13 Celebrities That You Didn’t Know Made a TV Appearance Before They Were Famous

Revisiting a TV show you haven’t seen in a long time and suddenly seeing a familiar actor in it can be a relatable feeling. All our favorite celebrities started out somewhere, and the people featured in this list were either on hit shows with minor roles that you overlooked in the past or on surprising reality shows.

Bright Side made a compilation of actors and actresses during one of their first appearances on television. You will get to take a trip down a memory lane to see who had roles you have completely forgotten about, and also see how much the celebs have changed.

1. Meghan Markle was a briefcase girl on Deal or No Deal.

Deal or No Deal was a game show on the American TV channel NBC, where contestants had to choose one of the 26 briefcases which contained different amounts of cash in them. From 2006 to 2007, Meghan Markle was actually one of the on-set staff who opened the briefcases.

2. Zachary Quinto was a casting director on Lizzie McGuire.

New Spock from 2009 Star Trek, Zachary Quinto guest appeared in one of the episodes of the Disney Channel show Lizzie McGuire to play a snooty casting director.

3. Kevin McHale was on Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101.

Kevin McHale is best known for his role on Glee, but before that, he played a school broadcaster on two episodes of Zoey 101.

4. Emma Stone appeared on In Search of the Partridge Family.

In Search of the Partridge Family was a televised behind-the-scenes production of the reboot of the musical comedy The Partridge Family. Emma Stone auditioned to get a role in the reboot, and she actually got it, she played the role of Laurie Partridge.

5. Dianna Agron appeared in an episode of Drake & Josh.

Dianna Agron is best known for the roles in The Family and Glee, but before she booked these gigs, she appeared in one episode of the Nickelodeon show Drake & Josh, playing a character named Lexi.

6. Gabriel Macht was in Sex and the City.

Way before he got to play Harvey Specter on Suits, Gabriel Macht was a guest star in one of the first episodes of Sex and the City, playing a character named Barkley.

7. Jon Hamm was a contestant on The Big Date.

The Big Date was a short-lived dating show, but it gave Jon Hamm, who is now known for his work in Mad Men, a chance to appear on TV.

8. Katherine Heigl was on Disney’s TV movie Wish Upon a Star.

The Grey’s Anatomy actress was not only on the Disney Channel once, but she also had the lead role in the movie Wish Upon a Star.

9. Lin-Manuel Miranda was on House M.D.

Lin-Maniel Miranda is known as the person who brought to life a lot of iconic musical soundtracks, as well as the creator and the star of Hamilton, but he is an actor himself too and appeared as a minor role in House M.D.

10. Andrew Garfield was in Doctor Who.

In 2007, future Spider-Man appeared in 2 episodes of Doctor Who, which was one of his first TV appearances. He played the character named Frank, who lived in the 1930s New York.

11. Matthew McConaughey had his TV debut on Unsolved Mysteries.

Unsolved Mysteries consisted of re-enactments of the interviews about mysterious things, and Matthew McConaughey played an interviewee named Larry in one of the episodes.

12. Amy Adams was on an episode of Charmed.

Amy Adams is now a winner of multiple Oscars, but when she was first starting out her career, she appeared on an episode of the popular show Charmed, playing a character named Maggie Murphy, the self-proclaimed “unluckiest woman in San Francisco.”

13. Zac Efron was in the TV show Firefly.

Firefly was a short-lived show, but it gained good reviews from the audience. This show is where Zac Efron started his career: he played the young version of the character Simon.

What other shows did you spot big celebrities in before they were known?