15 A-List Actors You Didn’t Know Starred in Horror Movies

Many of the biggest names in film have stepped into horror at some point, whether at the very start of their careers or during surprising detours. These roles range from brief early appearances to full lead turns that tap into haunted houses, creatures, and psychological dread. You might associate these stars with drama, action, or comedy, yet their filmographies hide a few shadowy entries worth discovering.

This list rounds up well known actors who appeared in horror features and highlights what they played, who made the films, and how each story unfolds. You will find slashers, supernatural tales, and unusual arthouse experiments, along with concrete details like character names, key collaborators, and franchise connections that place each project in context.

Leonardo DiCaprio

DiCaprio made his feature film debut in ‘Critters 3’ as Josh, a teenager who gets caught up in an outbreak of small, toothy aliens known as Crites. The story follows residents of a Los Angeles apartment building as the creatures infest hallways and elevators and turn an ordinary move in day into a siege.

Directed by Kristine Peterson, the film continues the ‘Critters’ series with puppetry and practical effects that emphasize the franchise’s mischievous creatures. DiCaprio’s part places him in the middle of the ensemble as the tenants improvise defenses and try to protect younger kids while searching for a way out.

Brad Pitt

Pitt stars in the high school slasher ‘Cutting Class’ as Dwight Ingalls, a popular student who becomes entangled in a string of murders after a troubled classmate returns. The plot centers on a cheerleader, her boyfriend, and a campus where pranks, jealousy, and suspicion keep everyone on edge.

Directed by Rospo Pallenberg, the film pairs Pitt with Jill Schoelen and Donovan Leitch Jr. It builds its mystery around detention rooms, locker lined corridors, and nighttime searches, using the school setting to funnel characters into classrooms and gymnasiums where the killer can strike.

Tom Hanks

Hanks appears in ‘He Knows You’re Alone’ as Elliot, a psychology student who offers insight to a police investigation as a killer targets brides to be. The story tracks a woman whose wedding plans spiral into fear as she realizes someone is stalking her and anyone who gets close to her.

Directed by Armand Mastroianni, the film weaves Hanks into a supporting role during a series of cat and mouse sequences across Staten Island locations. It mixes bridal shops, churchyards, and carnival rides into its chase scenes and builds tension around public places that suddenly feel unsafe.

Jennifer Aniston

Aniston headlines ‘Leprechaun’ as Tory Reding, a city kid who moves to a rural house and discovers that a captured fae creature has escaped. The title character, played by Warwick Davis, hunts for missing gold and turns everyday tools into weapons as he closes in on the new arrivals.

Writer director Mark Jones keeps the action centered on a farmhouse and nearby town as Tory and a small group of locals piece together the creature’s rules. The movie launched a long running series, and Aniston’s character becomes the point of view for a barrage of traps, riddles, and chases that test the leprechaun’s weaknesses.

George Clooney

Clooney stars in ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ as Seth Gecko, a criminal on the run who takes a family hostage and aims for a safe crossing into Mexico. The plan collapses at a desert bar that turns out to be a nest of vampires, forcing captors and captives to fight side by side to make it to dawn.

Directed by Robert Rodriguez from a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino, the film blends crime thriller beats with creature feature mayhem. Practical makeup and stunts power the barroom brawls, and Clooney’s antihero leads the survivors through barricades, makeshift weapons, and a last stand inside the bar’s maze like interior.

Matthew McConaughey

McConaughey plays Vilmer Slaughter in ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation’, a violent driver with a remote control leg brace who works with the cannibalistic family. The plot follows a group of teens stranded after prom night who stumble into the family’s territory and face a night of escalating traps.

Co creator Kim Henkel directs this entry and ties it to the original mythology while introducing new technology and a more conspiratorial angle around the family’s patrons. McConaughey’s character dominates several set pieces involving car wreckers, remote controllers, and kitchen table confrontations that echo the series’ signature dinner scene.

Renée Zellweger

Zellweger co stars in ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation’ as Jenny, a quick thinking teen who moves from flight to fight as she navigates the family’s house. Her storyline threads through attics, hidden rooms, and a maze of country roads as she tries to protect her friends and call for help.

Her performance anchors the survival side of the film while McConaughey handles much of the menace, creating a push pull dynamic across nighttime exteriors and cramped interiors. The movie circulated under alternate titles on home video and later gained attention for pairing two future award winning leads in the same early career shocker.

Johnny Depp

Depp’s first screen role comes in ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ as Glen Lantz, the supportive boyfriend of Nancy Thompson who becomes a target of the dream stalking killer Freddy Krueger. The story follows a group of teens who realize that falling asleep can be deadly and must find a way to fight inside their nightmares.

Directed by Wes Craven, the film uses inventive practical effects, including Glen’s famous bed scene that turns a quiet bedroom into a special effects showcase. Depp plays the grounded voice among friends while the investigation moves from school hallways to boiler room visions where the rules of reality bend.

Nicole Kidman

Kidman leads ‘The Others’ as Grace Stewart, a mother who keeps her light sensitive children inside a fog shrouded mansion and enforces strict rules about doors and curtains. Strange noises, missing photographs, and new servants raise questions about who else might be inside the house.

Written and directed by Alejandro Amenábar, the film favors silence, candlelight, and carefully staged reveals over on screen violence. Kidman’s character searches for answers through a locked room mystery that uses photographs, séances, and wartime backstory to set up a finale that reframes the entire haunting.

Keanu Reeves

Reeves appears in ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ as Jonathan Harker, a young solicitor who travels to Transylvania to finalize a real estate deal with Count Dracula. After a harrowing stay in the castle, he returns to London where the Count sets his sights on Mina and causes a trail of deaths.

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the film relies on elaborate costumes, matte work, and in camera tricks rather than modern digital effects. Reeves shares the screen with Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, and Anthony Hopkins as the story moves from crypts and ship holds to asylum cells and a climactic chase back to the Carpathians.

Charlize Theron

Theron plays Mary Ann Lomax in ‘The Devil’s Advocate’, a Florida newlywed who relocates to New York when her husband joins a powerful law firm. As his workload grows, Mary Ann begins to experience visions and encounters that suggest the firm’s charismatic leader is hiding a supernatural agenda.

Directed by Taylor Hackford, the film mixes courtroom drama with occult horror and uses intricate set design that transforms public lobbies and upscale apartments into unsettling spaces. Theron’s arc tracks the toll of the couple’s ambitions while Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves drive the legal and moral conflicts at the center.

Scarlett Johansson

Johansson headlines ‘Under the Skin’ as a mysterious woman who drives through Scotland and entices men into a black void where their bodies dissolve. The film follows her routine as it gradually breaks down and forces her to confront the limits of her predatory mission.

Director Jonathan Glazer shot several encounters with hidden cameras and non actors, then blended those moments with stylized sequences on abstract sets. Mica Levi’s score and the stark visual design support a horror experience that relies on repetition, ritual, and sudden ruptures rather than standard jump scares.

Chris Hemsworth

Hemsworth appears in ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ as Curt, one of five friends who head to a remote cabin while an underground facility manipulates events from behind the scenes. The group’s choices trigger different monsters, and the film reveals a larger system that explains why these scenarios keep playing out.

Directed by Drew Goddard from a script by Goddard and Joss Whedon, the film intercuts control room technicians with the cabin storyline to show both sides of the nightmare. Hemsworth figures into a key escape attempt and later a chaotic descent where elevators unleash a gallery of creatures.

Ryan Reynolds

Reynolds stars in ‘The Amityville Horror’ as George Lutz, a stepfather who moves his family into a Long Island house with a violent past. As time passes, he becomes increasingly unstable while his wife Kathy and their children experience apparitions and frightening events.

Directed by Andrew Douglas, the remake uses a lakeside location, extensive set work, and child point of view scenes to revisit the haunting. It draws on accounts associated with the original case while updating the pace and staging, and Reynolds commits to the transformation that pushes the family toward a dangerous breaking point.

Jennifer Lawrence

Lawrence leads ‘Mother!’ as a woman renovating a house in the countryside while her poet husband welcomes uninvited guests. What begins as an awkward visit grows into a flood of strangers and ceremonies that overwhelm the home and the couple’s relationship.

Written and directed by Darren Aronofsky, the film plays as an allegory with escalating horror and a circular structure that resets the house after a destructive climax. Lawrence’s character moves through the entire floor plan in long takes and crowded set pieces that turn the home into a living organism.

Share your favorite surprising horror roles in the comments and tell us which ones we should add next.