The cast of Black Hawk Down features a large ensemble filled with recognizable names in Ridley Scott’s 2001 war epic. However, some actors blend into the film so seamlessly that it becomes easy to forget they were involved. Black Hawk Down, which retells the story of the disastrous Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, was led by actors Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, and Ewan McGregor, with the late Tom Sizemore and William Fichtner also receiving a healthy amount of screen time. Prolific character actors Željko Ivanek and Glenn Morshower featured prominently as two commanding officers circling the battle overhead.

Although the cast of Black Hawk Down includes plenty of A-list talent, Scott also handed screen debuts and minor roles to up-and-coming actors who would land prominent film and TV roles later in their careers. The film’s chaotic battle sequences also serve to mask even the most recognizable faces in Hollywood. Black Hawk Down is deliberately loud and hellish, and with the cast dressed and modeled to look like young soldiers, it’s only natural that most lack a resemblance to their more iconic roles.

9

Tom Hardy

SPC Lance Twombly

Playing SPC Lance Twombly in Black Hawk Down was Tom Hardy’s first movie role, and the actor is almost unrecognizable. Hardy, who had also made a brief appearance in an episode of Band of Brothers the same year, displays his chameleon-like ability, portraying a machine gunner who gets separated from the rest of his unit alongside Ewen Bremner’s Shawn Nelson. Twombly accidentally deafens Nelson during a firefight and has to escort him afterward.

Hardy would receive greater focus in 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis, in which he plays a clone of Patrick Stewart’s Captain Picard, before experiencing breakout success with 2008’s Bronson. Hardy has since become an A-list movie attraction, almost ever-present on the big screen. His biggest roles include in movies like Mad Max: Fury Road (as Max Rockatansky), the Venom franchise (as Eddie Brock), and critical favorites like Inception and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

8

Orlando Bloom

PFC Todd Blackburn

Orlando Bloom portrays Private Todd Blackburn in Black Hawk Down, who in real life was the first wounded casualty of the Mogadishu raid. Bloom was 24 during filming, and his military haircut and American accent ensure that he dissolves seamlessly into the wartime setting. This was Bloom’s biggest early movie role, but it was just the start, as his career exploded at this time thanks to a second movie that arrived in 2001.

Black Hawk Down premiered a month after Bloom’s iconic debut as the arrow-shooting elf Legolas in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. He starred in all three movies in that trilogy and two movies in the prequel series, The Hobbit. Two years later, he took on one of the main roles in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. He appeared in four movies in that franchise. He has recently appeared in the TV show Carnival Row and the movie Gran Turismo​​​​​​.

7

Ioan Gruffudd

LT John Beales

Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd is arguably best known for his portrayal of Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic in Fox’s two Fantastic Four movies and for his appearances in 1997’s Titanic and the Clive Owen-led King Arthur movie from 2004. He briefly appears in Black Hawk Down as Lieutenant John Beales, who suffers a seizure while watching Carl Reiner’s The Jerk before the beginning of the operation. This leads to Josh Hartnett’s Matthew Eversmann taking command of his chalk.

Since Black Hawk Down, Gruffudd has had a decent career. Outside The Fantastic Four movies, he also appeared in the political biopic W as British Prime Minister Tony Blair, San Andreas as Daniel Riddick, and the Jessica Chastain action movie Ava as Peter. He also has a role in the 2024 big-budget action sequel, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence returning to their popular roles of Mike Lowry and Marcus Burnett.

6

Ty Burrell

Timothy A. Wilkinson

Ty Burrell has a minor role in Black Hawk Down as para-rescue officer Timothy A. Wilkinson, who attends the crash site of the first downed Black Hawk. This was only the second role of Burrell’s career, following a small part in the sci-fi comedy movie Evolution by Ivan Reitman. However, he has become a major star since the war movie, with most fans knowing him from his very successful television role on Modern Family.

Burrell is most famous for his portrayal of Phil Dunphy in Modern Family, which ran for 11 seasons after starting in 2009. He won two Primetime Emmy Awards for his performance in that show, with a total of eight nominations. He has also appeared in Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake and The Incredible Hulk for the MCU, where he portrays Dr. Leonard Samson. Burrell also had a role in National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets.

5

Hugh Dancy

SFC Kurt “Doc” Schmid

Like Tom Hardy, Hugh Dancy is almost entirely unrecognizable in Black Hawk Down. Taking on the role of combat medic Kurt Schmid, the bulk of Schmid’s screen time comes during one of Black Hawk Down‘s grimmest moments, as he and the rest of his Ranger chalk are unable to save the life of Corporal Smith through surgery. Black Hawk Down was the first significant movie in which Hugh Dancy appeared.

Dancy’s appearance in the cast of Black Hawk Down is a far departure from his more notable role as Will Graham in Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal TV show, which ran for three seasons between 2013 and 2015. In that show, he played the FBI agent who worked with Hannibal Lecter to solve crimes without knowing at first that his partner was a cannibalistic serial killer. Dancy now appears on Law & Order as one of the main detectives on the force, Nolan Price.

4

Gregory Sporleder

SGT Scott Galentine

Gregory Sporleder is a prolific actor most recognizable for his roles in movies from the 1990s. He had a particularly memorable turn as a bloodthirsty soldier under the command of Ed Harris’ renegade general in Michael Bay’s The Rock. Without the curtain hairstyle he had in that film, Sporleder is less distinguishable in Black Hawk Down, with most of his scenes shared with Hartnett’s Eversmann. He was the M203 funner with his team leader, Sgt. Casey Joyce, who was killed.

After Black Hawk Down, he had mostly smaller roles, with appearances in S.W.A.T. and 17 Again. Sporleder’s last film appearance came in the 2010 horror movie The Crazies, and the actor has been winding down to a few minor TV appearances over the past decade. He has made single guest appearances on shows like Animal Kingdom, Agent Carter, Criminal Minds, Sons of Anarchy, American Horror Story, True Blood, and The Mentalist.

3

Jason Isaacs

CPT Mike Steele

Although Jason Isaacs has a prominent role in Black Hawk Down as Captain Steele, he assimilates into the role so effortlessly that it’s easy to forget that Steele is Lucius Malfoy himself. Swapping his English accent for a Georgian twang and his mid-length hair for a bald cut, Isaacs provides a commanding presence in Black Hawk Down. He is thoroughly believable as a Ranger officer who bristles against his less rigid Delta Force comrades.

Ironically, Isaacs would portray a similar special forces operator in the 2010 thriller Green Zone, sporting a classic commando mustache opposite protagonist Matt Damon. His career since Black Hawk Down saw Isaacs star as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise, Captain Waggoner in the Brad Pitt war movie Fury, and the 2021 British war movie Operation Mincemeat. He also voices several animated characters in the Star Wars, Scooby-Doo, and DCU franchises.

2

Corey Johnson

US Army Medic

Corey Johnson is one of the definitive cameo actors from the 1990s and 2000s. He is best remembered for his part in 1999’s The Mummy, where he plays one of several American treasure hunters who get killed by the resurrected Imohtehp. Johnson also has minor roles in Saving Private Ryan, Hellboy, and The Bourne Ultimatum and was set to appear in the Leslie Grace-led Batgirl before its cancelation. As for war projects, he was in the HBO series Band of Brothers.

Johnson’s role in Black Hawk Down is easily missed, as he appears for a few seconds to patch up Tom Sizemore’s Danny McKnight once the Ranger group is safely evacuated to the Pakistani-controlled stadium. Most recently, he also had roles in the Prime Video movie All the Old Knives and the Sony Spider-Man spinoff movie Morbius.

1

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

MSG Gary Gordon

Years before he was Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau portrayed posthumous Medal of Honor recipient Gary Gordon in Black Hawk Down. Coster-Waldau doesn’t have many lines, but he is a central figure in one of Black Hawk Down‘s most important set pieces, which depicts Gordon and fellow Delta sniper Randy Shughart repelling a hostile crowd from capturing and harming Mike Durant, the sole survivor of the Super 64 crash.

Coster-Waldau would reunite with Scott and co-star Orlando Bloom for 2005’s Kingdom of Heaven and has featured in several action movies since the release of Black Hawk Down. His more noteworthy recent roles include Horus in Gods of Egypt, an uncredited cameo in the DCU movie The Flash (as a pizza guy), and the 2023 TV show The Last Thing He Told Me. Next, he stars as William the Conqueror in the BBC One series King and Conqueror.