Oscars 2015: See the Nominees in Roles Before They Were Stars
Michael Keaton in 1979, Reese Witherspoon back in 1991 and more!
— -- Every actor has to start somewhere.
Michael Keaton was acting long before "Batman" and "Birdman," and the same goes for Bradley Cooper. Before "Silver Linings Playbook" and "American Sniper," Cooper was just the jerk from "Wedding Crashers."
Watch some of your favorite 2015 Oscar nominees in early roles before they were household names.
Michael Keaton - "Working Stiffs," 1979
Look at that flowing hair! Keaton, 63, starred alongside Jim Belushi more than 35 years ago in the sitcom "Working Stiffs," which ran for just nine episodes. Before Keaton was a superhero, he played a janitor in this long-lost classic.
Bradley Cooper - "Wedding Crashers," 2005
It's amazing how much Cooper has skyrocketed in the past 10 years. Since he played Rachel McAdams' love interest who beat up on Vince Vaughn quite a bit in this 2005 hit, he's been nominated for multiple Oscars, including the last three years running.
But, it's always fun to look back and watch him give it to Vaughn.
Reese Witherspoon - "The Man in the Moon," 1991
Witherspoon, 38, may have won an Oscar for her performance in "Walk the Line" and is now nominated for her amazing work in "Wild," but back in 1991, she was just a teen coming of age in "The Man in the Moon."
"I'd like to kiss a boy," she says in the trailer.
Julianne Moore - "Benny & Joon," 1993
Before she won acclaim for playing an early-onset Alzheimer's patient, Moore, 54, made a cameo opposite another Oscar nominee Johnny Depp in "Benny & Joon." Moore was captivating even back then.
Ethan Hawke - "Dead Poets Society," 1989
Ethan Hawke, 44, only gets better with age, but 25 years ago, he was a young up and comer in a little movie you may have heard of, "Dead Poets Society." He's a fresh-faced student with self-esteem issues, who breaks through his shell with the help of the late Oscar winner Robin Williams. Check out this inspiring scene.
Why not, one more! "O Captain, My Captain!"
J.K. Simmons - "Spider-Man 2," 2004
Yeah, Simmons, 60, has been in everything from "Oz" to "Law & Order" to "Juno" to well ... everything, even "Farmers" commercials. But another underlooked role for the Oscar favorite is as the grumpy spider-hating editor of the Daily Bugle and Peter Parker's boss in the first "Spider-Man" trilogy.
The man just transforms--it's incredible and he's been doing it for 30 years!
Patricia Arquette - "Ed Wood," 1994
Even further back before "Boyhood" started filming (the movie took 12 years to make), Arquette, 46, was in a movie starring Johnny Depp and Bill Murray called "Ed Wood." It's what you'd call a unique film.
Emma Stone - "Drive," 2007
Before she hit it big with "Superbad," Emma Stone, 26, was in a little-known show "Drive," where strangers competed against each other in a cross-country drive. Here's a quick peek at Stone in the show and her talking about the series in an interview with Movieweb.
If you focus really hard, you can see Stone in the promo that aired on Fox.
Related Stories
ABC News Live