The trend in Hollywood now is to get incredibly famous, THEN secure a lucrative contract modeling underwear to make yourself even MORE famous by appearing on huge billboards in your skivvies. But, in the past, many of today’s A-list stars actually used skimpy shoots to get noticed and break into Hollywood to start their amazing acting careers. We take a look at who has stripped down for various underwear shoots over the years.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is so not Twilight. For fans of that supernatural series who have never seen the pop-culture-iconic, hilariously scripted, butt-kicking original teenage girl dealing with a town full of vamps, well, it’s about time you met your maker. This high school epic—and the TV show it later inspired—is ultimately “about growing up,” creator Joss Whedon told Entertainment Weekly. To put the character’s impact into perspective, Buffy ranks No. 3 on EW’s 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years (only Harry Potter and Homer Simpson outrank her; Tony Soprano is No. 4). So where is the original Buffy cast now?

Way before Zooey Deschanel set the gold standard in modern bangs, all we had to work with were perms and lots of hairspray. The results were not for the faint of heart. Check out these celebs who braved the blow-dryer for a party in the front—back in the day.

If the Real Housewives have taught us anything, it’s that big dreams and Botox are as ubiquitous in Beverly Hills as a lost tourist looking for the Hollywood sign. But not everyone in Tinseltown has lived the luxurious life since birth. In fact, some of our favorite tabloid residents of Malibu and Bel Air came from humble beginnings, calling home to shelters, trailer parks, and even the back of a car. Here are 13 stars who went from rags to rich and famous.

The gorgeous Felicity Huffman turns 51 today–and she’s never been afraid to commit to difficult roles, even if it means playing down her good looks. Huffman and these other actors and actresses have transformed themselves into plain Janes and ugly ducklings, winning critical acclaim and awards on the way.

Actor-producer-director Garry Marshall brought moviegoers a gift a week ago last year with New Year’s Eve, a holiday-themed romcom that featured a dizzying array of A-list actors and actresses. After scoring a hit in 2010 with Valentine’s Day, Marshall pointed his lens at a variety of lonely hearts, star-crossed lovers, and parents-to-be as they navigate their love lives and new beginnings on New Year’s Eve in New York City. Snakkle challenges you to identify the stars in the movie from pictures before they were famous…