Who Am I? Glee A-List Guest Stars Before They Were Stars

Latin recording solo star and former Menudo member Ricky Martin has released nine albums and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But he hasn’t always thrown all of his energy into music. As far back as the mid-'80s, he was making guest appearances on American and Spanish series alike. His role on Glee in season 3 may have been the epitome of stunt-casting, but we welcome any actor or character whose primary point in the story is to bug Will Schuester. And as a smooth-talking (and -singing) Spanish teacher who threatened Will’s own ability in those arenas, Martin was captivating and gave Will a run for his money.

Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes was known for her big personality and colorful designer duds long before she attempted scripted material. The reality star even admitted she had no idea who Ryan Murphy was and had to Google him when he called to offer her a guest-starring gig on Glee in season 3. Leakes portrayed the school’s synchronized swimming coach, Roz, and got to go head-to-head with Jane Lynch's Sue Sylvester, basically just playing a version of her own tough self.

Former child star Lindsay Lohan became famous in 1998 by portraying twins (one British twin at that!) in the remake of The Parent Trap. Her precocious ways set her down a path of mainstream stardom in tween-turned-teen films like the remake of Freaky Friday, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, and, of course, Mean Girls. But when she decided she wanted to break out of the “cute” image her career started on, she became known for tabloid headlines more than on-screen appearances. Her role as herself in the “Nationals” episode of Glee season 3 references her tough times in both a fun and self-deprecating way.

It is a bit fitting that Kate Hudson’s breakthrough role was in the 2000 film Almost Famous, considering her role on Glee is to educate and aid Rachel Berry in becoming famous as well. Hudson appears in six episodes of Glee season 4 as Cassandra, a teacher at NYADA. This is Hudson’s first major television role, however; she's chosen instead to follow in her mother Goldie Hawn’s career footsteps in film, flitting back and forth between darker dramas and romantic comedies.

Though Jeff Goldblum started acting in the 1970s, he is best known for his 1980s roles in The Big Chill and the cult hit The Fly and his 1990s roles in the Jurassic Park franchise and the action blockbuster Independence Day—all films which Glee’s core audience is too young to have caught in theaters, let alone on traditional rental platforms. But he is a rock star all anew to the Glee audiences for being one half of Rachel Berry’s parental unit. In the season 3 episode “Heart,” Gleeks everywhere finally met Hiram Berry, and considering just how supportive he was of Rachel’s career over her love life, we have to imagine he’ll pop up at some point in season 4 to visit his beloved daughter chasing her dreams in New York City.

Remember when young Gwyneth Paltrow had a cameo in Hook? Only she wasn’t famous yet—it was her first role—so you couldn’t call it a cameo; you had to just call it what it was: featured extra. Well, she has come a long way since then—with starring roles in everything from thrillers like Seven and the period drama Shakespeare in Love, for which she won an Oscar. She also started a singing and directing career and began to inspire Glee creator Ryan Murphy as far back as his days of Popular, where he would reference her at any given chance. It wasn’t until the seventh episode of the second season of Glee, though, that Murphy got to bring Paltrow into the halls of McKinley to portray a quirky Spanish substitute teacher with unconventional methods.

Gloria Estefan used to lead the Miami Sound Machine and has been called the Queen of Latin Pop. With three Grammys and four Latin Grammys under her belt, she is the most successful crossover Latin artist. Estefan has released 14 albums since the mid-1980s, but to a whole new fan base, she is known simply as Santana’s mom. As supportive as she is talented on Glee, you may just see Estefan pop up again.