These Oscar-winning actresses started out in horror movies, some of them quite low budget.
Things are different now. But it turns out the road from scream queen to drama queen isn’t as long as it might seem.
Also, all of these films are available on disc and/or on demand and we recommend them all for your Halloween enjoyment.
Let’s begin.
Jamie Lee Curtis
Basically the gold standard of stars who turned horror careers into just plain thriving movie careers, Jamie Lee Curtis starred as Laurie Strode in the original 1978 Halloween and then reprised the role in many sequels, including the recent reboot trilogy. (She even made two small cameos in Halloween 3: The Season of the Witch, which departed dramatically from the Michael Myers storyline.)
Curtis also appeared in many other hits, including Trading Places, A Fish Called Wanda and True Lies, before winning an Oscar for Everything Everywhere All at Once.
In 2023 she appeared in Halloween Ends, which she vowed would be her last film in the franchise.
Patricia Arquette
Patricia Arquette is excellent as troubled teen Kristen Parker in 1987’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, in which she’s almost eaten by a snakelife Freddie Krueger but gets a nice assist from original Nightmare on Elm Street final girl Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp, seen with Arquette above).
In the film, Nancy is working as a psychiatric intern in the facility where Kristen and other young dreamers seek refuge from their very bad dreams.
The movie ends with some terrific heroism from Nancy that feels like a passing of the torch, but sadly Arquette didn’t hold it for long: Another actor, Tuesday Knight, played Kristen in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.
Arquette has gone on to incredible success, including winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 2014’s Boyhood.
Hillary Swank
Hillary Swank made her film debut in 1992’s horror comedy Buffy the Vampire Slayer — the Kristy Swanson film that inspired the Sarah Michelle Gellar TV show — playing the supporting part of Kimberly Hannah.
She would soon go on to star in 1994’s The Next Karate Kid, but proved herself as one of the best actors of her generation with Oscar-winning lead roles in 1999’s Boys Don’t Cry and 2004’s Million Dollar Baby.
She’s still going strong, recently appearing in 2024’s Ordinary Angels.
Renee Zellweger
Renee Zellweger had small parts in Dazed and Confused and Reality Bites, but her first lead was in 1995’s The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (aka The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation).
She appeared alongside fellow Dazed and Confused veteran (and fellow Texan) Matthew McConaughey — who was also a future Oscar winner. The film is about four teenagers, including one played by a sometimes bespectacled Zellweger, who run into Leatherface and his family on prom night.
Zellweger’s career quickly revved up: The next year, she starred opposite Tom Cruise in the beloved rom-com Jerry Maguire. She went on to earn two Oscars — one for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Cold Mountain (2003) and another in 2019’s Judy for playing Judy Garland.
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron’s first role didn’t suggest the massive success coming her way: She had a nonspeaking part as a follower of the deadly Eli in 1995’s Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest. She broke out two years later in another horror film, Devil’s Advocate, alongside Keanu Reeves, who played her lawyer husband, and Al Pacino, who plays his new boss, who happens to be the devil.
Things moved fast for Theron from there, and she won the Oscar for Best Actress for playing a serial killer in 2003’s Monster, which is not, despite the title, a horror movie.
Look, we aren’t experts, but we feel like maybe Urban Harvest should have thrown her a couple lines.
If you liked this list, you might also like this list of the 12 Scariest Movies We’ve Ever Seen.
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Main image: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. Columbia TriStar Pictures
