A Star Is Born

This year marks the 20th anniversary of 'Pretty Woman' and thus more significantly twenty years since Julia Roberts first unleashed that smile of hers at the audience and became a star. So I'd thought it be would good to take a quick look at some of the star making turns from some of the biggest and brightest stars. Sometimes it takes time for people to build a career and get noticed but this lot all pretty much exploded onto the scene...

First up, Brad Pitt. Brad announced his arrival with fifteen minutes of screen time in Thelma and Louise as the thieving redneck that crosses the path of our leading ladies. It put him on the map as a handsome young guy but after a couple of smaller parts and no so success films it was Interview With the Vampire that really booked him that top rung place as Louis the tormented immortal. You know like Twilight!



It was the double header of Risky Business and All The Right Moves that put one Mr Tom Cruise out there and of course it's so well known that the moment he became a star can pretty much be narrowed down to one sock sliding moment...



Another dancing breakthrough belongs to Cameron Diaz and her turn as Tina in The Mask. Well it's her stunning entrance into the film and the bank that really grabs the attention but her charm and energy throughout the film is what really marked her out. She may not have quite taken Julia Robert's crown as box office queen but she is one of the biggest female stars around, has an interestingly varied CV and looks well set for this year with The Green Hornet and Knight & Day on the slate for her.



Backing away from the dancing we have a role in a cop movie written for Sly Stallone that suddenly became something very different indeed as Eddie Murphy stepped into Beverly Hills and the role of a lifetime. Suddenly everyone knew Axel Foley and Murphy was a box office titan for the next fifteen years before slumping, rising again in a family friendly mode and then sinking back. He may be a spent force now but he was almost the face of the eighties in the cinema.

Will Smith was well known from TV but to become a true movie star all he needed to do was punch an alien in the face and light up a cigar. So began Smith's run of hits as Washington exploded around him.

So there you go a quick look at a generation of stars launching themselves but it takes the real stars to really do it properly and I think I may well come back and look at some of the stars of old.

A white dress, a grating, a draft and a girl called Norma Jean. A Star is born...