CRITIC'S CUT: Before They Were Famous; A-List Stars as Guest Stars

BWW TV World is thrilled to present our weekly Critic's Cut: slicing the best (and the worst) moments of pop culture into ten little digestible pieces.

Critic's Cut runs every Monday, presenting television's 'Best Of' moments, characters, shows, and more!

Every A-lister's got to start somewhere, even if it's as a convenience store gunman or Veronica Mars' neighbor. In no particular order, here are some of the ten most notable stars guesting on hit television shows before they were stars!

Jessica Chastain - VERONICA MARS
Due to Youtube's pesky copyright violations, a suitable clip for all of you to enjoy couldn't be obtained. So the picture of Chastain, the dog, and Veronica doing laundry together will have to suffice. Chastain played Veronica's neighbor, a girl who goes missing.

Andrew Garfield - DOCTOR WHO
Before he donned the spandex Spidey suit, Garfield took up a Southern accent and emigrated to Depression-era New York for a couple of episodes of Doctor Who back in 2007.

Jane Lynch - THE WEST WING
Prior to her Breakout role on GLEE, Lynch was once one of those actresses whose face you always recognized, but whose name you never knew. Check her out back in 2001, as a shouty and pressing journalist on The West Wing!

Ryan Reynolds - THE X-FILES
Again, Youtube's copyright prevented a video - but before he was the Scarlett Johannson's ex-husband, or even the Canadian heartthrob many consider him to be, he was Jay "Boom" DeBoom (seriously) on THE X-FILES. He guest starred on an episode titled 'Syzygy' during the long-running series' third season.

Jon Hamm - GILMORE GIRLS
Prior to being the bad dad/awesome ad exec Don Draper, Hamm scored a minute of airtime on GILMORE GIRLS. He was remarkably unremarkable as a rich wine-o. Click the image for the clip.

Lady Gaga - THE SOPRANOS
At one time, a 15-year-old Stefani Germanotta made fun of Tony Soprano's son for being an teenaged idiot. Check out Gaga totally nailing her one line in the clip above.

Bryan Cranston - THE X-FILES
THE X-FILES welcomed plenty a-future A-Listers on its run on Fox, including Bryan Cranston, who would later become Walter White. And the pushover dad on MALCOM IN THE MIDDLE. Check out a promo for the episode that he guested on, with a totally ridiculous mustache, above!

Ewan McGregor - ER
McGregor played a gunman named Duncan who befriended Carol (Julianna Margulies) before becoming Obi Wan. The acclaimed actor appeared on ER during the show's third season.

Brad Pitt - GROWING PAINS
Prior to marrying Angelina And fathering a thousand children, Pitt appeared on two episodes of GROWING PAINS as two different characters. Who needs logic? His first stint had him playing Carol's crush, and in the second, he portrayed Ben's rock icon/hero.

Literally Every Celebrity - LAW & ORDER
LAW & ORDER is known to have featured many actors before they made it big, or even after. Some of them include Kathy Griffin, Samuel L. Jackson, Chevy Chase, Carol Channing, Leighton Meester - oh, sheesh. Just check out the compilation clip above!

Icon Photo by: Everett Collection/Rex USA