26 Movie Stars You Forgot Were on TV

While he's now most notable for being Gilbert Grape, Edward Scissorhands, and Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp actually first gained fame for his role as undercover police officer Tom Hanson in 21 Jump Street. The role turned him into a teen idol, and with good reason — just look at that photo! After he split from the show in 1990, Depp went on to become an international leading man, starring in more than 50 films (with even more on the way). In a nod to his TV roots, Depp briefly reprised his role with a cameo in the series' big-screen adaptation in 2012 alongside stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill.

Would you believe that Halle Berry played a model on TV? The Oscar-winning actress got her start on a Who's the Boss? spinoff called Living Dolls back in 1989. Berry, along with a young Leah Remini, played aspiring models living in NYC.

The Jennifer Garner we all know and love got her start as CIA agent Sydney Bristow on the ABC action drama Alias. She got to do fight scenes and wear a ton of killer wigs on the show, which ran from 2001 to 2006, and also starred a then-unknown Bradley Cooper. These days, Garner has gotten big-screen success from movies like 13 Going on 30, Pearl Harbor, and most recently, Dallas Buyers Club.

Before drawing critical attention for The Descendants and The Spectacular Now (and landing roles in The Fault In Our Stars and Divergent), Shailene Woodley starred as teen mom Amy Juergens in the long-running ABC Family series The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She stuck with the show throughout its run from 2008-2013, but expressed her disappointment with the role in an interview with Flaunt magazine last year, saying, "I didn't like it because if it started to change, I had no control over it. The things that we were preaching on that show weren't really aligned with my own integrity."

Before he was a natural born killer, basketball-playing hustler, and alcoholic Hunger Games victor, Woody Harrelson played Boston bartender Woody Boyd on Cheers. He played the goofy character from 1985 to 1993, and then went on to star in unforgettable films like White Men Can't Jump and Indecent Proposal, and even nabbed an Oscar nomination for his leading role in The People vs. Larry Flynt. Harrelson has been introduced to a brand-new generation of fans with this portrayal of Haymitch Abernathy in The Hunger Games movie franchise, and now returned to TV alongside Matthew McConaughey in the first season of HBO's crime drama True Detective.

Mila Kunis made guest appearances on TV shows like Baywatch and 7th Heaven before finding small-screen fame as the self-absorbed Jackie Burkhart on That '70s Show. After the show went off the air in 2006, Kunis starred in films like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Ted, and Friends With Benefits and nabbed multiple award nominations for her role in 2010's Black Swan. Even with her big-screen success, she hasn't cut her television ties completely — Kunis has been the voice of Meg Griffin on Family Guy since 1999. And now that Kunis is married to her onscreen boyfriend Ashton Kutcher, it's like watching That '70s Show all over again!

Bruce Willis gained early fame as fast-talking private detective David Addison in the ABC dramedy Moonlighting. He starred opposite Cybill Shepherd in the show, which ran from 1985 to 1989. Willis obviously went on to have an illustrious film career with flicks like and Pulp Fiction, Armageddon, The Sixth Sense, and the Die Hard franchise.

Claire Danes has become a bonafide movie star with roles in Romeo + Juliet, The Hours, and Stage Beauty, but she got her start on the one-season wonder My So-Called Life in 1994; she won a Golden Globe for the role, and that same year, she got her big-screen break as Beth March in Little Women. Danes came full circle when she began starring in Showtime's Homeland in 2011, and has since picked up two Emmys and two more Golden Globes for her performance as Carrie Mathison.

Jared Leto also got his start on My So-Called Life, playing the aloof, superhot love interest of Claire Danes's character, Angela Chase. Leto shot to stardom after appearing in films like Prefontaine, Requiem for a Dream, and Chapter 27, all which required him to make drastic changes to his physical appearance. He picked up an Oscar for his role as Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club in 2013 and is set to play the Joker in the highly-anticipated Suicide Squad film.

Oscar winner Tom Hanks has dozens of film roles under his belt, but he got his start on the ABC sitcom Bosom Buddies in the early '80s. In the show, which followed two single men disguising themselves as women to live in an affordable apartment, Hanks spent many scenes dressed in drag — talk about range.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stole our hearts in 10 Things I Hate About You back in 1999, but before that, he played a teenage alien on the NBC comedy 3rd Rock From the Sun. He starred on the show from 1996 to 2001 and got to wear some pretty awesome hats along the way. How much do you love his long hair parted down the middle like that? Now, of course, he's still one of our biggest celebrity crushes and showed off his sexy side as a New Jersey Casanova in Don Jon. Once a cutie, always a cutie.

With all of his big-screen success, it sometimes slips our minds that George Clooney guest-starred as a handyman on the '80s sitcom The Facts of Life before gaining fame as Dr. Doug Ross on ER. He starred on the show for five years, but made sure to film a few hit movies — From Dusk Till Dawn, Out of Sight, and One Fine Day — in between. He even took his superhero turn in 1997's Batman & Robin while he was still in scrubs. These days, we all think of George Clooney as an A-list movie star and all-around silver fox, which makes it even more amazing when we're reminded of his humble beginnings playing a doctor on TV.

Michelle Williams has gotten so much recognition for her roles in films like Brokeback Mountain, Blue Valentine, and My Week With Marilyn that many people have forgotten about her big break as Jen Lindley on Dawson's Creek. Along with her fellow TV-turned-movie actress Katie Holmes, Williams starred on the WB teen drama from 1998 to 2003.

Before winning the best actress Academy Award for Boys Don't Cry, Hilary Swank got her big break on the ABC comedy Camp Wilder along with Jerry O'Connell and Tina Majorino, who would later go on to star in Veronica Mars. The show aired as a part of the TGIF lineup, but was cancelled in 1993 after 19 episodes due to low ratings.

Yes, everyone knows Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the City, but before she landed the role as NYC's most famous fashionista, Parker starred as Patty Greene, an awkward, geeky high school student on the '80s sitcom Square Pegs.

After the show ended in 1983, she made a name for herself in films like LA Story, Hocus Pocus, The First Wives Club, and Miami Rhapsody. She portrayed Carrie Bradshaw from 1998-2004, took on more big-screen roles, and will return to HBO in the upcoming series Divorce in 2016.