The throwback celebrity interviews are equal parts adorable and hilarious. Welcome to WatchMojo, for this list, we’ll be looking at the best, most interesting early interviews with celebrities who ended up making it big!
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00:00 This happens to be a dream come true for me.
00:02 - Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:04 For this list, we'll be looking at the best,
00:07 most interesting early interviews with celebrities
00:09 who ended up making it big.
00:11 - What's it like?
00:12 - It's hard.
00:14 - Number 10, Chris Pratt.
00:18 Before he was Star-Lord, Mario, or even Andy Dwyer,
00:22 Chris Pratt was Bright Abbott on Everwood.
00:25 - Well, Dad's not finding anything out, Bright,
00:26 because you're not telling him.
00:27 - Oh, aren't I?
00:28 - The star's first ever Entertainment Tonight interview
00:31 took place on the set of the WB show,
00:34 where he discussed his character and the audition process.
00:37 (Chris singing)
00:39 - Hi, I'm Chris Pratt.
00:40 - Ironically, he claimed Everwood was an audition
00:43 he wasn't exactly prepared for,
00:45 but his fumble actually worked out in his favor.
00:48 It meant he couldn't overanalyze his performance
00:51 and thus overact, seemingly allowing the casting directors
00:55 to see his true potential.
00:56 - Like maybe a little Michael Jackson?
00:59 (laughing)
01:01 - It just goes to show that sometimes
01:03 it's better to cut your losses and go with your gut
01:05 rather than get stuck in a spiral of self-doubt.
01:08 - I need to be an actor for this audition.
01:10 - Number nine, Elijah Wood.
01:12 We all have big dreams when we're small.
01:15 It's not uncommon to hear kids say
01:17 they wanna be an astronaut, a pop star,
01:19 or even a superhero.
01:21 Elijah Wood apparently wanted to study the sea.
01:24 In an incredibly charming early interview
01:26 with Entertainment Tonight,
01:28 the actor talked about his love for special effects
01:31 and the challenge of memorizing lines.
01:33 - 'Cause this is probably,
01:35 I can get a good career doing this.
01:37 - He also talked about his future,
01:39 acknowledging acting as a viable choice,
01:42 but seeming equally interested
01:43 in learning more about sharks.
01:45 - I might study the sea and study sharks
01:50 or something like that.
01:51 - About six years later, he would go on to star in "Flipper,"
01:55 which not only saw Wood up close and personal
01:58 with a dolphin, but also featured a hammerhead shark.
02:01 Maybe it was then he realized that acting isn't so bad.
02:05 - We put it away.
02:06 We keep it hidden.
02:07 We never speak of it again.
02:08 - Number eight, Zendaya.
02:10 - I'm Zendaya.
02:12 - It's always fun to see celebrities fangirl
02:14 about their peers.
02:15 That's especially true when the video was made
02:17 before they were famous.
02:19 - It's commercial and it's Zoom and Gomez
02:22 and it's like really cool.
02:23 - Such is the case with Zendaya,
02:25 who gushed about the potential
02:27 of working with Selena Gomez
02:28 in this adorable video for Sears.
02:31 At the time, the young star was participating
02:33 in a contest held by the store
02:35 to be part of the air band for Gomez
02:38 in a promotional video/commercial.
02:41 Little did she know, just about one year later,
02:43 she'd be starring in a Disney Channel original series
02:46 and have plenty of adoring fans of her own.
02:49 It's safe to say that that hereditary love
02:51 for music came in handy.
02:53 ♪ I'm a bad boy ♪
02:55 ♪ Just like a poor boy ♪
02:57 ♪ Let me hear that bass drop on the boombox ♪
02:59 ♪ Be hot top of the road ♪
03:03 - Number seven, Natalie Portman.
03:05 At the age of 13, Natalie Portman was just like
03:09 any other eighth grader, following a curfew,
03:11 learning algebra, and happy to take any opportunity
03:15 to get out of class early.
03:16 The only difference was when she cut class,
03:19 she was leaving to be interviewed by David Letterman.
03:22 - Nice to see ya.
03:22 - Nice to see you too.
03:23 - I understand you got out of school a little bit early
03:25 to come and be on the program.
03:26 - Yeah.
03:27 - That's great, isn't it?
03:28 - I missed tech.
03:29 - The teen's first appearance on the show
03:30 was to promote the film Leon the Professional,
03:32 which she co-starred in with Jean Renaud.
03:35 Ironically, one of the stories she tells
03:37 relating to the film is about falling asleep
03:39 during its French premiere.
03:41 - I fell asleep in the movie.
03:42 - Hey, cool.
03:43 - 'Cause it's my fifth time seeing it.
03:45 - Apparently, it was her fifth time seeing it,
03:47 and we'd imagine the jet lag and schoolwork didn't help.
03:51 Director Luc Besson ended up having to wake her
03:53 before the credits rolled.
03:55 - Natalie, stop sleeping during the movie!
03:58 - Number six, Chris Evans.
04:00 In Not Another Teen Movie,
04:02 Chris Evans plays a football star
04:04 whose lack of preparation causes his team
04:06 to lose the big game.
04:07 We're not sure about Evans' real-life football skills,
04:10 but his bowling could definitely use some work.
04:13 In 2001, the star was interviewed
04:15 by a few different outlets at a bowling alley,
04:18 where he talked about his then-recent parody film.
04:21 - You're the cruelest girl in high school.
04:23 You're the only one who can help me
04:23 trick Janie Briggs into liking me.
04:25 - He compared the filming experience to summer camp,
04:27 stressing that the cast never distracted each other
04:30 from the work, but always had fun.
04:32 - How about Freddie Prinze Jr.?
04:33 Is it fun making fun of him?
04:35 - Yeah, I mean, I guess I do spoof him.
04:38 I'm not, you know, it's not so much necessarily
04:40 the way that he acts, so much as it is, you know,
04:43 his type of character.
04:45 - This seemed to be especially true
04:47 of his time with co-star Kyler Lee,
04:49 a fellow newcomer to the film scene,
04:51 who helped Evans navigate the challenges
04:53 of playing a lead role.
04:55 Number five, Reese Witherspoon.
04:58 The Man in the Moon may not be
04:59 Reese Witherspoon's most famous project,
05:01 but it did help put her on the map.
05:03 She played teen Danny Trant,
05:06 who spends the movie listening to Elvis,
05:08 skinny dipping, and falling in love.
05:10 - You ready?
05:11 - Sure.
05:12 - Just hold on, okay?
05:14 - Okay.
05:15 - One,
05:17 two,
05:18 three,
05:20 go!
05:21 (screaming)
05:22 - When Entertainment Night spoke to Witherspoon
05:24 about the film in 1991,
05:26 she reminisced about her own first kiss
05:28 in a roller skating rink,
05:29 which she claimed was, quote, "pretty good."
05:32 - I was 12 years old, and I had a boyfriend,
05:35 his name was Graham, and he was a pretty good kisser.
05:39 - She also looked to the future,
05:40 seeing she'd love to rent The Man in the Moon
05:43 on LaserDisc in 30 years and show her kids.
05:46 We're not sure Ava, Deacon, and Tennessee
05:49 know what a LaserDisc is,
05:50 but we still hope she's following through
05:52 with showing them this blast from the past.
05:54 - It's tough sometimes, 'cause I mean,
05:56 people wanna make you have all these big decisions
05:58 and stuff, that you wanna do this script,
05:59 you wanna do that, and it's tough.
06:02 And finally, I just kinda sit down and say,
06:05 I don't know, I'm 15 years old, you figure out for me.
06:07 - Number four, Keanu Reeves.
06:10 - You've got a juicy leading role in this film.
06:13 - Yeah. - How'd you get it?
06:14 - Sounds like the, I don't know,
06:15 I won something in a game show, huh?
06:17 We flew you to Los Angeles.
06:18 - In 1986, Keanu Reeves made one of his first
06:22 major onscreen appearances stateside
06:24 on Disney's The Wonderful World of Disney Anthology show,
06:28 known then as the Disney Sunday Movie.
06:31 The made-for-TV flick, titled Young Again,
06:33 filmed in Reeves' home country of Canada
06:36 and told the story of a 40-year-old
06:38 who wished to go back to high school and redo his life.
06:41 Reeves, of course, played the protagonist's younger self.
06:44 - I don't want any loud parties here.
06:47 - Oh, don't worry about it, I'm too old for that stuff.
06:49 - In an interview with CBC,
06:51 he discussed how American films made in Canada
06:53 often cast Canadian actors in side roles,
06:56 making his leading role a bit of a lucky break.
06:59 The actor was still young,
07:01 but it was clear even from this early clip
07:03 that he had the charisma to be a star.
07:05 - I'm playing a 17-year-old body
07:08 with a 40-year-old mind, okay?
07:10 - Number three, Taylor Swift.
07:12 - Most people find out what they're going to do
07:15 when they're in college, and that's great, you know?
07:18 But I guess for me, it just came a little earlier.
07:20 - Have you ever wondered what Taylor Swift
07:22 was like in high school?
07:23 Well, wonder no longer,
07:25 because this local news story filmed in 2005
07:28 shows just that.
07:30 ♪ I'll bet she's beautiful ♪
07:32 ♪ That girl he talks about ♪
07:34 WSMV4 in Nashville caught up with the singer
07:38 before the release of her debut album,
07:40 and she notably sang snippets of soon-to-be hits,
07:43 "Teardrops on My Guitar," and "Picture to Burn."
07:46 ♪ Do you have to turn your ♪
07:48 ♪ Just another picture to burn ♪
07:51 Toby Keith is also named as a major figure in Swift's life,
07:55 playing a big part in signing her,
07:57 a fact which Swift seems to find surreal.
08:00 Nowadays, we're sure several young artists
08:03 would feel similarly about sharing a room with her.
08:06 ♪ It's me, I'm the problem ♪
08:10 ♪ It's me ♪
08:11 Number two, Ryan Gosling.
08:14 - Ryan, I wanted you to know
08:16 that your mom's gonna tear, no way.
08:19 - Following the release of "Barbie,"
08:20 Ryan Gosling was praised by critics and audiences alike
08:24 for his triple threat performance,
08:26 but the film was far from being Gosling's
08:28 first time on the dance floor,
08:30 and we aren't talking about "La La Land."
08:33 In 1993, a young Gosling joined the cast
08:36 of the all-new Mickey Mouse Club,
08:38 alongside stars like Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears.
08:42 - There was kids there that were just phenomenal, so, luck.
08:46 - It was at this time that CBC interviewed
08:49 the Canadian star and his mother,
08:51 asking about his new role for Disney.
08:53 ♪ What else is there to do ♪
08:57 ♪ I don't know what I know ♪
09:00 ♪ But I cry ♪
09:03 They even shared some endearing footage
09:05 of the up-and-coming talent performing in Ottawa.
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09:24 Number one, Beyonce.
09:26 Everyone had to start somewhere,
09:28 even living legends like Beyonce.
09:31 As a tween, the now world-renowned singer
09:33 was interviewed alongside her father
09:35 about her band, Girls' Time,
09:38 which would go on to become Destiny's Child.
09:40 - If we keep on practicing and practicing
09:43 and we keep on performing, every time we get better.
09:46 - Apparently, every time the girls performed,
09:49 they elicited a standing ovation from the audience.
09:52 That isn't too hard to imagine,
09:54 given the modern-day Beyonce
09:55 has sold out concerts across the nation.
09:58 The singer herself was asked
10:00 about how she overcomes stage fright,
10:02 to which she says the more she performs,
10:04 the less she feels it.
10:05 - The stage fright just fades away.
10:08 - With this answer in mind,
10:09 we'd imagine she hasn't had stage fright in a long time.
10:13 ♪ Hold up, they don't love you like I love you ♪
10:16 ♪ Slow down, they don't love you like I love you ♪
10:19 Did we miss any of your faves' fun early interviews?
10:22 Let us know in the comments.
10:24 - You know, the first four or five auditions,
10:26 you're just kind of going through the motions
10:27 and then you're like, "God, I'm actually,
10:29 "I keep on getting callbacks, I'm getting close."
10:31 - Did you enjoy this video?
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