Some actors tend to have an affinity for horror, playing multiple slasher killers or scream queens in the genre. But then some non-actors dabbled in horror in the least expected ways. Today at Screen Rant, we count down some huge stars that you would have forgotten were in horror movies.
Long before he starred in TV shows like Parks and Recreation and Severance, Adam Scott had his major film appearance in The Fourth Hellraiser. In Hellraiser Bloodline, he played Jhacqu, the enigmatic assistant to a sadistic aristocrat. Jacqu indulges in some barbaric sacrifices with Adam Scott relying on some over-the-top theatrics. This might not be his finest role, but it shows how far he has come as an actor.
The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise has boasted several future stars, mostly notably a young Johnny Depp in the first installment. In the third part, Dream Warriors, a young Patricia Arquette takes on Freddy Krueger as protagonist Kristen Parker. She's a member of the titular Dream Warriors, a group of teens who pick up skills to kill the franchise's classic villain, Freddy. Arquette's character performs some Olympic level acrobatics in her dreams and has a particularly gruesome encounter with the slasher villain. It's as campy as expected and Arquette eventually forayed into more serious performances such as her Oscar-winning turn in Boyhood.
Before the Oscar glory of Dallas Buyers Club, Matthew McConaughey was a romcom star. And before his romantic era, he was a loudmouthed villain in Texas Chainsaw Massacre the Next Generation. While this isn't a particularly well-liked entry in the franchise, it offers audiences an early look at the talents of McConaughey and Renee Zellweger. But today, the movie is mainly remembered for McConaughey's overdramatic performance as Vilmer Slaughter.
Octavia Spencer is known for her Oscar-winning performance in The Help and even recent horror outings like the 2019 psychological horror Ma. But in 2009, Spencer also had a brief role in Rob Zombie's Halloween 2. The blink-and-miss appearance found her playing a nurse at Haddonfield Hospital who gets murdered by Michael Myers. The role lasted for hardly a minute, but only 3 years after Halloween 2, Spencer starred in The Help, and her life changed forever.
Leonardo DiCaprio isn't an actor that comes to mind when discussing the horror genre. But the Oscar winner, interestingly, made his screen debut in the 1991 horror comedy Critters 3. A young DiCaprio plays Josh, the son of a corrupt landlord who crosses paths with the film's titular creatures. Critters 3 was panned by critics upon release, but it paved the way for DiCaprio's future stardom.
So, from leading Oscar winners to popular TV stars, these actors strangely found their start in horror movies. They might be distant from the genre now, but these horrors make for an interesting throwback in their diverse careers.