No Regrets! Robert De Niro, Cameron Diaz, and Other Stars Who Started Out in Adult Films (14 Photos)

"Lights, camera, action!" Every actor knows these famous words. But not every Hollywood A-lister heard them for the first time on the set of a big-budget blockbuster. Some started out in far more explicit territory. Today, we're taking a look at famous celebrities who got their first break—or just paid the bills—in softcore and adult films.





Cameron Diaz

Drop-dead gorgeous and whip-smart, Cameron Diaz has always been a force of nature. But her path to Hollywood royalty—including her iconic role in

Charlie's Angels

—was long and winding.



Rumor has it that her scandal involving a lingerie shoot at 19 was just the tip of the iceberg. To her credit, Diaz has tried her best to bury the less flattering moments of her past—but as we all know, the internet never forgets.

Helen Mirren

Try not to fall off your chair! And no, that's not a typo. This Oscar-winning legend began her rise to Hollywood stardom with Tinto Brass's notoriously explicit 1979 film,

Caligula

.





Funded by an adult media empire, the film was scandalous and highly controversial—yet it turned out to be the ultimate launchpad for her glittering career.

Robert De Niro

The exact details remain murky, but the rumor mill has been buzzing for decades. Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1976 epic

1900

isn't exactly a mainstream hit, and relatively few casual moviegoers have seen it.



However, persistent rumors suggest that a particularly graphic scene featuring De Niro was entirely unsimulated.

Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan is world-famous for his mind-blowing martial arts stunts, comedic genius, and... as it turns out, a brief stint as an adult film actor.



Back in the early 1970s, a struggling young Chan accepted a role in an erotic comedy. He’s never tried to hide it, though it’s safe to say it’s not something he brags about.

Matt LeBlanc

Handsome Joey Tribbiani from

Friends

? You might expect something like this from the character, but perhaps less so from Matt LeBlanc himself. Then again, an actor's gotta pay rent, right?



LeBlanc got his start in the '80s appearing in major commercial campaigns. Before long, he landed a guest role in the steamy anthology series

Red Shoe Diaries

, which proved to be a key stepping stone in his TV career.

David Duchovny

Fearless FBI Agent Fox Mulder or sex-obsessed Hank Moody—which role suits David Duchovny best?



As it turns out, before breaking big in

The X-Files

, Duchovny played an eccentric transvestite DEA agent in

Twin Peaks

and appeared in the aforementioned

Red Shoe Diaries

. Looking back, his flawless fit for

Californication

makes complete sense.

Eva Green

The strikingly beautiful French actress made her feature film debut in Bernardo Bertolucci’s sensual drama

The Dreamers

. The role served as her golden ticket to international stardom.



Her captivating look quickly won over top directors, and today few people remember just how daring her big break really was.

Demi Moore

Born Demi Gene Guynes, the iconic actress walked a long and difficult road before becoming the household name we know today.



Raised in a dysfunctional home and desperately broke, her search for a way out led her to explicit media early on. But through sheer grit and charisma, she turned the page. Today, Demi’s rise to fame is truly inspirational, and her timeless beauty still turns heads.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Before becoming the Terminator, Arnie took every avenue possible to break into showbiz—including posing for adult magazines. And honestly, who can blame him? When you put that much work into your physique, you want to show it off!



Interestingly, once Schwarzenegger hit the big time, explicit scenes were practically non-existent in his filmography—he routinely turned them down.

Sandra Bullock

When the future

Miss Congeniality

star first arrived in New York City, she was desperately low on cash. Before long, an opportunity presented itself in a low-budget softcore thriller.



Unsurprisingly, Bullock prefers not to dwell on this chapter of her life. Once she made a name for herself and built a serious fortune, she reportedly tried to buy up the rights to scrub this youthful misstep from existence.

Sylvester Stallone

Long before

Rocky

, the son of an Italian immigrant was forced to star in a softcore adult movie called

The Party at Kitty and Stud's

.



Like many others on this list, pure financial desperation pushed him to do it. And no, it’s not a chapter of his biography he's particularly proud of.

Kim Kardashian

While most stars turned to adult films out of financial hardship, Kim Kardashian used a home video simply as a way to get famous.



She managed to generate massive publicity, so it's safe to say the plan worked out.

Colin Farrell

For this Hollywood heartthrob, it wasn't poverty or a thirst for fame that landed him in front of adult cameras—it was love.



His flame at the time, a popular adult magazine model, convinced him to try his hand in a whole new role, and Farrell happily obliged.