12 Impressive Actors Who Began Their Careers in Horror Films

      These actors began their careers in horror films, many of which had small budgets. Their circumstances have significantly changed since then.

      Jamie Lee Curtis

      Credit: Compass International Pictures

      Jamie Lee Curtis is often regarded as the prime example of a star who successfully transitioned from horror to a flourishing film career. She played Laurie Strode in the original 1978 Halloween and reprised her role in several sequels, including the recent reboot trilogy. (She even made brief appearances in Halloween 3: The Season of the Witch, which significantly diverged from the main storyline of Michael Myers.)

      Curtis has also starred in many other successful films, such as Trading Places, A Fish Called Wanda, and True Lies, and she received an Oscar last year for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

      However, she remains connected to horror: last year, she featured in Halloween Ends.

      Tom Hanks

      Credit: MGM

      In 1980, the same year he starred in the sitcom Bosom Buddies, Tom Hanks was in the unsettling horror film He Knows You’re Alone, where he played Elliott, a man who doubts that a woman named Amy (Caitlin O’Heaney) is being followed by a mysterious man.

      The film includes a bachelor party scene, which may have foreshadowed one of Hanks’ breakout roles. Unfortunately, this two-time Oscar winner doesn’t appear in many horror films nowadays.

      Drew Barrymore

      Credit: Warner Bros.

      Drew Barrymore gained fame for her childhood role as Gertie in E.T., but her first on-screen appearance was in Ken Russell’s unsettling Altered States, which also marked William Hurt’s film debut when she was only five years old.

      She built on her early horror experience with significant roles in the 1984 adaptation of Stephen King’s Firestarter and in 1985’s Cat’s Eye, which was partly inspired by King’s Night Shift. Barrymore is also known for one of the most iconic sequences in horror history, the opening of Scream.

      A star for five decades, she currently hosts The Drew Barrymore Show.

      Johnny Depp

      Credit: New Line Cinema

      The opening credits of the 1984 Nightmare on Elm Street announce "Introducing Johnny Depp." The young actor portrayed the skeptical boyfriend of Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), who doesn’t believe in the existence of Freddy Krueger.

      Sadly, Freddy is real and confirms it by (spoiler alert on a 39-year-old movie) killing Glen.

      Depp transitioned from the innocent Glen to portraying a variety of appealing and grotesque characters, often in comedies rather than horror films.

      Julia Louis-Dreyfus

      Credit: Empire Pictures

      Julia Louis-Dreyfus was part of Saturday Night Live from 1982 to 1985, but her film debut was in the bizarre 1986 horror film Troll. In one scene, her character's boyfriend (played by her future husband, fellow SNL cast member Brad Hall) arrives only to find that the troll has turned her into a nymph.

      Louis-Dreyfus later became one of the most acclaimed television actors with roles in Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine, and Veep, earning 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, more than any other actor. In a 2013 interview, Tonight Show host Jay Leno made her laugh by showing a clip from Troll.

      "We never discussed it, and there’s a reason for that," Louis-Dreyfus told Leno, before calling him an a–hole. She mentioned she took the role in Troll for a free trip to Rome, joking, "it’s the best moment of my life."

      She no longer does horror films, but she shines in the recent You Hurt My Feelings.

      Patricia Arquette

      Credit: New Line Cinema

      Patricia Arquette delivered a strong performance as troubled teen Kristen Parker in 1987’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, where she nearly falls victim to the snake-like Freddy Krueger but receives help from Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp, seen alongside Arquette above).

      In the film, Nancy works as a psychiatric intern at a facility where Kristen and other young dreamers seek refuge from their nightmares.

      The film concludes with Nancy’s impressive heroism, which symbolizes a passing of the torch, but sadly, Arquette didn’t hold onto it for long: Kristen was portrayed by another actress, Tuesday Knight, in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.

      Arquette has achieved remarkable success since, including winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 2014’s Boyhood.

      Hillary Swank

      Credit: 20th Century Fox

      Hillary Swank’s film debut was in the 1992 horror comedy Buffy the Vampire Slayer — the Kristy Swanson film that inspired the Sarah Michelle Gellar TV series — where she played the supporting role of Kimberly Hannah.

      She soon starred in 1994’s The