20 ensemble casts packed with future stars

Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights  perfectly captures the hedonism and freewheeling attitude of the porn industry in the 1970s and into the 1980s. The film is, at times, deeply funny and wrenchingly tragic, and Mark Wahlberg, who was at the very beginnings of his fame, gives one of the best performances of his career as star Dirk Diggler, whose rise and fall provide the narrative heart of the story. In addition to Wahlberg, it features a number of other up-and-coming stars, including Julianne Moore (who had already started her long collaboration with director Todd Haynes), John C. Reilly, Heather Graham, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. 

Saving Private Ryan is notable for a number of reasons, and it is widely and rightly regarded as one of Steven Spielberg’s best movies and one of the best war films ever made. It’s populated by many big actors at the time, including Tom Hanks. However, what’s remarkable about it is the extent to which it includes several other actors who would become even more famous in the subsequent decade. Vin Diesel, for example, appears as  Adrian Caparzo, and Bryan Cranston, who had yet to appear in Malcolm in the Middle or Breaking Bad.

In the wake of his Oscar win for the film The Whale,  it's easy to forget there was a time when Brendan Fraser wasn't a household name and was quite unknown. One of his earliest films was 1992's School Ties,  in which he portrays a Jewish student named David Greene. Though he is the film's centerpiece, the movie also features several other actors who became household names. Of these, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are the most notable, as they would go on to cultivate a remarkable creative partnership (in addition to being stars in their own rights). Chris O'Donnell, who would later appear as Robin in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin also deserves a shout-out.

Though the premise of Angels in the Outfield  might seem silly — it focuses on a group of angels who end up helping the baseball team the California Angels — it nevertheless perfectly captures the uniquely optimistic spirit of early ‘90s family movies, filled with magic and more than a little silliness. It starred a number of established stars, including Tony Danza and Christopher Lloyd, but it’s also notable for its roster of those who would go on to attain more success in subsequent decades. In addition to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, other young actors on the make include Adrien Brody, Matthew McConaughey, and Neal McDonough.

The Goonies is, in many ways, the perfect example of 1980s family adventure cinema, with a story that focuses on a group of kids who try to find a missing treasure and keep their town from being taken over by developers while dealing with a nefarious crime family. It’s also a bit of a who’s-who of actors who would go on to achieve success in the subsequent decades. The main character, Mikey Walsh, is played by Sean Astin (of Lord of the Rings fame), while his brother, Brand, is played by Josh Brolin (famous for, among other things, appearing as Thanos in the MCU).  Other notable appearances include Corey Feldman and Ke Huy Quan.

If there’s one teen romantic comedy that embodied the ethos of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, it was 10 Things I Hate About You. It was fun, sexy, and funny, and it even had literary pretensions since it was a retelling of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.  It was also a film with a remarkably stacked cast populated by relative unknowns who would go on to become A-list stars in their own right. Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt would all go on to attain even greater success after this film (though, of the three, Gordon-Levitt already had an established career in both film and TV). Ledger, in particular, would go into the stratosphere before his untimely death in 2008.

Superbad is one of those comedies that could only have come about in the mid-2000s when popular culture writ large was very concerned with the development of young men and their inauguration into adult masculinity. Of course, the film is also notable for a number of other reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it was the vehicle that helped to launch the movie stardom of both Michael Cera and Jonah Hill (the former had been in TV but wasn’t quite as famous in film as of yet). Superbad also starred several other faces who would become more well-known in the subsequent years, including Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, and Emma Stone.

Though the thriller Abandon  has been largely forgotten — thanks in no small part to the negative reviews it received at the time of its release — it’s still a fascinating film due to the number of stars who appear in it. Katie Holmes and Benjamin Bratt were already established stars at this point, of course, but others in the cast were just finding their feet. Charlie Hunnam had already been in British Queer as Folk,  but he had yet to hit his stride, and Zooey Deschanel was still a long way away from becoming the star she would be thanks to the series New Girl, and Melanie Lynskey was still building on the success of Heavenly Creatures several years earlier.

Judd Apatow has a well-established reputation for crafting comedies that thread the needle between crass and clever, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin  remains one of the best examples of his specific style. It’s an undeniably funny film, and it doesn’t shy away from the raunch factor. Its success can certainly be attributed to its cast, which involves several players who would go on to become giants in the world of comedy in their own right, including Steve Carell (who would become a true superstar thanks to The Office ), Elizabeth Banks, Seth Rogen, and Paul Rudd. Though most had been in other things, this marked a crucial stage in their careers.

Barry Levinson’s Diner  is one of those 1980s movies that, like so many others of the period, takes a look back at the 1950s with more than a hint of nostalgia. There is, moreover, an authenticity to its approach to its characters and their relationships that has stood the test of time. Just as importantly, it features a number of actors who were still in the early stages of their careers. Steve Guttenberg, for example, was still on the way up, as were Paul Reiser and, of course, Kevin Bacon, who was still a few years ago from Footloose, the film that would make him a true star.

Like so many other coming-of-age films of the 1980s, Mystic Pizza  has become more famous for the extent to which it featured future stars than for its own story. It's understandable why this would be the case, considering the enormous talent on offer. Undeniably, the biggest name in the film — retrospectively, at least — is Julia Roberts, who would catapult to Hollywood superstardom throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s. However, the film also features a number of other notable names, Lili Taylor, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Conchata Ferrell. It's also a richly-told drama that serves as a fitting showcase for the talents of its main cast.

Based on the Philippa Gregory novel of the same name, The Other Boleyn Girl focuses on the fraught relationship between Boleyn sisters Mary and Anne (played by Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman) as they vie for the affections of Eric Bana’s Henry VIII. It’s a delicious and salacious costume drama, and in addition to the main cast, it includes a number of other familiar faces who would become famous in the 2000s and beyond. Benedict Cumberbatch, for example, plays Mary’s first husband, William Carey, Eddie Redmayne plays her second husband, William Stafford, and June Temple plays Jane Parker, the wife of the doomed George Boleyn, while Alfie Allen and Andrew Garfield also make small appearances. 

King Arthur has long had a fascination for the big screen, and one of the most stunning and unusual adaptations of the Arthurian mythos is Excalibur.  Haunting, beautiful, and, at times, nightmarish, it follows Arthur from childhood to his eventual death at the hands of his son/nephew, Mordred. It has a terrific cast. Some were established when the film was released, while others achieved fame after its release. Of particular note is Helen Mirren, who plays the villainous Morgana, as well as sundry others, including Patrick Stewart, Liam Neeson, and Ciarán Hinds, all of whom would go on to attain success in both the world of fantasy and science fiction and in films generally.

Though Francis Ford Coppola is arguably best known for gritty war dramas (and, of course, his adaptation of Dracula), he has shown remarkable versatility as a director. In The Outsiders,  for example, he turned his attention to the coming-of-age drama. It’s hard to overstate just how filled this film is with actors who would go on to attain remarkable prominence in the industry. Rob Lowe, for example, made his feature film debut in the film, and it includes other would-be big names, such as Emilio Estevez, Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, and Matt Dillon. It’s quite a remarkable experience to see these young stars at this pivotal phase in their careers.

Directed by Richard Linklater, Dazed and Confused is one of those films that perfectly captures the experience of high school life in the 1970s. It’s also an embarrassment of riches when it comes to its cast, which includes such heavy hitters as Ben Affleck (who would go on to co-write and star in Good Will Hunting a few years later), Parker Posey (who would go on to become a mainstay in much of the indie cinema of the 1990s), Matthew McConaughey (who would become a rom-com star in the late ‘90s), and Renée Zellweger (who would become one of the most versatile stars of her generation).

It’s hard to exaggerate the extent to which Wet Hot American Summer  has a cast filled with familiar faces. It is, of course, a parody of the teen sex comedies of the 1980s, but it also more than succeeds on its own terms, thanks in part to the immense talent of its cast. Among many faces audiences will recognize are Bradley Cooper and Paul Rudd, both of whom would go on to become box office stars for much of the 2000s and into the 2010s. Also of note is Amy Poehler, who, at the time the film was released in 2001, was starting her extraordinary run on Saturday Night Live. 

Based on the novella The Body by Stephen King, Stand By Me is peak 1980s coming-of-age cinema. It's a story about a group of boyhood friends who set off in search of the body of another boy. It manages to be one of the few Stephen King adaptations that captures the spirit of the original text, and it manages to be touching without veering into sentiment. It also boasts a very talented cast of relative newcomers, most of whom would go on to achieve some level of stardom. These include Will Wheaton, Corey Feldman (even though he was already famous at this point), and, of course, the talented (and gone-too-soon) River Phoenix.

The quirky high school comedy Freaks and Geeks  is one of the more notable examples of a cult classic TV show, for while it didn’t achieve major success on its first broadcast, it became quite popular afterward. Moreover, it also included a very talented cast, many of whom would go on to achieve further success (despite the failure of this particular series). These include James Franco (who would attain fame in a number of ventures), Linda Cardellini, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, and Busy Philipps. All of these actors would become comedic stars in their own right, with Franco and Rogen having a particularly productive creative partnership. 

Widely regarded as one of the best war miniseries ever made, Band of Brothers is based on the book of the same name by Stephen E. Ambrose. In addition to its emotional depth and complexity, it is remarkable for the strength of its cast, many of whom would become more famous after its run. Among these is Damian Lewis, who would appear in such big-name productions as Homeland and Wolf Hall  (in the latter of which he played Henry VIII). Other notable cast members include Donnie Wahlberg and Michael Fassbender, who, at this stage, were still very early in their careers.

Directed by Ridley Scott, Black Hawk Down showcases the director’s extraordinary ability to craft exciting cinema that is also thought-provoking and filled with astonishingly good performances. The film dramatizes the events surrounding the Battle of Mogadishu, and while it certainly takes some liberties with history, it nevertheless paints a gritty and shocking portrait of combat. Moreover, it also features a cast that would go on to even greater heights of fame, including the likes of Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, and Hugh Dancy, all of whom achieved even more success during the 2000s and into the 2010s (and, in some cases, even into the 2020s).