Then and now: 9 Hollywood stars’ career progression, in pictures – from child actors Leo DiCaprio, Selena Gomez and Ryan Gosling, to a black-haired Margot Robbie, George Clooney and ‘proud’ Anne Hathaway

Apr 29 , 2024

You’ve come a long way, baby: here’s Leonardo Dicaprio’s first role, compared to him now. Photos: @leonardodicapriofanclubldc, @filmthemedium/Instagram

While Ryan Gosling’s comedy chops were on display almost 30 years ago in teen TV show Breaker High, his fellow Barbie star, Margot Robbie, was in an altogether darker film – a horror called I. C. U

Most have forgotten that before Black Panther and Creed, Michael B. Jordan was a main character in The Wire – but why did Angelina Jolie ‘literally throw up’ when she rewatched her first-ever film?

Their sheer talent may make their showbiz careers seem inevitable now, but when these Hollywood stars were given their first big breaks, they could never have known just how well things would turn out.

Anne Hathaway played a teen princess instead of an attractive “older” woman, Selena Gomez was just a baby, and George Clooney still had black hair.

Young Selena Gomez with Taylor Swift before they were catapulted to international stardom. Photo: @ThrowbackTaylor/X

So which of Tinseltown’s finest look the most different in their early roles compared to their most recent? Here are nine pairs of then-and-now film and TV stills for you to decide for yourself …

1. George Clooney

George Clooney as Ace on E/R and in Ticket to Paradise, Photos: @MeTV/X; @entertainmentweekly/Instagram

These days we know suave silver fox George Clooney as the Oceans Eleven guy or the Nespresso guy – and most recently the divorcee in Ticket to Paradise alongside his long-time friend Julia Roberts. But before all that, he played a doctor named Ace on a sitcom called E/R back in 1984. And yes that’s a different show from the ER, which came 10 years later.

2. Margot Robbie

An “emo-looking” Margot Robbie in I. C. U, and Barbie. Photos: @margtrobbie, @margotbrnews/Instagram

The woman who seems like the ultimate Barbie didn’t always look very Barbie at all, as it turns out. Robbie landed her first film – a 2009 Australian horror called I. C. U – when the original actress cast in the part pulled out, according to Esquire.