise that teenage Ryan Reynolds is just as cute as adult Ryan Reynolds? ORDINARY MAGIC totally seems like the kind of cheesy movie I would have taped off of the Disney Channel as a kid. But with all of this peaceful/nonviolent resistance, I am left wondering one thing: What would Deadpool have to say about all of this?
Have a suggestion for Before They Were Famous?
E-mail us at: beforetheywerefamous@joblo.com with anyone you'd like to see featured in future columns!