This article originally appeared on eightieskids.com
Patrick Swayze (Toto – Rosanna)
Back in 1982, pre-Dirty Dancing and pre-Ghost, Patrick Swayze made some of his earliest screen appearances in music videos, including Toto’s Rosanna. Swayze showed off his dancing skills in the promo, alongside Cynthia Rhodes, whom Swayze would later dance alongside again in in Dirty Dancing. Rhodes appeared in the 1987 film as Penny, Johnny’s initial dance partner before Baby comes along.
Kim Kardashian (Fall Out Boy – Thnks fr th Mmrs)
Back in 2007, when Kim Kardashian appeared in the video for emo band Fall Out Boy’s Thnks fr th Mmrs, no one knew how famous she was set to become. The band’s bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz stayed in contact with Kardashian afterwards, and told People in 2018, “She’s exactly the same as she was then, except she’s, like, a trillion times more famous.”
Matt LeBlanc (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Into the Great Wide Open)
Before Matt LeBlanc was internationally recognized as Joey Tribbiani in Friends, he appeared in the video for the 1991 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers single Into the Great Wide Open. LeBlanc appeared in the promo alongside Johnny Depp, who was already a considerably bigger name thanks to TV’s 21 Jump Street and the film Edward Scissorhands.
RuPaul (B-52’s – Love Shack)
Today, RuPaul Charles is arguably the most famous drag queen in the world, but he got his big break all the way back in 1989, in the video for The B-52’s hit single Love Shack. The years that followed saw RuPaul enjoy a music and acting career, before really enjoying major success as the figurehead of the RuPaul’s Drag Race TV franchise, starting in 2009.
Christina Hendricks (Everclear – One Hit Wonder)
Christina Hendricks is probably best known for her ice-cool portrayal of Joan Harris on acclaimed TV series Mad Men. Hendricks portrayed a much giddier character in one of her earlier roles, as a gameshow contestant Everclear’s video for their 1997 single One Hit Wonder. Hendricks was only 22 years old when she shot the video, but her natural enthusiasm certainly shone through.
Elijah Wood (The Cranberries – Ridiculous Thoughts)
Elijah Wood was catapulted to superstardom with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but he’d already been a jobbing actor since childhood. When he was 14, Wood also appeared in the music video for The Cranberries’ song Ridiculous Thoughts. Released in 1995 (the same year Wood joined Paul Hogan in Flipper), the video sees Wood walking around a ruined building while listening to a radio.
Matthew McConaughey (Trisha Yearwood – Walkaway Joe)
Matthew McConaughey embarked on his acting career in the early 1990s, appearing in various television commercials. One of his more memorable early roles saw him star in the video for Trisha Yearwood’s 1992 single Walkaway Joe. The future Dallas Buyers Club Oscar-winner plays a delinquent young man who breaks a young woman’s heart. The following year, McConaughey landed his breakthrough role in Dazed and Confused.
Ke$ha (Katy Perry – I Kissed A Girl)
Californian pop singer Ke$ha catapulted to fame in 2009 after singing guest vocals on Flo Rida’s chart-topping hit Right Round, but pre-fame she actually appeared in a Katy Perry video, making a cameo in her I Kissed A Girl video in 2008. The video, which has over 273 million views on YouTube, sees Perry singing while surrounded by other dancing women – including Ke$ha.
Eva Mendes (Aerosmith – Hole in My Soul)
Eva Mendes is a woman of many talents: as well as having a successful acting career, she’s also an accomplished model and businesswoman. But before Mendes’ career took off, she appeared in an Aerosmith music video, for the band’s 1997 single Hole in My Soul, and features a geeky high school student attempting to create the perfect girl, à la Weird Science.
Katy Perry (Cupid’s Chokehold – Gym Class Heroes)
Before breaking through as a pop star, Katy Perry dated Travie McCoy, lead singer of Gym Class Heroes, and even appeared in the video for the band’s 2005 single Cupid’s Chokehold. Appropriately, Perry played a love interest for McCoy, as the video sees him jump from one girlfriend to the next until falling for her. In reality, the couple split within a year.
Vin Diesel (Kwamé – Nastee)
Most people know Vin Diesel for his role as Dominic Toretto in the hugely popular Fast and Furious movies. But nine years before that franchise began in 2001, Diesel’s cousin, the rapper Kwamé, gave the future superstar one of his earliest screen roles. The music video for Kwamé’s 1992 song Nastee sees Diesel and his cousin play romantic rivals who get into a fight.
Courteney Cox (Bruce Springsteen – Dancing in the Dark)
Unforgettable as Monica Geller in Friends, actress Courteney Cox made a memorable early appearance in the music video for Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 hit Dancing in the Dark. Aged 19 at the time, Cox appears as a spectator in the front row at a Springsteen show, only for The Boss himself to invite her onstage and dance with her in the video’s final moments.
Naomi Campbell (Bob Marley – Is This Love)
At the age of seven, future supermodel Naomi Campbell appeared in Bob Marley’s 1978 music video for Is This Love. The video sees Marley and his band the Wailers perform at a children’s party, and the young Campbell can be seen dozing on a sofa as Marley drapes a blanket over her. Campbell would begin her modelling career just eight years later at age 15.
Jason Statham (The Shamen – Comin’ On)
Long before he became one of Hollywood’s premier action heroes, audiences got to see Jason Statham – multiple Jason Stathams, in fact – in the video for Comin’ On, a 1993 single by British electronic dance act The Shamen. A background dance, Statham is immediately recognizable by his bald head and muscular body, though he’s wearing nothing more than leopard print hot pants and baby oil.
Liv Tyler and Alicia Silverstone (Aerosmith – Crazy)
By the late 90s, Liv Tyler and Alicia Silverstone were two of the most sought-after actresses of their generation. Before this, they appeared side-by-side in the video for Aerosmith’s 1994 hit Crazy. Tyler is the daughter of the rock band’s frontman Steven Tyler, and her appearance in this video sent her career sky-rocketing, whilst within a year Silverstone landed the lead in hit comedy Clueless.
Jack Black (Foo Fighters – Learn to Fly)
Before his breakthrough turn in 2000 romantic comedy High Fidelity, the actor, comedian and musician Jack Black was largely unknown by the mainstream. His role in 1999 Foo Fighters video Learn to Fly helped Black gain widespread recognition, appearing alongside Kyle Gass, his collaborator in musical comedy act Tenacious D. Black and Gass play airplane cleaners who cause turmoil by drugging the plane’s coffee.
Angelina Jolie (Antonello Venditti – Alta Marea)
Future Girl, Interrupted Oscar winner Angelina Jolie made her first credited screen appearance aged just 16, in the video for Antello Vendetti’s 1991 single Alta Marea, an operatic cover version of Crowded House’s Don’t Dream It’s Over. Jolie would go on to appear in many more music videos in the 90s, for such artists as The Rolling Stones, Meat Loaf and Lenny Kravitz.
Channing Tatum (Ricky Martin – She Bangs)
One of the biggest names around in recent years, Channing Tatum has long been recognised for his ripped physique and killer dance moves. He first got the chance to show these off in the video for Ricky Martin’s 2000 single She Bangs. Pause the video around the 1:29 mark, and Tatum can be spotted to the left of the screen, playing a shirtless bartender.
Jennifer Lopez (Richard Rogers – Can’t Stop Loving You)
Before she became a superstar for her acting and singing career, Jennifer Lopez broke into the industry as a dancer. The artist later known as J-Lo made one of her first appearances in the video for the Richard Rogers song Can’t Stop Loving You. Aged 21 at the time, Lopez appears prominently in the video as a waitress in a diner.
Zooey Deschanel (The Offspring – She’s Got Issues)
Thanks to her roles in sitcom New Girl and perennial Christmas classic Elf, Zooey Deschanel is a familiar face to many. Before all that, though, the actress and singer-songwriter made one of her earliest appearances in a 1999 music video for The Offspring. A red-haired Deschanel plays the troubled central female in the promo for the punk rock band’s song She’s Got Issues.
Katie Holmes (Tongue Tied – Eve 6)
Before Katie Holmes became a big name as Joey Potter on TV’s Dawson’s Creek, she first starred in the video for Tongue Tied, a 1998 single from California rock band Eve 6. Holmes played a beautiful but aloof school girl, who disregards the advances of the group’s singer. The actress probably doesn’t consider the video a career highlight, since Eve 6 soon faded into obscurity.
Mila Kunis (Jaded – Aerosmith)
Yet another future big name actress who made an early appearance in an Aerosmith video was Mila Kunis, who appeared in the promo for the band’s 2001 single Jaded. Kunis was 18 at the time, and already known for TV’s That 70s Show. She would shoot more music videos later, starring in The Strokes’ promo for The End Has No End.
Charlie Puth (Dear Future Husband – Meghan Trainor)
Singer-songwriter Charlie Puth earned his first-ever acting credit appearing in Meghan Trainor’s video for Dear Future Husband. Following his stint as the charming pizza boy in Trainor’s video (he even kisses the star herself), Puth went on to appear in many other music videos before enjoying a successful music career in his own right.
Macaulay Culkin (Black or White – Michael Jackson)
Unlike some of the actors on this list, Macaulay Culkin was already an established superstar before he moved into the world of music videos, thanks to a certain 1990 blockbuster called Home Alone. This made it a big deal when Culkin appeared in Michael Jackson’s Black or White, which – with a budget of $4 million – was the most expensive music video ever back in 1991.
Norman Reedus (Wicked as It Seems – Keith Richards)
Norman Reedus is now immediately recognisable as the actor who plays Daryl Dixon in The Walking Dead. 18 years before joining that show, Reedus starred in the video for As Wicked as It Seems, a 1992 solo single from Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. Reedus is simply credited as ‘Street Vagrant’, and spends most of his screen time looking rugged and moody (not unlike Daryl).
Mandy Moore (Little Things – Good Charlotte)
Before her acting and music career really took off, Mandy Moore appeared in Good Charlotte’s video for Little Things in 2000. She portrays a high school loner who is not as obsessed with the band as the rest of the students in the school. Two years later, Moore also appeared in Elton John’s music video for Original Sin, playing the legendary performer’s daughter.
Jamie Bell (Wake Me Up When September Ends – Green Day)
The video for Green Day’s 2004 single Wake Me Up When September Ends is one of punk band’s most serious. It follows a young couple torn apart when one of them joins the military, despite the other’s protests. The boyfriend who enlists is played by Jamie Bell, who had already made a name for himself as a child star in British film Billy Elliot.
Dita Von Teese (mOBSCENE – Marilyn Manson)
Burlesque star Dita Von Teese was dating shock-rocker Marilyn Manson when she appeared in his 2003 music video mOBSCENE in 2003. Von Teese has shown off her showgirl skills in videos for many more musical acts including Thirty Seconds to Mars, Die Antwood and Blue Eyed Christ. She and Manson were married in 2005, but divorced just two years later.
Gigi Hadid (Bad Blood – Taylor Swift)
Gigi Hadid was already a very successful model when she appeared in Taylor Swift’s video for Bad Blood in 2015. This appearance helped Hadid transition from a public figure into a screen star. She later appeared in another video, Zayn’s Pillow Talk, which took her fame to the next level. She has since taken more acting roles whilst continuing to work as a model.
Jeremy Renner (Trouble – Pink)
In 2003, a still largely unknown Jeremy Renner starred in the music video for Trouble, performed by rebellious pop star Pink. As if that fact was not surprising enough on its own, Renner played a cowboy sheriff in the music video. Not only that, but he played an eyeliner-laden sheriff at that, in order to fit in with Pink’s over-the-top aesthetic.
