From unforgettable entrances to career-defining moments, these scenes launched performers into stardom! Join us as we explore the most iconic character introductions that transformed relatively unknown talents into Hollywood legends or completely reinvented established actors' careers.
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00:00Hey, baby, what's going on here?
00:02Oh, hi.
00:03Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:05And today, we're counting down our picks for the iconic character introductions
00:09that launched an actor's or completely reinvented an actor's career.
00:14Well, that's the real trick, isn't it?
00:17And it's going to cost you something extra.
00:21Number 10, Meryl Streep, Kramer vs. Kramer.
00:25I'm leaving you.
00:25Honey, please, I can't hear you.
00:27What?
00:27Okay, you too.
00:30Thanks a lot.
00:31See you tomorrow.
00:32You guys eat?
00:34Ted, I'm leaving you.
00:35The Perennial Award winner earned her first Oscar for this,
00:39one of her first film appearances.
00:41In Kramer vs. Kramer,
00:43she plays the deeply unhappy wife of Dustin Hoffman's character.
00:47Her very first scene is a masterclass in showing and not telling.
00:52Although she starts out her performance as Joanna Kramer
00:54with an icy, even dead-eyed glare,
00:57Streep quickly reveals the character's hidden depths.
01:00We watch in real time as her matter-of-fact explanations
01:03as to why she's leaving her husband turn into panic.
01:07Now, don't you, don't, don't make me go in there.
01:09Please, please don't make me go in there.
01:11Don't make me go in there.
01:12If you do, I swear, one day, next week, maybe next year, I don't know.
01:16I'll go right out the window.
01:17Her desperation is haunting to watch.
01:20It's a perfect first scene that proves to be only the beginning
01:23for one of our greatest actors.
01:25Joanne, please.
01:31And I don't love you anymore.
01:35Where are you going?
01:37I don't know.
01:37Number 9, Matthew McConaughey, Dazed and Confused.
01:42All right, all right, all right.
01:45Oh, Christ.
01:47How you doing?
01:4820-something burnout Wooderson was supposed to play a much smaller role
01:53in the narrative of Richard Linklater's coming-of-age movie.
01:56Newcomer Matthew McConaughey's performance saw the character
01:59bumped to a more prominent position throughout Dazed and Confused.
02:04Gotta keep living, man.
02:06L-I-V-I-N.
02:08Wooderson first appears as the driver who picks up high schoolers Pink and Mitch
02:13for a night drive.
02:14He then asks them for a certain herb.
02:17Uh, no, not on me, man.
02:21It'd be a lot cooler if you did.
02:24It's simultaneously hilarious and a little sad that he's trying to bum
02:28some illicit substances from teenagers.
02:31Wooderson made McConaughey a star, and this one scene tells us everything we need to know
02:37about Wooderson himself.
02:38I get older, they stay the same age.
02:42Yes, they do.
02:43Yes, they do.
02:45Number 8, John Travolta, Saturday Night Fever.
02:49We just washed the hair.
02:51Yeah.
02:51You know, I work on my hair a long time, and you hit it.
02:55He hits my hair.
02:56The transition from TV to films is not always easy to make.
03:01John Travolta made it look easy when he first appeared as Saturday Night Fever's disco
03:06dancing Lothario, Tony Manero.
03:09When we first meet Tony, he's strutting across the city in his platform shoes to the infectious
03:14beat of the Bee Gees.
03:16With his leather jacket, dark red shirt, flared collar, and unrefined manners, he pretty much
03:33exemplifies late 70s masculinity.
03:36He may be a dancer, but it doesn't make him any less blunt, masculine, or even callous in
03:41his pursuit of women, nice shoes, and a New York slice.
03:45Are you Tony?
03:46Two or three?
03:47Two, two.
03:48Give me two.
03:49That's good.
03:51But now I get in love when I get high, and if I can't get in, I better try.
03:56Got to wake up, baby, no black shoes, I'm a dancer man.
03:59Number 7, Viola Davis, Doubt.
04:02Mrs. Miller, we may have a problem.
04:06I thought there must have been a reason you're wanting to see me.
04:08Principal's a big job.
04:09Movie audiences might have first encountered Viola Davis in this 2008 drama, but the Juilliard-trained
04:16actress was already a Broadway veteran and Tony Award winner by then.
04:21After Doubt, they would never forget her.
04:24She shares an explosive 10-minute section of the story with Meryl Streep, of all people,
04:29and almost runs away with the whole movie.
04:31Not to be disagreeing, but if we're talking about something floating around between this
04:36priest and my son, it ain't my son's fault.
04:38Oh, I'm not suggesting that...
04:40It's just a boy.
04:41I know.
04:4112 years old, if someone should be taken blame, it should be the man, not the boy.
04:44I agree with you completely.
04:46You're agreeing with me, but I got called to the principal, if you know what I'm saying.
04:49I am concerned about Donald's welfare.
04:52As a mother who learns a devastating secret about the parish priest, Davis' performance
04:56is confusing, disturbing, and deeply moving.
05:00We see her not only match pace with Streep, but leave a gigantic impact on a movie that
05:05is already really, really complicated.
05:07His father don't like him.
05:11You come to your school, kids don't like him.
05:14One man is good to him, this priest.
05:18Then does a man have his reasons?
05:20Yes.
05:22Everybody does.
05:23You have your reasons, but do I ask the man why he's good to my son?
05:28Number 6.
05:30Barbara Streisand, Funny Girl
05:32Reprising the Broadway role that made her famous, the velvet-voiced star is first seen stalking
05:47the backstage of Manhattan's New Amsterdam Theater in a striking leopard-print coat.
05:52The first time we see Barbara Streisand's face on screen, it's as Fanny Bryce, looking
05:57into a mirror and saying the words that have now become immortal.
06:01Hello, gorgeous.
06:05But she's being sarcastic.
06:07This is the paradox of the movie made instantly clear.
06:10Throughout the movie, Fanny believes that her face is not traditionally beautiful enough
06:15to make her a star.
06:16She has to be funny.
06:17But anyone with eyes and half a brain can see she's both.
06:21Instead of just kicking me, why don't they give me a lift?
06:26Well, it must be a plot.
06:27Because they're scared that I got such a gift.
06:31Oh, sure.
06:32Let's go.
06:33Number 5.
06:34Anthony Hopkins, The Silence of the Lambs.
06:37Closer, please.
06:40Closer.
06:42Hannibal Lecter was far from the respected and acclaimed actor's first film role, but
06:47Anthony Hopkins became synonymous with screen villainy in The Silence of the Lambs.
06:52When we first meet the cannibalistic psychiatrist, he is staring right at us and FBI trainee Clarice
06:58Starling.
06:59As we first come upon his cell in a psychiatric hospital, he seems to know we're coming.
07:04You use heavy-ass skin cream.
07:09And sometimes you wear lead at all.
07:14But not today.
07:16It's one of the most unsettling first scenes of any character in film history.
07:20Hopkins imbues Lecter with the comportment of a gentleman, even as we feel him sizing up
07:26Jodie Foster's character and working his way into her mind.
07:29Pure West Virginia.
07:32What does your father do?
07:33Is he a coal miner?
07:34Does he stink of a lamb?
07:36You know how quickly the boys found you.
07:39All those tedious, sticky fumblings in the backseats of cars.
07:43Why, you could only dream of getting out.
07:45Getting anywhere.
07:46Getting all the way to the FBI.
07:48Number 4.
07:51Harrison Ford.
07:52Raiders of the Lost Ark.
07:54Playing Han Solo may have made his career, but embodying Indiana Jones made him a star.
08:00He was good.
08:02He was very, very good.
08:05Harrison Ford recreated the archetype of the classic swashbuckler in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
08:10Dr. Jones fuses action hero stunts, nonchalant humor, and surprising nerdiness.
08:16And all of these are on display in that first incredible scene in a booby-trapped Peruvian
08:22temple.
08:23There's nothing to fear here.
08:27It scares me.
08:29The entire opening sequence volleys between dark intrigue and broad humor.
08:34Ford demonstrates his secret weapon as a lead.
08:37It's his humor.
08:38He's not afraid to look a little ridiculous, even as the character appears to have almost
08:42a sixth sense for danger.
08:44There's a big snake in the play, Chuck!
08:47Oh, that's just my pet snake, Reggie!
08:51I hate snakes, Chuck!
08:53I hate them!
08:54Come on!
08:55Show a little backbone, will ya?
08:57Number 3.
08:58Audrey Hepburn.
09:00Breakfast at Tiffany's.
09:01As the flighty socialite unmoored from commitment, Audrey Hepburn turned away from her more introverted
09:07and virtuous roles and completely reinvented her star persona.
09:11I don't even want to own anything until I can find a place where new things go together.
09:16Not sure where that is, but I know what it's like.
09:21It's like Tiffany's.
09:23When Holly Golightly first gets out of that cab in front of Tiffany & Co, wearing the most
09:27famous little black evening dress of all time, we realize two things.
09:32The first is that this must be the same dress she was wearing last night.
09:36The second is that she is somehow alone in one of the most exciting cities in the world.
09:41It's not only simple, chic, and romantic, but it also ends up reflecting Holly's deeper, existential dilemma.
10:04Hepburn and that dress have since become icons of cinematic elegance.
10:08If you promise not to be angry, I might let you take those pictures we mention.
10:13We're in.
10:15Sometimes.
10:16Number 2.
10:17Marlon Brando.
10:18A Streetcar Named Desire.
10:20You want a shot?
10:21No, I rarely touch it.
10:24Well, there's some people that rarely touch it, but it touches them often.
10:28The Godfather alone proves no one can make an entrance like Brando, but his first appearance
10:34in the Hollywood adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play is unlike anything anyone had ever seen
10:40from a film actor.
10:41As the brutish but alluring Stanley Kowalski, Brando arrives on the scene with an alarming
10:46magnetism.
10:47Hey, you mind if I make myself comfortable?
10:49My shirt is sticking to me.
10:50Please, please do.
10:52Be comfortable.
10:53That's my motto up where I come from.
10:55It's mine too.
10:56It's hard to stay looking fresh in hot weather while I haven't washed or even pardon.
11:01Here you are.
11:02Even as she's repulsed by his vulgarity and working class background, Blanche Dubois can't
11:08help but linger on her brother-in-law's physique.
11:10Brando is frequently cited as a groundbreaking actor in terms of realism on screen, and a
11:16streetcar named Desire is a big reason why.
11:19Look like you got another car.
11:22That jerk mechanic down in fist's doesn't know his acts of grease from third base.
11:27Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:32Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids.
11:34Right away, the cruise ship monologue lets us know exactly who Megan is.
11:39I'm not going to say I survived and say I thrived.
11:42I met a dolphin down there, and I swear to God, that dolphin looked not at me, but into
11:47my soul.
11:48Humphrey Bogart, The Maltese Falcon.
11:51This opening scene cemented Bogart's hard-boiled screen persona.
11:55Now, it's simply a matter of having a man at the hotel this evening to shadow him when
11:59he leaves us to assist him.
12:01If, after we've found her, she still doesn't want to leave him, well, we have ways of managing
12:06that.
12:06Gene Wilder, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
12:10The star came up with this introduction to demonstrate his character's untrustworthiness.
12:14Brad Pitt, Thelma and Louise.
12:29The handsome drifter proved Pitt could play the hero and the villain all at once.
12:33Trying to get back to school, my ride fell through, and, well, I'm kind of stuck here
12:38like stink on stink.
12:39So I was thinking that, uh, you're going my way or I'm going your way.
12:44I think we're going to Oklahoma City, but I'm not sure.
12:48Yeah, well, I'd appreciate it much.
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13:05Number one, Sean Connery, Dr. No.
13:10James, where on earth have you been?
13:12I've been searching London for you.
13:14The scene is a smoky London club.
13:17We first catch glimpses of Sean Connery in bits and pieces.
13:21From behind, then his hands as he opens his cigarette case, then his face in full.
13:27He introduces himself to a woman across the Baccarat table.
13:30Bond.
13:30James Bond.
13:34It's the scene that launched a franchise, a career, and an unforgettable catchphrase
13:39in one fell swoop.
13:40When Sean Connery first appeared as the cool, detached, and incredibly suave secret agent
13:46in 1962's Dr. No, he was a working actor with a few minor roles under his belt.
13:52Suddenly, James Bond was a worldwide phenomenon, and the actor became synonymous with his
13:57character's brutal methods and irresistible charm.
14:00Will you have dinner afterwards, perhaps?
14:03Sounds tempting.
14:06May I, um, let you know in the morning?
14:10Splendid.
14:12My number's on the card.
14:13Did your favorite actor make the list?
14:23Let us know in the comments.
14:25Though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours,
14:30and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable, I simply am not there.
14:38Do you agree with our picks?
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14:46We'll see you next time.