17 Celebs Who Rocked Out in Music Videos Before Becoming Famous

In Bruce Springsteen's 1984 video for "Dancing in the Dark," a lucky girl gets picked out of the crowd to dance onstage with The Boss. It was none other than then-20-year-old model Courteney Cox who was cast in the video. Ten years later, she'd become one of the most famous Friends on TV!

Before she played Cher Horowitz in 1995's Clueless, Alicia Silverstone was already famous thanks to her appearances in three of Aerosmith's music videos. The first was for "Cryin'," in which Alicia played a teen who rebels after a fight with her cheating boyfriend played by Stephen Dorff.

Liv may be famous Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler's daughter, but after starring in Aerosmith's Thelma & Louise–themed video for "Crazy" -- which also featured Alicia Silverstone -- in 1994, she was well on her way to becoming a star in her own right. 

After the video blew up, Liv made her film debut in Silent Fall, starring Richard Dreyfuss.

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Then-unknown actress Gina Gershon made a cameo, alongside artist Andy Warhol, in the 1984 Cars video for "Hello Again." She went on to appear in movies like Cocktail, Showgirls, Bound, and Face/Off.

Before he was Magic Mike and even before he stole our hearts in Step Up, Channing Tatum appeared in Ricky Martin's 2000 video for "She Bangs." Yes, you know you want to watch it now. 

The hot Prison Break star appeared in not one but two Mariah Carey videos. The first, "It’s Like That," was released in 2005 and featured Wentworth in a Zorro-esque mask. The second was "We Belong Together."

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Well before she was cast as Joan on Mad Men, Christina Hendricks modeled and ... in 1997, starred in this Everclear video! Good thing she was not a one hit wonder.

You might know him from the Avengers films and being nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role in The Hurt Locker in 2008, but in 2003, Jeremy Renner was just a sexy cowboy in Pink's "Trouble" video. Yes, really. 

Yeah, yeah, so in the '90s, JLo was a Fly Girl on In Living Color, but she was also a backup dancer in Janet Jackson's 1993 video for "That's the Way Love Goes." Funny how imagining JLo as backup anything is just mind-blowing now.

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In 1998, Zooey Deschanel was years off from being cast as the songbird department store employee in Elf, and she definitely wasn't the New Girl yet. But she did star in the Offspring's video for "She's Got Issues"!

Alright, alright, alright. In 1992, Trisha Yearwood was more country music star than Food Network star, and Matthew McConaughey was more country music video star than ... Lincoln car commercial star? We kid! But yeah, he appears in this video for Trisha and Don Henley's single "Walkaway Joe." 

She was such a baby! Angelina Jolie starred in Meat Loaf's 1993 video for "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through" when she was only 18. Wonder if she realized then that she'd go on to act, write, direct, have six kids, and save the world? 

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Before he starred in All My Children, Las Vegas, and Win a Date With Ted Hamilton -- and won the heart of the one and only Fergie -- Josh Duhamel appeared in Christina Aguilera's 1999 video for "Genie in a Bottle." Talk about a flashback.

Just two years before releasing her 2010 debut album Animal, Kesha starred alongside her friend Katy Perry in the video for her first mega-hit "I Kissed a Girl." 

In 1989, Paula Abdul was unstoppable -- and clearly, smart enough to know a fellow star when she saw one! She cast 8-year-old Elijah Wood in her video for "Forever Your Girl," and he went on to star in so many major movies -- probably most notably Lord of the Rings. 

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In 1983, future supermodel Naomi Campbell starred in Culture Club's "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" video. She was just 12!

Benicio Del Toro is now an Oscar-winning actor, most notably lauded for his performance in the 2000 film Traffic. But in 1987, he starred alongside Madonna in her "La Isla Bonita" video. You can catch a glimpse of him at a block party around the 3:14 mark.