History Main / RetroactiveRecognition

* Way before starring in ''Literature/{{Room}}'' or playing [[Film/CaptainMarvel2019 Captain Marvel]] in the [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]], a young '''Creator/BrieLarson''' appeared in ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'' as indie rocker Envy Adams. Prior to that, she was one of the bullies in ''Film/{{Sleepover}}'' and the teenage daughter in ''Series/UnitedStatesOfTara''. On the smaller screen, Larson had a recurring role as Rachel (a Greendale student who also dated Abed) on ''Series/{{Community}}'' in seasons 4 and 5.
** Way before either of these roles, she was a singer, with one of the songs she performed, "Hope Has Wings", being used as the theme song of ''[[Toys/{{Barbie}} Barbie and the Magic Of Pegasus]]''. She also appeared in an episode of ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'' and the Creator/DisneyChannel Original Movie ''Right On Track''.

** And before all of that, he co-starred in the sitcom ''Series/{{LessThanPerfect}}.

** He also cropped in ''Series/MiamiVice''.

* Before being cast in ''Series/KimsConvenience'' and the ''Comicbook/ShangChi'' movie, '''Creator/SimuLiu''' was an extra in ''Film/PacificRim''. He also had some minor roles on TV shows shot in Canada, such as a bit part in episodes of ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' and ''Series/{{Nikita}}''. He was also Music/[[FallOutBoy PeteWentz]]'s stunt double for the "Centuries" music video.

* '''Creator/DanaiGurira''' briefly shows up in ''Film/MySoulToTake'' as a paramedic who is killed near the beginning of the movie.

* ''Series/StrangerThings'' star '''Creator/DavidHarbour''' had a small role in ''Film/BrokebackMountain'' as a closeted man who tries to seduce Creator/JakeGyllenhaal's character.

** He also played Stacks Edwards in ''Fim/{{Goodfellas}}''.

** Even before that, he was the young kid and main character in ''The Voyage Of The Mimi''.

** Ricky Linderman, the titular bodyguard in ''My Bodyguard''.

** For TV, he had some minor roles in an episode of ''Series/TheXFiles'', and some earlier episodes of ''Series/MrShow''. He's also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfLgSdAAHMA a big fan]] of ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}''.

* Although nowadays he's perhaps best known for his voice acting in video games and animated cartoons, '''Creator/BrianBloom''' was a teen heartthrob in the 1980s, appearing on shows like ''Series/AsTheWorldTurns'' and ''Series/BeautyAndTheBeast1987.''

* '''Hannibal Buress''' used to play in occasional cameos on ''Series/ThirtyRock'' (a show he wrote for), often as a hobo.

* '''Creator/CharlieCox''' got his big break starring as Tristan Thorn in British cult comic-fantasy film ''Film/{{Stardust}}'' (which also featured a young Creator/HenryCavill, and Creator/MarkStrong - not so young, but it was when he started his long-running habit of playing villains), before going on to play the title character in ''Series/{{Daredevil}}''.

** He also played Gurney Halleck in ''Literature/{{Dune}}''.

* '''Corey Stoll''' appeared in an episode of ''Series/WithoutATrace'' and as Ernest Hemingway in ''Film/MidnightInParis'' before he became known for playing Peter Russo in ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'' and Darren Cross in ''Film/AntMan''.
** Also before House of Cards and Ant-Man, Stoll was one of the detectives in the troubled production ''Series/LawAndOrderLA''.

* A young '''Creator/TaraStrong''' was the voice of Hello Kitty in ''WesternAnimation/HelloKittysFurryTaleTheater''. Also, before she moved out of Canada, she voiced Comicbook/IllyanaRasputin in the 90s ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' cartoon

* An actor named '''Woodrow Strode''' played the King of Ethiopia in ''Film/TheTenCommandments''. In a later scene, he doubled as a royal slave. Years later, as '''Woody Strode''', he became a fairly well-known actor, appearing in ''Film/{{Spartacus}}'', ''Film/TheProfessionals'' and several Creator/JohnFord Westerns. This led viewers of [[Creator/CecilBDeMille Mr. DeMille's]] epic to conclude that [[WildMassGuessing Rameses enslaved the Ethiopian king]].

** Sutherland also guest-starred in the Name of the Game episode "The Suntan Mob".

* '''Creator/AmberTamblyn''' was one of Dawn's friends in the sixth season of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.

** Many people remember his guest shot in an episode of The Rookies, entitled "Frozen Smoke", where he goes berserk and beats another kid to death for stealing his brother's bike. The rumor was that Travolta bought all the prints of the episode and destroyed them, but this was debunked as the episode was shown when the series ran on TV Land a while back.

* '''Creator/DenzelWashington''' has an uncredited blink-and-you'll miss it role as a mugger shot by Creator/CharlesBronson in ''Film/DeathWish''. (See him [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-pu31S4EEY here]] on the right as the muggers walk up the alley.)

** Williams made his debut in the 1967 ''Series/Dragnet'' episode "The Christmas Story" (the only episode to be done for the original B&W series, the radio series and the color series). Jack Webb told Barry that he'd be reading his lines off a TelePrompTer, to which the young actor responded, "What's a TelePrompTer?", to the frustration of Webb. Despite that, Williams gave a good performance in his small role, getting praise from Webb, who asked how it was he was able to do such a good job. He replied that they did have a week to read the script. Williams worked for Webb again on ''Series/{{Adam12}}''. They needed a young boy for the episode, and Webb said, "Hey, what about that geeky kid from the Christmas Story episode?"

* Before his StarMakingRole in ''Series/MoonLighting'', '''Creator/BruceWillis''' played a "heavy-of-the-week" in a first-season episode of ''Series/MiamiVice'', and also guest-starred in an episode of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985''.

* '''Creator/ElijahWood'''

* '''Creator/JamesWoods''' made a guest appearance in the ''Series/{{Kojak}}'' episode "Death Is Not a Passing Grade" as the criminal of the week.

* '''Kari Wuhrer'''

* '''Creator/AntonYelchin'''

** He also plays the main child character in the film version of ''Hearts In Atlantis''.
** And the child of the Russian Ambassador Gary Soneji targets in the film version of ''Along Came A Spider''. His Russian accent is much less comical.

** She was in one episode of ''Series/LawAndOrder'' and also one of the hero's girlfriend in ''Film/DudeWheresMyCar''

[[quoteright:350:[[Series/{{Batman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/retroactive_recognition.jpg]]]]

* Pictured above, '''Creator/BruceLee''' playing Kato in the Creator/AdamWest ''Series/{{Batman}}'' series for three episodes. This was before his first film by three years.

* '''Creator/AndrewFrancis''', the voice of Shining Armor on ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', was (according to [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} That Other Wiki]]) a bit cast member on ''Lamb Chop's Play Along'' as a kid in the mid-90's.

* '''Faran Tahir''', prior to becoming [[Film/IronMan Raza]] or [[Film/StarTrek2009 Captain Robau]], combined this with YouLookFamiliar by appearing as two separate characters on ''Series/TwentyFour'' -- in the second season he was a mosque greeter, and in the fourth season he was a Turkish terrorist on the receiving end of the JackBauerInterrogationTechnique.
** He also played Mowgli's father in the 1994 live-action adaptation of ''Film/TheJungleBook''.

** Weatherly actually had a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Weatherly#Filmography very extensive film/tv career]] before striking gold on ''NCIS'', starting with playing the lovelorn Cooper Alden on the SoapOpera ''Series/{{Loving}}''.

* '''Creator/AngelinaJolie''''s first major role was in ''Film/{{Cyborg|1989}} 2'' alongside Creator/EliasKoteas and Creator/JackPalance, a movie that likely would've ended up forgotten had it not been for this trope.

* Long before he played King T'Chaka in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' and ''Film/BlackPanther2018'', '''John Kani''' played Willie alongside Matthew Broderick and Zakes Mokai in the 1985 [[MadeForTVMovie Made-for-Showtime]] presentation of Athol Fugard's ''Theatre/MasterHaroldAndTheBoys''.

* '''Josh Dallas''', before he became well-known for portraying Fandral in ''Film/{{Thor}}'' and PrinceCharming in ''Series/OnceUponATime'', had a brief but memorable turn as "[[InterfaceWithAFamiliarFace Node 2]]" in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary Silence in the Library]]". (He was billed as Joshua Dallas at the time; it was one of his first roles after graduating from the Royal Shakespeare Company and before returning to the US.)

* Several years before becoming known to the world as [[Series/TheAvengers John Steed]], '''Patrick Macnee''' played the young Jacob Marley in ''Film/Scrooge1951''.

* '''Bill Maher''' played a game show host on ''Series/MarriedWithChildren''.

* '''Daniel Roebuck''', Artz from ''Series/{{Lost}},'' has been everywhere!

* '''Creator/BrandonRouth''' played as a gay man in the 1950's flashback scenes in one episode of ''Series/ColdCase'' before being well-known as Franchise/{{Superman}} in ''Film/SupermanReturns'' and [[Comicbook/TheAtom Ray "The Atom" Palmer]] in ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' and its spinoff, ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow''. He also had a bit part in an early episode of ''Series/GilmoreGirls''.

* '''Creator/MattSmith''' didn't exist in the public eye until ''Series/DoctorWho''. His IMDB page was practically empty up until his role as the Eleventh Doctor.