Wes Craven made some of the most iconic horror movies of all time. He also had an unerring eye for talent, casting actors in his movies and television shows long before they became big stars.
Actors Johnny Depp and Patricia Arquette made their debuts in films from Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street series. Some lesser known projects, like an episode he directed of the rebooted series The Twilight Zone starred Bruce Willis three years before Die Hard. More than a decade before Sharon Stone’s infamous interrogation scene in Basic Instinct she was being terrorized by an Amish ghost in Craven’s Deadly Blessing.
Craven, who died Sunday (August 30th) at age 76, also played a part in boosting the already ascending careers of Neve Campbell, Jesse Eisenberg and Rachel McAdams to name just a few. But it takes a particular foresight to cast future superstars before anyone has heard of them.