10 Famous Actors That Debuted In Horror Movies
1. Tom Hanks - He Knows You're Alone (1980)
Taking the top spot on this list is another case of an otherwise unremarkable film that is remembered for introducing the world to a mega star.
1980's He Knows You're Alone came when slasher movies were still relatively new, with director Armand Mastroianni freely admitting he wanted to emulate 1978's Halloween. The movie follows a young bride-to-be as she is targeted by a maniac that once murdered his unfaithful girlfriend on her wedding day.
Unlike Halloween, He Knows You're Alone can seem slow and plodding at times. That said, it does feature some particularly sympathetic and enigmatic characters. Chief among these is a jogger named Elliot, played by a then young and completely unknown Tom Hanks.
In the three brief scenes Hanks has in the film he shines with the friendly nice guy nature that would take him so much further. He delivers some witty lines with the lovable cheeky grin that would later become his trademark.
According to director Mastroianni, Hanks was so nice both in character and reality that he removed Elliot from a later scene that would call for Hanks to be murdered. Although this decreased the film's already rather reserved body count, it proves that Hanks' reputation as Hollywood's ultimate "nice guy" was true from the very beginning.
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