There are so many actors and actresses out there that it's hard to keep track of any of them. Some you might feel like you've been seeing for years and years now, while others have had a career spanning longer than the movies you actually watched. That's why we decided it was high time to show you what many of these people looked like at the beginning of their film careers versus what they look like now. If you want to see some of the crazy transformations that these actors have made, then you have to keep scrolling to find out!
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson began his career as "gang member number two" in the 1981 film "Ragtime". Since then, he has basically become a staple in modern films. And why shouldn't he be when he's as talented as he is? What's funny though is the comparison between his original film character and his most recent portrayal as Darius Kincaid in 2021's "Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard". Take a look and see for yourself.
The first picture, as well as looking like a completely different man, has the added effect of making him look like he was born in the 1800s, so it's even funnier to see this.
Jessica Lange
Jessica Lange first began her movie career as Dwan in 1976's rendition of "King Kong". In fact, that's where the first image comes from. Since then, she has been in quite a steady amount of movies and TV shows, including the "American Horror Story" series. The second image is from her most recent movie, "Wild Oats", which was actually filmed back in 2016. She's still acting in TV, though, so you don't have to miss her if you're a fan.
The last image may not be the most recent, but as we're looking at these actors' film careers, we wanted to fit the theme. Still, we don't think these 5 years has made much of an impact on her looks.
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman is known for being featured in a wide array of titles. Whether you know her from live-action films like "To Die For" or animated films like Paddington, there's something out there for everyone. This is her from the start of her career as Judy in "BMX Bandits" from 1983 and as Angie Dickinson in "The Prom" from 2020. There's quite the difference between these two versions of her.
In the first image she look like a kid straight out of the 80s but in the second image she definitely seems to have grown up and into a whole new look.
Ryan Gosling
The first picture of Ryan Gosling is from his film debut in "Frankenstein and Me", although this was not his acting debut, as he was first featured in "The Mickey Mouse Club" and quite a few other television shows a few years before. The second image is from his time as Neil Armstrong in "First Man". Surprisingly, he doesn't look all that much different than he did before becoming who he is today.
Although we can't say with certainty that we would have recognized him right away, the similarities side by side are uncanny. Perhaps he tries not to grow a beard to keep his youthful appearance.
Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Johnson has been in so many movies in his acting career that he has become an instantly recognizable face even before they mention it in the trailers. In fact, he's been in so many movies that an API study found him to be in the lead role of 1/3 of all movies between 2007 and 2019 that featured an Asian and Pacific Islander in the lead role of the film.
Those statistics are crazy to think about. And that doesn't even mention the movies where he isn't in the lead role. Either way, if you look at him from his debut in "The Mummy Returns" he barely looks any different these days.
Tom Hanks
You may not have heard of Tom Hank's earlier works, and for those that haven't, this is him from the 1980 film "He Knows You're Alone". Now if that sounds awfully creepy, it is--this movie is considered one of the first horror movies to be inspired by the horror classic "Halloween". That being said, he wasn't anyone overtly important in this film, unlike the film the other photo is from.
Now Tom Hanks is a superstar and is featured in many films as one of the main characters. This one specifically is from "News of the World" And he looks nothing like his younger self.
Viola Davis
Viola Davis is an amazing actress, and she's been at it for quite some time already. She first began her film career as Moselle Miller in 1998's "Out of Sight". In that movie, she is 23 years old, but she doesn't look much older than a 17-year-old. Of course, time take its toll on everyone and not many are free from the way that time ages them, as seen from this still from "The Suicide Squad".
While time may have taken its toll on her looks, she's barely lost any beauty whatsoever. Not only that but she's only become a better actress in the time in between.
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis is yet another actress whose name is highly distinguished in our time. Both of these images are of her from her time working in the "Halloween" franchise. The first is from the original 1978 film while the second image is her reprising her role in "Halloween Kills", a 2021 sequel from a different continuity relative to the other movies. This image really shows how she's changed over the years.
While she's still recognizable, she's visibly much older than she was in the original movie. But it works really well with the timeline for the new films, and its really cool that she can still give more to the series.
Halle Berry
Halle Berry is known as both a model and an actress and has been in such movies as "X-Men" and, coincidentally, "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum" where she played a large role. Though you might not recognize her from this image. It was her first film after she already started her modeling career. She played as Vivian in "Jungle Fever" from 1991. The second image is from the more recent "Bruised".
As you can see, she's come a very long way. She clearly has a large repertoire of characters from model to tomboy to a martial artist. As a model herself, she seems to be able to fit into any role.
Bradley Cooper
Perhaps best known for his portrayal as Rick Grimes in AMC's "The Walking Dead", Bradley Cooper has a whole slew of other films and TV shows to choose from when explaining his filmography. These pictures are stills from when he acted in "Wet Hot American Summer" from 2001 and 2018's "A Star is Born". As you can see, aside from a beard and moustache, nothing much has changed for this actor.
Perhaps it's due to the age at which he started acting. Already past the end of puberty, there wasn't really much change that could happen other than some wrinkles. Though it looks like even that has barely affected him.
Daniel Kaluuya
Daniel Kaluuya has been in a whole bunch of things. From the television series "Skins" and "Black Mirror" to films like "Black Panther" and "Get Out" it's hard to miss this brilliant actor when he shows up on-screen. But if you look at him before he was as well known, you probably wouldn't believe that it's him at all. These pictures are from his time in "Shoot the Messenger" (2006) and "Judas and the Black Messiah" (2021).
Just look at that kid! You'd never expect that he grew up to be what he is today. Now, his face is so recognizable, but before he just looked like any other person. Though that's to be expected when you don't start out famous.
Angelina Jolie
So far, the people on this list haven't started out as children and come out today as full-fledged adults, so this one might be one of the most drastic changes thus far. This is Angelina Jolie from both her debut film in ""Lookin' to Get Out" at the tender age of 7, and also, more recently, a photo of her from the Marvel film "Eternals" as her current 46-year-old self.
If there was anyone on this list so far who is unrecognizable from the start of their film career, it's Angelina Jolie. Though what can you really expect for someone who has been in it for almost 4 decades?
Saoirse Ronan
You may not know how to spell Saoirse Ronan, so it might be a good idea to take a look at who we're talking about before we continue. Now that you've taken a glance, it becomes immediately obvious who this is, right? This young actress always brings amazing performances to the films she's cast in, but it's hard to think of a time before she was who she is today.
But here it is: an image of her from 2007's "Could Never Be Your Woman" when she was only 13-years old and an image of her from 2020's "Ammonite" at the age of 26.
Kristen Stewart
While we might not remember a time before her starring role in "Twilight", we certainly remember Kristen Stewart after the fact. We don't much care for her performance in that film, but she has since proven herself to be quite the formidable actress. Still, there was a time before everything. In 2001, she played Sam Jennings in "The Safety of Objects". This is a picture of her from that movie.
Beside it is a still from her time as Abby in 2020's "Happiest Season". The only thing that seems to have changed is the aura surrounding her (and her hair color).
Keanu Reeves
Everyone knows Keanu Reeves at this point. He's been in too many classic action films for you to not know. But for the uninitiated, he was Thomas Anderson from "The Matrix" (the main character) and the titular character from "John Wick", just t name a few. He's become such an iconic character that some believe he himself is John Wick rather than an actor portraying the character. We might have to agree on that one.
Looking at these photos, though, he's almost unrecognizable. You would never know that this is the same guy, though to be fair he looks very different from "The Matrix" to "John Wick". This is him in "River's Edge" (1986) and "Bill & Ted Face the Music" (2020).
Whoopi Goldberg
We can't even remember a time before Whoopi Goldberg. She is one of the most iconic and classic actresses of our time. Still, there is a start to everything. Here we see her in her first film "The Color Purple" from 1985 and it's hard to believe that this wasn't so long ago. Next to that is a picture of her from the 2018 movie "Nobody's Fool" and she barely looks any older.
Well, maybe she does look a bit older, but she never quite seems to lose that youthful fire in her, and to be fair this isn't her most recent film. We absolutely love this woman and can't wait to see more of her.
Jane Fonda
Nobody on this list so far has come quite as far as Jane Fonda has. This first picture of her is all the way from 1960 when she played "June Ryder in Tall Story". The second image is from 2018's "Book Club" where she portrayed Vivian. Looking at these two images, you would never guess that they are almost 60 years apart. But they are, and Jane Fond is currently in her 80s.
Unbelievably, she doesn't look much older than 60 if that. Although this might have to do with some cosmetic surgery, we couldn't blame her for wanting to stay as gorgeous as she looks.
Eddie Murphy
Speaking of old, it's hard to believe that it has been so long since Eddie Murphy began his acting career. He started off in 1982 as Reggie Hammond in "48 Hrs.". That's where the first image comes from. As for the second one, it's from 2021's "Coming 2 America". He certainly showed 'em who's king. Anyways, looking at these two photos side by side is probably the only way we'd ever recognize him.
For some people, they just become so different looking when they settle into their careers. We probably wouldn't be able to point out any other pictures of his younger self if we tried.
Leonardo DiCaprio
Another actor who you might not think has been acting as long as he has is Leonardo DiCaprio, who has been acting since the tender age of five. But wait... that's not right. This photo is from his role in "This Boy's Life" which came out in 1993, which would make him 18 years old! He looks like a little kid! But compared to the other photo, he looks exactly the same.
Knowing how long he was acting for, it really does make it quite a bit more sad to think about how long it took him to get an Oscar. Still, he finally has one and now we can move on.
Daniel Radcliffe
If you have never seen Daniel Radcliffe as a kid and subsequently as an adult... well, you obviously haven't seen "Harry Potter" and that's certainly a bit sad. But not to worry, because you can always revisit the amazing "wizarding world of Harry Potter" at any time. Although Harry Potter was not his first film, he was certainly unknown before then, which was exactly what J.K. Rowling was looking for for the part.
The first image is from the first film in the series "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (or "Philosopher's Stone for those living internationally) and the second image of his 40-year-old look from "Escape From Pretoria".
Rupert Grint
Daniel Radcliffe wasn't the only one who was cast as an unknown actor for this movie. However, unlike Radcliffe, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was Rupert Grint's debut into the acting scene. With nothing to his name prior to filming, he ended up being most well known for his role as Ron Weasley. The first picture is him playing that role and the other is from his role as Jonny in "Moonwalkers"
You can tell that he's really grown up a lot, but there's no mistaking this unforgettable face. Not even the hastily grown moustache and sideburns could disguise him as anyone else.
Emma Watson
But you can't have Harry and Ron without Hermione. The third co-star of the "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" franchise, similarly to Rupert Grint, made her acting debut in this movie. The first photo is an image from that movie, while the second photo is from her most recent film "Little Women". She went from a really nerdy, hair out of control young girl into a refined little woman.
Sorry, we couldn't resist the pun. But we love this transformation so much and how it also played into her character arc in the "Harry Potter" films. She's one of our favorites.
Regina King
If you've never seen Regina King's earlier roles, this is her when she portrayed Shalika in "Boyz n the Hood" back in 1991. The other image is from her recent role as Trudy Smith in 2021's "The Harder They Fall". If you look at the two images side by side, you'll instantly recognize them as the same person. In the second picture, though, King has a much more mature presence.
You could almost call it regal (get it?). For real, though, there's something quite captivating about her stage presence in this film and we can't get enough of that look.
Emma Stone
Emma Stone has quite the collection of movies to her name. Her film debut was in the classic comedy "Superbad" from 2007 where she portrayed Jules. More recently, she played the role of the iconic Cruella de Vil in the recent film "Cruella". Between these films, she's done an amazing job in many of her other roles for films such as "Zombieland", "Easy A", and "La La Land" and we can't wait to see what she does next.
That being said, the span of time between these movies hasn't really been all that long (although it sure does feel like it). Due to that, she looks no older than she started out.
Denzel Washington
Another legendary actor, Denzel Washington has been consistently acting on stage and on screen every year for just over 40 years. If you know him from his early works, you might recognize him in this photo from his first film "Carbon Copy" in 1981. But when you look at the second photo, you probably wouldn't think of him as a "carbon copy" at all, although the similarity is definitely there.
The second photo, from when he worked on "The Little Things" earlier this year, shows just how much he's changed in the past 40 years. But it's not just his face that's changed; his talent has matured well, too.
Mila Kunis
If you don't recognize Mila Kunis from either of these photos, it's probably because you're more familiar with her voice work as Meg Griffin from "Family Guy". Still, this wasn't the start of her career, as she was acting since she was just a little girl. Starting with "Santa with Muscles", Kunis is nearly unrecognizable as a 13-year-old girl. More recently, she appears in "Breaking News in Yuba County" looking much older.
Although she's surprisingly almost 40 years old, she doesn't look like she's aged a day since she was in her twenties. We hope we have genes as good as that as well.
Will Smith
Speaking of people who look like they haven't changed in years, taking a look at Will Smith from his earlier years in his acting career really surprised us. Sure, he definitely has a bit of an older look to him these days, but he also barely looks any different at all. The first photo is from "Made in America" from 1993 and the second is from "Bad Boys for Life" from 2020.
In nearly 30 years, he doesn't look like he's aged more than 10. And we're sure that if he shaved his beard and moustache off he'd probably look just like he did back then.
Cole Sprouse
This kid has been through quite a lot. He and his twin brother originally starred as Patrick Kelly in "Grace Under Fire" back in 1993 when the two were just 1 year old! Eventually, Cole and his brother went on to star in a whole bunch of things, like "Friends" (Cole only) or the show where they played identical twins Zack and Cody from "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody".
This first image is from Cole's first film "Big Daddy" when he was young and blonde and the second image is from 2019's "Five Feet Apart" where he keeps his dyed jet-black hair".
Sofía Vergara
Sofía Vergara is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Gloria Maria Ramírez Delgado-Pritchett on "Modern Family". She originally began her acting career in 1995, with her first and second films in 2002. These images are from 2003's "Chasing Papi" and 2019's "Bottom of the 9th" respectively. We think that she looks different from all three of these different media, but perhaps that has something to do with the different video qualities they all possess.
Surprisingly, she actually looks the youngest in the more recent photo. And as someone who's about to turn 50, that is definitely a great achievement. We can't wait to see more!
Dev Patel
You might know Dev Patel for his portrayal of Jamal Malik in 2008's "Slumdog Millionaire". In fact, that was his first feature film ever and where the first photo is from. As you can see from the second photo, he's certainly had a lot of time to go through some changes. Nowadays, he looks like a much older version of himself (which makes sense) but he is still undeniably recognizable.
The second image is from one of the more recent films he's been in. He was Gawain in "The Green Knight" from earlier this year. And let's just say he could be our knight if he wanted--he looks great!
Óscar Isaac
Although we hadn't really paid any attention to Óscar Isaac before we saw his legendary performance in the even more legendary film adaptation of the influential "Dune" series of books, we have no doubt that he was just as good in his many movies and television shows over the past 25 years. The first image here is from 2002's "All About the Benjamins" and the second is from 2021's "Dune".
He seems to have made quite a huge transformation. In the first image, he looks like quite the ruffian, but in the second he looks like a brave and strong leader (as he was).
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro is another actor with an extensive film history. He's been acting since 1965, and has already been cast in, and is slated to be in 4 upcoming movies. He's coming up on 60 years of acting history which is up there with the other big leagues The first photo here is from when he played Jon Rubin in 1968's "Greetings" and the second is from 2020's "The Comeback Trail".
Although you would think that he may have the most dramatic change in appearance out of the people on this list considering the huge span of time between photos, he actually looks fairly similar but with gray hair.
Angela Bassett
Although she was in her first movie in 1986, and then again in 1990, it wouldn't be until 1991 when she would receive more recognition in the movie "Boyz n the Hood". However, she was also in another movie before that: the horror movie "Critters 4", a sequel to a movie that Leonardo DiCaprio coincidentally also acted in. This first image is back from when she played in that movie.
The second image is obviously more recent. It's from when she played Anna May in "Gunpowder Milkshake". It looks like she's been really working out as that jawline is sharp as a knife.
Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant began his acting career with the movie "Privileged" from which the first photo comes from. Since then, he has been in many a classic, such as the classic movie "Love Actually" and as a voice in the more recent "Paddington 2". "The Gentlemen" is his most recent live-action movie and you can definitely tell a big difference between him now and back then as seen in the second photo.
He usually looks very similar to all his other appearances, albeit with the obvious signs of aging as time goes on. Here, however, with the sunglasses and goatee, he looks a lot different than usual.
Mark Hamill
If you've ever watched "Star Wars" or any of the many other films in the "Star Wars" franchise, then you definitely know Mark Hamill. The Luke Skywalker actor had been acting on television for seven years before making his film debut in the original "Star Wars". The photos here are from the first "Star Wars" movie and the movie "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" respectively. And it's certainly an interesting comparison.
What's fun about this one is that we have two pictures of himself as the same character but from decades into the future. He's certainly gotten much older, but there's no denying Mark Hamill when you see him.