The surprising earliest TV gigs of 18 Oscar-worthy actors

Today, actors have become very proud of going back and forth between roles in movies and television.

But that hasn't always been the case.

For most of Hollywood's history, there has been a pretty deep divide between television actors and movie stars. There was no shame in getting one's start in TV. But once one made the leap to movies, most never looked back.

As Oscar-winner and star of FX's"The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,"Cuba Gooding, Jr. told Business Insider, "When I started in the business, you did television and then when you got lucky you got a prestige project of a film."

Many of today's biggest movie stars followed that same career path, so we decided to take a look at the early careers of several recent Oscar nominees – from Casey Affleck to Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone – for their earliest TV gigs.

Here's a look at the small screen roles that started their Hollywood journey:

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Ruth Negga first made waves on the Irish drama, "Love Is the Drug," in 2004.

"Loving" actress Ruth Negga has been mistaken for British. Actually, her mother is Irish and her father is Ethiopian. Negga was raised in Ireland and later moved to Britain. Her first big role was on the celebrated Irish drama, "Love Is the Drug." In 2005, the series about finding and losing love won Ireland's top TV award for drama.

Casey Affleck was in the 1990 miniseries "The Kennedys of Massachusetts."

Before the "Manchester by the Sea" actor was known for being part of the Hollywood Affleck dynasty, Casey Affleck played the role of young Robert Kennedy in the ABC miniseries about the family that's closest to American royalty, "The Kennedys of Massachusetts."

Watch Affleck as Bobby Kennedy in the clip below:

Saoirse Ronan was on a few episodes of "The Clinic" in 2003.

Although Saoirse Ronan was born in New York City, the Oscar nominee for "Brooklyn" and "Atonement" moved with her parents to Ireland at age three. Six years later, Ronan appeared on a few episodes of one of the country's most popular dramas, "The Clinic," in 2003.

Watch her in a scene from "The Clinic" below: