1. That exciting course (Amy Heckerling, 1982)
The Rookies: Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nicolas Cage, Forest Whitaker.
It was the second feature film in Sean Penn's career but without a doubt the one that put him on the Hollywood map, where he would go on to win two Oscars ('Mystic River', 'My name is Harvey Milk'). But Amy Heckerling's film ('Clueless') would also bring us the first performances of Nicolas Cage (it was his feature film debut, in the days when he still called himself Nicolas Coppola), Jennifer Jason Leigh (who did come from doing various jobs on television) and Forest Whitaker (one of his first screen jobs, which would lead him to an Oscar thanks to 'The Last King of Scotland').
2. The move of '76 (Richard Linklater, 1993)
The Rookies: Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Renée Zellweger, Milla Jovovich, Adam Goldberg, Parker Posey.
What a cast of the film promises that Richard Linklater assembled in the early 90s. It was one of the first works of the now Oscar-winning Matthew McConaughey ('Dallas Buyers Club'), Ben Affleck ('Argo') and Renée Zellweger ('Judy '), and also other familiar faces such as Milla Jovovich ('Resident Evil'), who was 16 when it was filmed, Adam Goldberg ('Saving Private Ryan') or Parker Posey.
3. Black Hawk Shot Down (Ridley Scott, 2001)
The rookies: are Tom Hardy, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, and Hugh Dancy.
Ridley Scott's film brought together a cast of new talents that would soon occupy big spaces in the cinema. It was Tom Hardy's first feature film ('Mad Max: Fury Road') and one of the first for actors like Orlando Bloom (who would also appear that same year in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring', launching into stardom), Eric Bana (who came from television and would end up working for Steven Spielberg in 'Munich') or Hugh Dancy (who also came from the small screen). Other of his co-stars (Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Jason Isaacs, and Sam Shepard) was already quite well-known by the time the film was released.
4. Wet Hot American Summer (David Wain, 2001)
The rookies: are Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, and Ken Marino.
This film, which became a Netflix series, was the springboard for some of today's most recognizable comedic actors. Despite not being an award-winning or critically acclaimed film, the cult that formed around it gave visibility to the likes of Paul Rudd (seen before in 'Clueless'), Amy Poehler (a regular on 'Saturday Night Live' ), and Elizabeth Banks (actress and director, recently of 'Charlie's Angels'). But the funniest is undoubtedly the role of Bradley Cooper, who made his film debut with this film before becoming a regular at the Oscars, even as a director ('A Star Is Born):
5. All the real girls (David Gordon Green, 2003)
If there is an actress who stood out like no other in this David Gordon Green film, it was Zooey Deschanel. Her nomination for Best Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards was the beginning of her successes, which would come with movies like '500 Days Together' and the series New Girl. Along with her, actors like Paul Schneider ('Parks and Recreation'), Shea Whigham ('Boardwalk Empire'), and Danny McBride ('Smokes') had their first roles here.
6. Mean Girls (Mark Waters, 2004)
The actress Lindsay Lohan was already a star in 2004, thanks to children's films like 'You to London and I to California', but in the cast of this film by Mark Waters there were some faces that sound much more familiar to us today. That year would be the absolute springboard for Rachel McAdams, for 'Noa's Diary' and also as a villain in this teen film, which marked the big screen debut of Amanda Seyfried ('Les Miserables') and also of Lizzy Caplan who later he would star in movies like 'Monstrous' and series like 'Masters of S-.
