Author Archives: robin
Before They Were Stars (2-for-1 Special): Tony Scott Stars in Ridley Scott’s “Boy and Bicycle”
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, The Back Row has been gaga for ages about the release of Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, so I thought I’d take you all the way back to see how the man behind Alien got his start. … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Idris Elba on “Space Precinct”
Long before he was on The Wire and starring in Prometheus, Idris Elba had one of his very first roles on a short-lived 1994 British TV series called Space Precinct. The show was a unique mix of sci-fi and police … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Sharon Stone in a Seagram’s Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe2OF2I5xP8 During the 1980s, Bruce Willis first found stardom with his role on the TV series, Moonlighting, so Seagram’s offered him a multimillion-dollar contract to be their spokesperson in their ads for Golden Wine Cooler products. In this particular commercial, … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars (2-for-1 Special): Val Kilmer and Michelle Pfeiffer in an ABC Afterschool Special
Back when I was in elementary school, my class was shown an ABC Afterschool Special from the 1980s entitled One Too Many, which starred a young Val Kilmer and Michelle Pfeiffer and warned us kids that drinking and driving was … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Aaron Paul in a Corn Pops Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=risBO1uupRc Remember all those old commercials where kids would act like drug addicts suffering from withdrawal because they couldn’t get their fix of Corn Pops? Well, this one just happens to feature a young Aaron Paul, who would go on … Continue reading
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Robin’s Underrated Gems: Swimming with Sharks (1994)
Sometimes, an actor will have a year that s filled with so many great performances that they are instantly propelled up onto the Hollywood A-list. 1995 was such a year for Kevin Spacey. Spacey had been working in Hollywood for … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Gillian Jacobs in “Choke”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkCEvcS6r0A Before she was on Community, Gillian Jacobs had an early role in the 2008 black comedy, Choke, which was based on a novel by Chuck “Fight Club” Palahniuk, starring Sam Rockwell and directed by Agent Coulson himself, Clark Gregg. … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Seth Green in a Snapps Commercial
I particularly love finding future celebrities in commercials for really obscure products. Here is a young Seth Green as a very douchey fast food employee in this 1991 ad for a fast food chain called Snapps. I’ve never heard of … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Elisabeth Moss in an Excedrin Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJYzfDysPLk Is it meta when a cast member from Mad Men appears in a terrible commercial? Here’s an ad that Elisabeth Moss did for Excedrin much earlier in her career, and many of the commenters on this Youtube video have … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Steve Buscemi Acts Alongside Cyndi Lauper in “Vibes”
Would you believe that there was once a time when Cyndi Lauper was a big enough star to headline her own movie? Well, this actually happened in 1988 when she starred in a romantic adventure comedy called Vibes, where she … Continue reading
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