8 Huge Actors You Didn’t Notice As Extras In TV Shows

Mahershala Ali is one of the few actors to have won multiple Academy Awards, and he managed to do it within two years; talk about impressive. But, like almost every actor who came before him, he wasn't always a leading man, and this small part on that road is a big sign of that.

When watching the CSI episode "Lucky Strike", you'll be introduced to Tavian Tombs, a real piece of work who was in desperate need of protection, which he found in the character "Tombs' Security Guard".

Okay, that name might not be impressive, but, as you can probably tell, the name behind the character was; that being, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali - later shortened to Mahershala.

Suppose you ever find yourself binging a boatload of early CSI episodes. In that case, you'd likely feel pretty jarred at seeing this multiple time Oscar winner playing the simple background role of a security guard. But, naturally, he does a great job even without lines or camera focus.

Twenty years later and Tavian Tombs' security guard is a vampire slayer in the MCU. Wonder if he's still on the payroll.