The Six Pack

Six movies starring unknowns.

by Matt Prigge

Gone with the Wind producer David O. Selznick found his Scarlett O’Hara after an epic search that ultimately made Vivien Leigh a star. Otto Preminger decided to do him one better. After seeing 18,000 complete unknowns to play Joan of Arc, he settled on Jean Seberg, an Iowan with a boyish ’do and no acting experience. It backfired monstrously, with Seberg destroyed before she began. Jean-Luc Godard turned her into an icon by casting her in 1960’s Breathless, but she led a rocky life, ultimately committing suicide in 1979.

Having failed to make Vera Miles (The Wrong Man, Psycho) the next Grace Kelly, Alfred Hitchcock turned to Tippi Hedren, whom he discovered in a diet drink commercial. Hedren starred in The Birds and then alongside Sean Connery in Marnie, but the real career went to her daughter, Melanie Griffith.

Roger Moore excepted, the Bonds have been built around a relative newbie stepping into the role. When Connery retired, EON Productions tried their luck again with George Lazenby, an Aussie model whose previous acting work was mostly chocolate commercials. And it all worked out swimmingly.

Attracted to America after the success of Blow-Up, Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni decided to go so deep into the counterculture he cast two non-pros. Neither went on to have careers. Daria Halprin acted once more and was married to Dennis Hopper for four years. Mark Frechette died five years later in prison after a bank robbery.

Unknown kids tend to be accepted when cast in major roles. Not Jake Lloyd, who as Li’l Darth Vader attracted the wrath of millions just because George Lucas forced him to say “yippee.” And yet Hayden Christensen just signed a three-picture deal. Poor Jake.

Sorry, Beanie Sigel. You’re no Jamal Woolard.