A-List Celebrities and their Brushes with the Horror Genre

A-List actors have tough lives. They live and die by the projects they choose and they are slaves to box office totals. In addition, they can't just go hang out in public without having to worry about a bunch of fans swarming them and demanding autographs. And though they pretty much have their pick of films nowadays, this was not always the case. Nay, some of our most famous and recognizable box office heroes found themselves "slumming" in the world of horror while they were getting their start. Following is a partial list of such folks, including their respective flicks and television appearances:

-Jennifer Aniston: Before such smashes as "Marley and Me" and "Along Came Polly", This "Friend" of ours graced the big screen in 1993's "The Leprechaun", her feature debut and the first film to be released in 1993 on 1/01/93.

-Kevin Bacon: This ubiquitous actor starred as Chip Diller in 1978's "Animal House", but that is not why he made the list. Bacon's appearance in 1980's "Friday the 13th" cemented his place here. Other horror sightings: Kevin joined an early stage, all-star cast in 1990's "Flatliners" (along with two others included below"). He also turned in his finest horror performance in 1999's uber-creepy, highly underrated "Stir of Echoes", one of my personal favorites.

-Jim Carrey: This guy is an Oscar-caliber actor. His performance as the late Andy Kaufman in 1999's "Man on the Moon" was deserving of an Academy Award, and he was absolutely robbed. Before he was dazzling moviegoers with his unique brand of physical comedy, Carrey was a hungry young actor (no pun intended) who starred opposite Lauren Hutton in 1985's "Once Bitten", a campy film about a female vampire that needs to find and feed on the blood of a virgin in order to keep her eternal beauty.

-George Clooney: Clooney has to be one of the most powerful people in Hollywood. He's starred in the "Ocean's Eleven" franchise, several Coen Brothers' films, "Syriana", "Michael Clayton", "The Perfect Storm"...the list goes on and on. He's also an acclaimed director ("Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" and "Leatherheads"). George is also the picture of humility, something rare for someone so huge in the entertainment industry. So why is he here? Prior to his stint as Booker Brooks on "Roseanne", Clooney appeared in 1987's "Return to Horror High", a fun romp about a film crew that decides to make a movie based on some serial murders that took place at the fictional Crippen High School some years prior. Incidentally, this film also featured Maureen McCormick (that's Marsha Brady to you) as a police officer. George also featured in 1988's "Return of the Killer Tomatoes!" and 1996's "From Dusk Till Dawn".

-Johnny Depp: Johnny is unique in this category as he apparently landed his first role by accident. That's right, Johnny decided to accompany his friend Jackie Earle Haley to auditions for "A Nightmare on Elm Street" to lend support. Director Wes Craven spotted Johnny, decided to cast as him as Glen Lantz, and the rest is history. In an interesting sidebar, Jackie Earle Haley will be starring as Freddy Krueger in a 2010 remake of the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street". While it is unquestionable that Depp is one of the most sought-after talents in the business today, he has remained true to his roots by continuing to dabble in the horror genre with such films as "The Ninth Gate", "The Astronaut's Wife", "Sleepy Hollow", "From Hell", Secret Window", and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street".

-Matthew McConaughey: Alright, alright, alright. Have you ever seen one of McConaughey's horror films? It'd be a lot cooler if you did! While his role as David Wooderson in Richard Linklater's fantastic 1993 effort "Dazed and Confused" put him on the map, it was his turn as Vilmer in 1994's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation" that earned McConaughey his horror stripes. Intended to be the "real" sequel to the original "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", this film flew under the radar even in horror circles. Definitely largely overlooked, but still a cult favorite, this one co-starred one other on our list. McConaughey also gets points for starring in another largely unheralded horror gem, 2001's "Frailty".

-Jason Patric: Okay, so he may not be nearly as big a star as any of the others on our list, but Patric has definitely made a name for himself in Hollywood and, like everyone else in the world, has been in a movie with Kevin Bacon (1996's "Sleepers"). However, his role in that film came a solid nine years after Patric's role as Michael in 1987's "The Lost Boys", not so much a movie as a rite of passage for those of my generation. We've all seen this one. And if you haven't, stop reading now and go watch it. Actually, you can finish this post, but then go straight to the video store.

-Brad Pitt: What do I have to say about this guy. To coin a cliche, women want him and men want to be him. To paraphrase Tyler Durden, he looks like you want to look, fucks like you want to fuck, and fights like you want to fight. This guy can do whatever the hell he wants nowadays, but what did he start out doing? How about an episode of the ill-fated series "Freddy's Nightmares" in 1989. Or an installment of "Tales From the Crypt" in 1992. True, he wasn't exactly setting the world of horror on fire, but Pitt returned to the genre in outstanding form as Louis in Anne Rice's 1994 masterpiece "Interview with the Vampire", one of the best vampire movies ever. He then went on to star in one of my personal favorites, 1995's "Se7en" with Morgan Freeman. While this one is technically a psychological thriller, it is disturbing enough (in the same vein as "Silence of the Lambs") that I include it in the horror genre. Not too shabby.

-Julia Roberts: 1990 saw Julia's Hollywood coming-out party with her starring role in "Pretty Woman". This same year, however, Roberts co-starred in the fantastic "Flatliners" with two others on this list. This tale of a group of medical students cheating death to catch a glimpse of the afterlife remains a classic to this day. Julia returned to horror for the titular role in 1996's "Mary Reilly", a variation on the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde legend co-starring John Malkovich.

-Kiefer Sutherland: Best known today as Jack Bauer from the series "24", Kiefer has a long and storied history in the horror genre. To start, he appeared alongside Jason Patric in 1987's "The Lost Boys", possibly the coolest vampire flick ever made. Kiefer then joined Julia Roberts and Kevin Bacon in 1990's "Flatliners". Sutherland went on to star in 1998's completely underrated and absolutely fantastic flick "Dark City". Lastly, Sutherland appeared in 2004's thriller "Taking Lives" and 2008's "Mirrors".

-Renee Zellweger: Renee has graced the screen along with a virtual who's who list of Hollywood's A-List--Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey, Jim Carrey, Catherine Zeta-Jones, George Clooney, Jude Law, Morgan Freeman, Liv Tyler...and so on, and so on. One of her earliest projects matched her up with McConaughey in 1994's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation". As mentioned above, this film is a delightful romp through the world of our favorite cannibalistic Texan family. Zellweger also featured in 1997's extremely taut and competent thriller "Deceiver".

Well, there you have it. Hopefully you'll decide to check out some of the afore-mentioned stars in all their horror glory. You won't be disappointed!!

Bonus: So how many of our stars have been in movies with Kevin Bacon???

-Jennifer Aniston starred alongside Bacon in 1997's "Picture Perfect".

-Jim Carrey has not co-starred with Bacon.

-George Clooney has not co-starred with Bacon.

-Johnny Depp has not co-starred with Bacon.

-Matthew McConaughey has not co-starred with Bacon.

-Jason Patric co-starred with Bacon in 1996's "Sleepers".

-Brad Pitt also starred alongside Patric and Bacon in "Sleepers".

-Julia Roberts co-starred with Bacon in 1990's "Flatliners".

-Kiefer Sutherland also starred alongside Roberts and Bacon in "Flatliners". In addition, Sutherland and Bacon co-starred in 1992's "A Few Good Men". Incidentally, Kevin Bacon and Kiefer's father Donald Sutherland both starred in Oliver Stone's 1991 masterpiece "JFK".

-Renee Zellweger co-starred in 2009's "My One and Only" with Bacon.

So there it is. More information about Bacon than you ever wanted to know. Goodbye and blah blah for now.