Early roles of Boston-area celebrities

Before he hosted “The Jay Leno Show,’’ and even before he hosted “The Tonight Show,’’ Jay Leno wrote for the 1976 TV series “Good Times,” playing “The Young Man” in one episode.

Conan O’Brien wrote for HBO’s “Not Necessarily the News” in 1985 before moving to SNL and the late-night talk show circuit.

Before being cast on the smash-hit “Friends,” Matt LeBlanc paid the bills by appearing in commercials, including a 1987 Heinz ketchup ad.

Ben Affleck starred in “Shakespeare in Love” in 1998. But he first appeared on-screen 10 years prior in a Burger King commercial.

Matt Damon played Steamer in “Mystic Pizza” in 1988, nine years before “Good Will Hunting” made him a household name.

John Slattery (right) played Private Dylan Leeds in the TV series “Dirty Dozen: The Series” in his 1988 screen debut.

Steve Carell, like many comedians, got his start at Second City Improv in Chicago. His first bit on screen was an appearance in “Curly Sue” as Tesio in 1991.

Mark Wahlberg, then known as rapper Marky Mark, made his big-screen debut in 1993. He played Ryan Westerberg in the TV movie “The Substitute.”

Connie Britton, known now for her work in “Friday Night Lights” and “Nashville” played the part of Molly McMullen in the 1995 film “The Brothers McMullen.”

Amy Poehler played a date of Rob Schneider’s in “The Love Guru” in 1999. Two years prior to that, she also had parts in Comedy Central’s TV movie “Escape from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life'” and MTV’s “Apartment 2F.’’

Chris Evans (right) has recently made headlines as Captain America from “The Avengers,” but in 1997 he played Rick in a video called “Biodiversity: Wild About Life!”

Rachel Dratch (seated) played Jude Russel in the 1999 short “Serious Business” before going on to SNL stardom.

B.J. Novak’s first on-screen appearance was in the hit show “The Office” in 2005. But before that he wrote for “Raising Dad” in 2001.

Mindy Kaling started in show business as an intern on the Conan O’Brien show. She also co-wrote and starred in “Matt and Ben,” a play that premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2002.

John Krasinski is well known as Jim Halpert from “The Office.’’ As a teen, he acted in a play written by his classmate (and future “Office” costar, B.J. Novak.) His first film role was in a 2002 short called “Fighting Still Life.”

Ellen Pompeo appeared on the silver screen before taking ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy’’ by storm. Her major debut was in “Moonlight Miles’’ (2002), but several years earlier she acted in a short film called “Do You Have the Time?’’

Known now for her role as Crazy Eyes on “Orange is the New Black,” Uzo Aduba started out acting on the stage. She starred in the play “Translations of Xhosa” in 2003, which won the American College Theater Festival.

In 2007, Taylor Schilling broke onto the acting scene with her role in “Dark Matter.” She followed it up with a lead role in the TV series “Mercy.”