Movies that did a great job casting young future stars on a budget

Can't Hardly Wait fits in this category. A lot of future stars in the cast with small roles.

Budget: $10 mil

Cast...
Ethan Embry as Preston Meyers
Charlie Korsmo as William Lichter
Lauren Ambrose as Denise Fleming
Peter Facinelli as Mike Dexter
Seth Green as Kenny Fisher
Jennifer Love Hewitt as Amanda Beckett
Robert Jayne as Richie Coolboy
Michelle Brookhurst as Molly Stinson, party host
Chris Owen as Klepto Kid
Jason Segel as Watermelon Guy
Clea Duvall as Jana
Jamie Pressly, Tamala Jones, and Jennifer Lyons as Girlfriends
Channon Roe, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Freddy Rodriguez as Jocks
Erik Palladino as Cousin Ron
Breckin Meyer as Lead Singer of band
Donald Faison as Drummer
Paige Moss as Ashley
Eric Balfour as Hippie Guy
Selma Blair and Jennifer Paz as Girls Mike Hits On
Sara Rue as Earth Girl
Nicole Bilderback as Ready to Have Sex Girl
Leslie Grossman as Ready to Have Sex's Friend
Monica McSwain as Groupie
Marisol Nichols as Groupie #2
Vicellous Reon Shannon as Reddi-wip Kid
Jamie Donnelly
[edit]Uncredited
Jenna Elfman as The Angel Stripper
Jerry O'Connell as Trip McNeely
Melissa Joan Hart as Vicki, Yearbook Girl
Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont as Voices of Graduation Students
Amber Benson as Stephanie: Stoned Banana-holding Girl
[edit]Pre-fame

Guest appearances from then-unknown actors include, but are not limited to:
Jason Segel as Watermelon Guy, who currently stars in CBS's How I Met Your Mother, as well as a screenwriter and star in movies including Forgetting Sarah Marshall and I Love You, Man.
Jamie Pressly as Girlfriend, starred in NBC's My Name Is Earl and many movies including I Love You, Man.
Donald Faison as Drummer, starred in NBC's medical comedy, Scrubs.
Selma Blair as Girl Mike Hits On, many motion pictures including Cruel Intentions, Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army.
Breckin Meyer as Lead Singer of band, starred in Garfield: The Movie as Jon and in the current TNT dramedy, Franklin & Bash.
Alyson Hannigan as Girl at Party, starred as Willow on TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lilly Aldrin in CBS's How I Met Your Mother, alongside Jason Segel, and had what is probably the most famous line in the movie American Pie, as well as appearing in both its sequels.
Peter Facinelli as Mike Dexter, now stars as Carlisle Cullen in the film adaptations of the Twilight series
Freddy Rodriguez as Jock #3, starred in HBO's Six Feet Under and films such as Planet Terror.
Tamala Jones as Cindi, stars as Dr. Lanie Parish in the ABC crime drama Castle.
Chris Owen as Klepto Kid, appeared in the American Pie movies as Chuck "The Sherminator" Sherman
Sara Rue as Earth Girl, co-starred in the series Popular, Less Than Perfect, and Eastwick
Eric Balfour as Hippie Guy, currently stars in the series Haven.

Impressive breakdown of CHW with a paltry budget.

Buy it on Amazon.
Get it on Netflix.
Find it on a streaming site.
Download it.
Borrow it from a friend.
Call up the studio and ask them to put it in the theaters again.
Stalk Jennifer Love Hewitt.

That's all I got for now.

American Graffiti is the best example of this. They only had a budget of $777,000 and produced by a small independent film studio, Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope. However, that movie was absolutely loaded with future young stars.

Richard Dreyfuss

Ron Howard

Charles Martin Smith

Cindy Williams

Mackenzie Phillips

Harrison Ford

Kathleen Quinlan

Suzanne Somers

How has this thread gone half a page without The Outsiders being mentioned...

Tom Cruise
Rob Lowe
Matt Dillon
Patrick Swayze
Emilio Estevez
Diane Lane
C. Thomas Howell
Ralph Macchio
Leif Garrett (at the time was a name)

quote:

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How has this thread gone half a page without The Outsiders being mentioned

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Because it is an awful movie with a bunch of soon to be well known actors.

I watched it again a couple of years ago. The movie is bad.

Wet Hot American Summer:
Budget of $5m

Garofalo and David Hyde Pierce were their "stars". Supporting cast was:

Paul Rudd
Bradley Cooper
Elizabeth Banks
Amy Poehler
Michael Showalter
Michael Ian Black
Christopher Meloni
Molly Shannon
H Jon Benjamin (Archer)
Ken Marino (Ron Donald from Party Down)

Most all of whom hadn't done much of shite previously.

Clueless

Budget $12M

Looks like the first big exposure for:

Alicia Silverstone
Brittany Murphy
Paul Rudd
Donald Faison
Breckin Meyer

Waiting and Can't Hardly Wait are great examples.

May have to watch Can't Hardly Wait son.