What are the roles that skyrocketed people from nobodies one day to A-list the next?
I was thinking of Julia Roberts. A keen observer may have already fell in love with her as an indie darling, but after Pretty Woman, everybody knew who she was. And she's a great actor who didn't go batshit crazy.
Who else?
Top Gun sent Cruise straight to the top and he's never looked back since. You could argue Risky Business but it wasn't as popular as Top Gun.
sharePrime example. Risky business and some of his others are sort of like Julia's Mystic Pizza. They were good and you might have seen 'em, but not necessarily starmakers.
shareAlthough he wasn't exactly a "nobody," I'm gonna go with Robert Redford as Sundance in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Although he had made close to thirty appearances as a guest star various in TV series, and had been in five previous films, it was his role as Sundance that really put him on the map.
Then add the fact that he would later name his film festival after that character further reinforces my point, in my opinion.
Bob Hoskins gave an amazing performance in The Long Good Friday (80)
Still gives chills!
Humphrey Bogart - The Petrified Forest
Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone
Not sure if he became an A lister as such but Anthony Perkins certainly came to everyone's attention as Norman Bates
shareLet us see, Edward Norton's first movie...
shareJim Carrey in the first Ace Ventura film.
I'd never heard of him before that, and then *bang* he's got five #1 box-office hit movies back-to-back.
Julie Andrews, Mary Poppins
Barbra Streisand, Funny Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Man in the Moon
Helen Mirren, A Midsummer's Night Dream
Sally Field, Gidget
Jennifer Aniston, Leprechaun
Jennifer Lawrence, Garden Party