Seth Macfarlane can currently been seen as a starship captain in The Orville, a TV series that both parodies and pays homage to Star Trek. It’s pretty clear that Macfarlane has been a lifelong Trek fan, as we can see him here at around 15 years old in a Star Trek fan film that he made with his friends in high school.

I wish I had more context for this clip, but here it is! In 1986, back when he was just a stand-up comic, Jerry Seinfeld appeared on Dr. Ruth’s show to discuss sex and relationships. I find it pretty funny that Ruth criticizes Jerry’s bachelor lifestyle, which would become the basis for his character on the show that shot him to fame – Seinfeld – only a few years after this.

What better way to learn about workplace rehabilitation programs in Australia than with an Oscar-winning actor? Of course, this video from 1989, titled “Manager on the Case,” was made long before Russell Crowe was any kind of celebrity. In fact, his character doesn’t even have a name! He’s just “Injured Employee,” and he has some choice inner monologue moments that really show off his acting chops.

Before he became an internationally acclaimed actor, a Bond villain and a Marvel villain, Mads Mikkelsen was a professional dancer for nearly a decade. In this clip, we get to see him perform the Can Can, and not only is he light on his feet, but he performs the splits most impressively. But when will we get to see him a role that finally combines his penchant for playing bad guys with his talent for the art of dance? Get on that, Marvel.

For a brief period in the 90’s, summer camp kid comedies were hot stuff. Within this niche genre we find such movies as Heavyweights, Addams Family Values, and the subject of this post: Camp Nowhere (1994). The story of a summer camp run by kids with Christopher Lloyd as their makeshift guardian, Camp Nowhere is pretty unremarkable…except for the fact that it features very brief appearances from a young Jessica Alba. Alba is just an extra in this movie – she doesn’t have any lines, and you could very well blink and miss her in the clip above (she’s at 0:58). The video below, however, gives you a better look, and is basically a slideshow of her career.

Before he was a badass werewolf on True Blood, before he was dancing around in his underpants in Magic Mike XXL, before he was Pee-wee Herman’s idol in Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, Joe Manganiello was trying to beat up Tobey Maguire in 2003’s Spider-Man. This was long before the MCU was established, but man, look how young everyone was. It seems like the superhero movie boom has been going on forever!

We’ll round off our brief Before They Were Stars: McDonald’s Edition marathon with this ad for McD’s chopped beefsteak sandwiches, which features a young Jim Varney as a very cheerful cowboy. This one is kind of a grey-area BTWS pick, since Varney was probably already doing ads as Ernest P. Worrel around this time, but in my mind, Varney wasn’t a star until Ernest Goes to Camp.

Heather O’Rourke’s story is a tragic tale, as she died at the very young age of 12. You’d think that since she was only 5 or 6 when she was in Poltergeist that it would be impossible to find any Before They Were Stars material for her. Well, it’s McDonald’s to the rescue, because before Spielberg cast her in Poltergeist, Heather O’Rourke appeared in an ad for the fast food giant. Here she is working up the courage to jump in a swimming pool. What finally convinces her? Why, McDonald’s, of course.

I recently worked on a video for McDonald’s, and in the process I had to root through Youtube’s archive of McD’s commercials. And wouldn’t you know it? I found loads of material for BTWS! First up, here’s Corey Feldman before he found fame as a child actor, celebrating the holidays with McDonald’s gift certificates! Remember when 50 cents could actually buy you something at McDonald’s? Me neither.

Before he was Bill Nye the Science Guy, Bill Nye wanted to be a stand-up comedian, and in this clip he does his first stand-up set on Seattle Public Access Station 29 in the early 80’s. I wish I could say that he kills it, but frankly, I think that Nye was always destined to be more of a science-based entertainer than a full-on comedian. At one point during his set he talks about some transistorized piece of Japanese equipment, and for that brief moment, you can see the future of his career.