Guess which Hollywood star this is in his first major film appearance in 1988

HE IS one of the biggest stars in the world with an equally famous wife but "jumped for joy" when he landed his first lead role in a film.

By Stefan Kyriazis, Arts Editor

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Brad Pitt in The Dark Side of the Sun

It's plain to see, Brad Pitt was a golden boy even then.

People always reminisce about celebrities and say that they knew they were destined for stardom.

But only a few can succeed.

When Brad Pitt was told that he had been chosen from amongst the 400 who auditioned for the the lead part in 1988 The Dark Side of the Sun, the director remembers that he jumped for joy.

Who knows where the other 399 are now?

After background roles in his first four films as an airport cop, a waiter, a partygoer and “Guy at beach with drink”, Brad Pitt finally landed a character with an actual name in the American-Yugoslavian drama.

He played Rick, a young man in search of a cure for a terrible skin disease which prevents him going out in the sun.

The director, Bozidar Nicolic, remembered the 24-year-old's enormous excitement when he landed the role after auditioning in Los Angeles as a total unknown.

"He was jumping in the air from happiness when we picked him up for the main role among 400 other actors," he said.

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Brad Pitt in his first leading role in 1988

The film, unfortunately, has a less happy tale.

It was partly shot before the outbreak of the Croatian War of Independence but was then abandoned and much footage was lost.

The film finally surfaced in 1987 and can still be found online.

Its ridiculously photogenic leading man, of course, never looked back.

“I knew he was going to be a star," Nicolic said, naturally.

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Three years later Pitt blazed his way to superstardom in 1991’s Thelma and Louise.

Since then the actor has become one of the biggest celebrities in the world and one half of the most famous marriage in Hollywood.

Now 51, he has received a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and three Academy Award nominations in acting categories, as well as two further Academy Award nominations – winning one – for productions by his film company Plan B Entertainment.

Looks like poor Rick finally got his moment in the sun, after all.

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