Which good actors can you not stop remembering in some of their earlier, possibly sillier or just plain bad, roles?

Christian Bale in Newsies. I was in high school when this Disney musical came out. I’ve followed his career since.

Bronson Pinchot from Perfect Strangers.

Jack Nicholson and Danny Devito in one flew over the cuckoo’s nest

NPH

LOved Bronson @talia! I love Ricardo Monteban from Star Trek (Kahn), Fantasy Island etc…

John Travolta, from being Vinny Barbarino to “Saturday Night Fever” to “Urban Cowboy.”

Both Jeff Goldblum & Denzel Washington appear in the first Death Wish film.
With Denzel it’s a genuine case of blink & you’ll miss him.

Bryan Cranston

Tom Hanks in Bossom Buddies – though it was one of the best sitcoms ever.

Also, no matter how hard I try to see him as a distinguished director, Ron Howard will always be Richie Cunningham to me.

Don Johnson in the movie “a boy and his dog” where in a post apocalyptic world his talking dog was his main resource for finding food and women. That movie was campy and silly and paved the way for the rest of his career.

HERESY! @ARE_you_kidding_me. Jack and Danny were excellent in Cuckoo’s Nest. I forget your age…maybe it’s a generational difference? Movies that were an icon to a generation can seem passe to following generations. However, I would have thought OFOTCN would have stood the test of time.

Dougie Howser was not a bad show, @Hawaii_Jake. Neil transitioned nicely from a loveable teen star to a lovable adult star. Not an easy task, apparently.

I have to give @zenvelo the Vinny Barbarino, and (perhaps worse) Saturday Night Fever on Travolta.

Drew Barrymore just rocks the house.

Mellisa Gilbert never outgrew Little House for me. Part of the problem is that she always looked the same! It was more like watching her grow up than watching her mature as an actress.

@FlyingWolf Ron Howard will always be Opie Taylor, except when he’s the kid with the lisp in The Music Man.

Robin Williams will always be Mork to me.

I thought Nicholas Cage was kind of cute when I first watched Valley Girl in the early 80s. I was a pre-teen at the time and I thought he was dreamy and so cool in his lead role. I watched the movie again not long ago when it celebrated its 30th anniversary and I couldn’t believe I had a crush on that man. Now I see him in crappy movies and I’m always reminded of the day when I thought he was cool.

No matter how tough, intense, and mean Anthony Michael Hall looks, he is always going to be the geek from the John Hughes movies like 16 Candles and Breakfast Club.

@ibstubro those were what i would call silly roles but were also excellent. I loved that movie

Oh, okay, @ARE_you_kidding_me. I was looking at the question as strictly bad rather than just ‘early defining’. Then I turned around and answered the same way you did with ‘Gilbert’.

Schizo.

THe film Gigli see this link was quite possibly the worst film ever made.

It had quality actors – Jennifer Garner, Ben Affleck, Al pacino, Christopher Walken—some really good names.

But it was HORRIBLE. The dog of all dog movies. Utterly forgettable, and a total flop.

@elbanditoroso That’s really mean to Jennifer Garner, she wasn’t in it. You’re thinking of Jennifer Lopez.

Tom Hanks in Bosom Buddies, Dustin Hoffman in Ishtar…

@elbanditoroso Note that @zenvelo is correct. Don’t leave out Ms. Lopez. There is always room for JLo.

@zenvelo – my error. Sorry to Jennifer Garner.

@filmfann There’s often not enough room to sit on a bench next to JLo. Unless she is sitting where Kim Kardashian was sitting. Then there’s enough room for a family of four.

Well whether someone is a “good” actor or not is pretty subjective, but I always think of the Ace Ventura movies (which I love, but they’re very silly indeed) when I see Jim Carey in a film. Even though he still does quite a bit of comedy, it’s not quite as silly as his earlier days.

You guys took them all, from Jack Nicholson, John Travolta and Ron Howard! There is nothing left! * sob * Oh, WAIT! Jody Foster! Paper Moon. Also, all her Disney stuff, right along side Kurt Russel.

@Dutchess_III That wasn’t Jody Foster in Paper Moon; you’re thinking of Tatum O’Neal.

Jody Foster’s big beak was Taxi Driver. In my opinion (and I know a half dozen people will tell me how wrong I am) Jody Foster has never made a bad movie.

^^^ I stand corrected.

Gandhi, made one good film then poooof…never heard of him again.

I still think of Johnny Depp as 21 Jump Street. He entered my radar then, and never completely left. I don’t even remember his character, just my impression and the intensity of his character. There was a son of Dom DeLuise that was very good too, and active for several years after that.

@zenvelo take note: @Dutchess_III is actually correct. Tatum O’Neil played Addie Pray in the film “Paper Moon”, but Jodie Foster played the same character in the TV show “Paper Moon”.

@filmfann @Dutchess_III Mea Culpa. I never knew there was a TV version of Paper Moon.

@ibstubro Depp was a hottie in that show, and his cohort, Dustin Nguyen I believe.

@filmfann What was the Jodie Foster movie with her as a mentally ill girl and she always said like ‘huckabee’ or something, at a lake?

@KNOWITALL You’re thinking of Nell. She wasn’t mentally ill, she was raised in isolation and had no interaction with anyone after her mother died.

@zenvelo Yeah, that’s it!!! I loved that flick.

Rockfish!

@KNOWITALL and @zenvelo I was kind of disappointed in Nell. It seemed too…predictable.