Recently, a raw and wet-behind-the-ears Angelina Jolie in an acting class video from 2000 showed us all that the Oscar-winning actress has always had so much talent. It's not surprising that something like this would be unearthed on the Internet, as thanks to YouTube, a lot of early footage of great actors and actresses before their big breaks have surfaced. Everything from audition tapes to acting class videos to old appearances on The Price Is Right (ahem, Aaron Paul) have appeared, proving that the Internet never forgets anything and continues to be a total nostalgia machine.
One of the coolest segments of the Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary special, which aired earlier this year, was the part with all the audition tapes from previous and current cast members. Some folks debuted characters that would become instant favorites (Chris Kattan's Mr. Peepers, Kristen Wiig's Target Lady, and Dana Carvey's Church Lady, to name a few), and it reminded me of how cool it is to see these talents before they broke out as polished stars. In these pieces of early footage from auditions and acting classes, we get to see them totally natural, pre-fame. It's who they were before they spotlight shined onto them and it's nice to see that in most cases, they're still very much the same people as they are today. Here's Angelina's:
Crazy, right? Here are a few other old clips from now-famous stars:
Miley Cyrus
Once upon a time, Miley didn't stick out her tongue all the time, or drop surprise albums — she was just a wee pre-teen trying to make it in Hollywood. At age 12, Cyrus auditioned for the role of Zoey on Hannah Montana, which would later be changed to her name, Miley. She made quite an impression!
Matthew McConaughey
The Oscar-winning actor's breakout role was in the 1993 film Dazed and Confused. He smolders in the above audition tape for the role, in which he sports some floppy yet sexy beach hair.
Ellen Page
Page's breakout role came in 2007 as the title character in Juno, a quick-witted pregnant teen. She and actress Olivia Thirlby (who played Juno's bestie) filmed the above audition together, and it features a very key scene from the Oscar-winning movie.
Russell Brand
The comedian totally improvised his audition for his role as Aldous Snow in the 2008 hit comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Brand sports his trademark disheveledness with lots of talent to go along with it.
Emma Stone
The now-famous redheaded actress displays lots of sass in the above audition tape for Easy A, the 2010 movie that made Stone a household name.
The Vampire Diaries Cast
Exec producer Julie Plec said in the above video that the network was totally fine with her casting unknowns in the now iconic TV roles, and that led to the big breaks of Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Michael Trevino, and Candice Accola.
Seeing superstars young, bright-eyed, and trying to make it big: What's not to love?
