Acting is just acting right? TV, stage, movie screen, Internet maybe? But the bottom line is that acting really is just about performance. Right? If only we could get away with being so naive. There really is no typical growth pattern for actors to become movie stars, in fact even the transition from television stardom to big screen success is rare. But in some cases it works out and this weekend it might be a good idea to catch up on the television shows in which these male actors got their start.
The Popular Choice – Johnny Depp (21 Jump Street 1987-1990)
These days Johnny Depp is mostly recognized for his amazing portrayal of pirate Jack Sparrow in the famed Disney movie franchise Pirates of the Caribbean and could soon be known simply as The Mad Hatter. Although one of his first roles was in the original Friday The 13th, TV fans will remember him mostly as Tom Hanson from 21 Jump Street. The quick witted undercover cop was one of the main characters through the show’s early and more successful years.
21 Jump Street was just the tip of the ice-berg when it came to the potential of Johnny Depp’s stardom and in 1990 he left the show for the big screen. The rest reads like a “Must Watch” list from the video store as he went on to star in films like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Edward Scissorhands, Donny Brasco, Chocolat and the Pirates franchise.
The Nostalgic Choice – Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies 1980-1982)
Before Tom Hanks roped in more Oscars than he can carry, he was a small time sitcom actor. Bosom Buddies ran from 1980-82 and Hanks played Buffy Wilson, one half of the Bosom Buddy drag-duo of Buffy and Hildegard. When Bosom Buddies ended, Hanks picked up small guest appearances on sitcoms like Taxi and Happy Days until he landed a main role in Splash. Tom Hanks hit the big time and never looked back as his Academy Award winning films like Forrest Gump, Philadelphia, Apollo 13 and The Green Mile have put him into his own category of stardom.
The New Age Choice – Shia LeBeouf (Even Stevens 1999-2003)
Disney has a habit of turning out big stars. They did it with Hillary Duff and Miley Cyrus and they did it with one of the most recognizable young movie stars of today, Shia Lebeouf. LeBeouf did make a few small appearances on shows like X-Files and ER, but in 1999 he was picked up by Disney after starring in the movie Holes and was cast as the lead character in the family sitcom Even Stevens. For the next four years LeBeouf played Louis Stevens, the youngest and most mischievous member of the Stevens family. When Even Stevens ended in 2003 LeBeouf landed small roles in movies like Constantine and Charlie’s Angels, but his big break came in 2007 when he was cast as Sam Witwicky in the Transformers franchise. Since then LeBeouf has been in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and will appear in the Wall Street sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.
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