Before Bradley Cooper was playing a mental outpatient in "Silver Linings Playbook" ...
... his first role was on a season 2 episode of "Sex in the City" at 24.
Before Jessica Chastain was hunting down Osama bin Laden in "Zero Dark Thirty" ...
... she was hanging with vampires in a 2005 TV movie adaptation of "Dark Shadows."
Before Denzel Washington won two Oscars and received a third nomination for "Flight" ...
... he performed in a series of "Fruit of the Looms "commercials in the late '70s.
At 66, Sally Field may have played the first lady in "Lincoln" ...
... but 40 years earlier she starred as a surfer on short-lived TV series "Gidget" in 1962.
Before Alan Arkin was making a fake movie in "Argo" ...
A 19-year-old Arkin co-wrote the famous "The Banana Boat Song" which he performed on screen in 1957's musical "Calypso Heat Wave" with his band The Tarriers.
Before Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress for "Silver Linings Playbook" ...
... At 14, she starred in promos for MTV's "My Sweet 16."
Where did 45-year-old "The Master" star Philip Seymour Hoffman get his start?
Hoffman appeared on an episode of "Law & Order" in '91 at age 24.
Before Naomi Watts received her second nomination in almost ten years for "The Impossible" ...
She starred in commercials throughout the '80s including one for Tampax and another where she turned down a date with Tom Cruise.
While the 66-year-old actor is now looking for his second Oscar win in "Lincoln" ...
At 24, he was a college student in his first film, "Love Story."
Best Supporting Actress winner Anne Hathaway had Disney roots before she played a tuberculosis-ridden prostitute in "Les Misérables."
Before she was a princess, Anne Hathaway's first role at 19 was for Disney's "The Other Side of Heaven."
Before Robert De Niro received his third Oscar nomination for "Silver Linings Playbook" ...
the first film he shot was 1969's "The Wedding Party."
"Lincoln" winner Daniel Day-Lewis became the first male to win three Best Actor awards by age 55 ...
That's a far-cry from his first role as a vandal in 1971's "Sunday Bloody Sunday."
Before Helen Hunt was a sex therapist in "The Sessions" ...
... the Oscar winner was a child actress appearing on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Swiss Family Robinson."
Christoph Waltz is seeking his second Oscar for a bounty hunter in "Inglorious Basterds" now ...
But, in the '80s, the German actor starred in a number of television shows and films. One of his first, was TV movie "Feuer!" at age 23.
Before Amy Adams received her fourth Oscar nomination for "The Master" ...
... she was in 1999 comedy "Drop Dead Gorgeous" with Denise Richards and Kirsten Dunst.
Hugh Jackman wasn't always Wolverine and singing on screen in "Les Misérables" ...
At 27-years-old, his first role was as an inmate in ABC's 10-part drama series "Correlli." It was cancelled after the first season.
Before Jacki Weaver played Bradley Cooper's mom in "Silver Linings Playbook" ...
... her first film role was at 24 in "Stork."
Before Joaquin Phoenix made his comeback to the big screen in "The Master" ...
... he appeared alongside late brother River in television shows including "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" at age 8.
Now, that you're caught up with the Oscar nominees ...
