23 Music Videos Starring Pre-Fame Celebrities

By Stacy Conradt |

Though some of the songs may be forgettable, these 23 pre-fame actors at least made the videos memorable.

1. Zooey Deschanel

When Zooey Deschanel was just 18, she starred in The Offspring’s “She’s Got Issues.” Still pretty adorkable, in a 1990s-Delia’s-catalog kind of a way.

2. Aaron Paul

He appeared in Korn’s 2002 video for “Thoughtless.”

3. Christina Hendricks

Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks was in Everclear’s “One Hit Wonder” when she was about 22.

4. Zach Galifianakis

He appeared in Fiona Apple’s “Not About Love” video. The Between Two Ferns comedian was making the rounds on the comedy circuit—in fact, Apple knew him because they frequently performed at L.A’s Club Largo together—but he wasn’t known like he is now.

5. and 6. Eva Mendes and Seann William Scott

This Aerosmith video for “Hole in My Soul” is a two-fer: Eva Mendes as the Weird Science-like dream girl, and Seann William Scott playing a rather Stifler-like character a couple of years before he actually played Stifler in American Pie.

7. Angelina Jolie

Michael Bay directed this video for Meat Loaf’s “Rock And Roll Dreams Come True” in 1993, which features a young Angelina Jolie.

8. Katy Perry

Here’s Katy Perry in the Gym Class Heroes video for “Cupid’s Chokehold.” She was dating Travie McCoy at the time.

9. Minka Kelly

That’s a blonde Minka Kelly in Puddle of Mudd's "She Hates Me" video in 2002.

10. Adam Savage

Here’s a rather unexpected one: Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame was in Billy Joel’s “You’re Only Human” video. Fun fact: He was also Mr. Whipple’s stockboy in one of the Charmin commercials. 

11. Courteney Cox

Everyone knows that Courteney Cox was in Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark,” but it wasn’t as spontaneous as it would appear to be in the music video. She was actually cast by director Brian De Palma specifically for that purpose.

12. Matthew McConaughey

He played the title character in Trisha Yearwood’s “Walkaway Joe.” This was 1992, so at the time, McConaughey’s hero was Matthew McConaughey in The Wedding Planner.

13. Ke$ha

She appeared in Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl.” This wasn’t so random—the two of them were friends. What is kind of random, though: Back in 2005, Ke$ha and her mother “hosted” Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton for an episode of The Simple Life. 

14. Channing Tatum

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This cameo in Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" isn't just blink-and-you’ll-miss-it—you can have your eyes wide open and still not realize you're looking at Channing Tatum, so I took a screenshot for you. It was Tatum’s first professional dancing job. He made $400 for a five-day shoot.

15. Josh Holloway

You already know that Alicia Silverstone was Aerosmith’s video muse in the 1990s, but take another look at the dude who steals her purse—it’s Josh Holloway from Lost!

16. RuPaul

She was in the B52s’ “Love Shack” video. Skip to 2:05 if you don’t want to sit through the whole earwig of a song.

17. Djimon Hounsou

He appeared in Paula Adbul’s “Straight Up.”

18. Wentworth Miller

He's starred in two Mariah Carey videos: "It’s Like That" and "We Belong Together." Both of them were directed by Brett Ratner, who also directed the first episode of Miller’s breakout series: Prison Break.

19. Jeremy Sisto

He was the boy in Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”

20. Jenna Elfman

Check out a brunette Jenna Elfman in Depeche Mode’s “Halo” in 1990. She was also in Anthrax’s “Black Lodge."

21. Matt LeBlanc

He's in the last 20 seconds of Tom Petty’s “Into the Great Wide Open.” Johnny Depp is the star of the video, of course, but this was a few years after 21 Jump Street.

22. Jennifer Connelly

You can spot her in this Mad Max-esque video for Duran Duran’s “Union of the Snake,” three years before Labyrinth.

23. Jennifer Lopez

Here she is as a dancer in Janet Jackson’s “That’s the Way Love Goes” video, around the same time that J. Lo was a fly girl on In Living Color.

BONUS: Elijah Wood

As a child actor, Elijah Wood had already been in a couple of movies (Radio Flyer, The Good Son, North) before he starred in the Cranberries’ “Ridiculous Thoughts” in 1995. But we're including it anyway.