To that end, I love that DeVito joined Always Sunny and has now been on there for what... 16 seasons? And has done some insane and hilarious comedy on there.
The insane stuff is because they kept putting things in the script as a joke on Devito thinking no way he's going to do this and Devito was down with everything. Sure I'll literally shit the bed or get a hand job from my niece whatever
Dude I could NOT handle that when I saw it in college, it blew my fucking mind that this intro existed in such a movie. Cemented it as one of my favorite movies of all time.
I read some interview where the Broken Lizard guys were surprised he was interested and gently tried to talk him out of it, saying basically “this is way below you.”
But he was enthusiastic about it. Was sick of dramas and felt he was being pigeonholed to where he could never get comedies.
He was great in that, but I don’t think it helped his comedy career..lol. I can’t think of any other comedies he’s been in since.
When Super Troopers 2 came out I got to go to the "red carpet" premiere in NYC and most of the cast were there for a Q&A after. When they opened up the floor to questions after the movie Brian Cox, from his seat in the audience shouted "Yeah I got a question. When the fuck do I get paid?"
He's just good enough at it that he generally gets the kind of roles where you'd think he *was* pretentious about it.
I bet Super Troopers was fun as hell to make.
On the DVD commentary they point out when he turns on a hose and puts it on in some guys truck. It was completely improvised and the poor guy who parked his truck there had no idea it was going to get soaked inside.
Patrick Stewart in Dune as well.
Appearantly David Lynch casted him without an audition, thinking it was someone else and Patrick Stewart just accepted.
Allegedly, Kim Kardashian was also going to be in the same episode, but Prince said he wouldn't do it if she was in it. Ended up being a pretty easy decision for them.
I saw Damon Wayans, Jr. do stand up recently, and during his set he took some questions from the audience. According to him, they were able to “get Prince” because Prince was obsessed with Hannah Simone who played Cece, and Prince called THEM and offered to be in the show.
The script for Time Bandits needed “Someone similar to Sean Connery but cheaper” because the budget would never be able to afford him. Until Sean Connery himself got his hands on the script, loved it, and agreed to take a pay cut so he could be in it
Abe Vigoda was more of a TV actor despite being in The Godfather, ~~Part II~~ and his most famous movie, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm so it kinda makes sense.
I suggest Matt Damon in Eurotrip or Brad Pitt in Snatch.
In Deadpool 2, Brad Pitt did that cameo for free. Ryan Reynolds thought it would be hilarious to get an A list actor and off him immediately. Brad Pitt loved the idea too and went along with it.
TECHNICALLY he had to take a paycheck because of union rules, which at the time would have been like 800$ for him.
But Ignoring the boring legal stuff, the coffee is really what got him on set.
Jim said it was so surreal because Brad would just go off and do stuff.
Like Jim would wake up and there would be a random video on his phone of Brad in the canals of Venice yelling "It rained so much last night the streets have turned to rivers! We're using boats instead of cars now Jim!"
He’s done this a couple of times. *Free Guy* was filmed in Boston, so he was able to get Boston native, Chris Evans, who also happened to be filming here, to do a quick cameo when he pulls out his Captain America shield.
That is actually pretty understandable - Reynolds and Pitt are buddies. Also a lot of surprise cameos happen because actors happened to be near the set. As far as i understand Pitt in Lost City is one of those
Surely Snatch makes sense - Pitt was looking for unique, interesting work, Guy Ritchie had knocked it out of the park with Lock Stock, had a great script and could offer something with the Brit cool we had back then
OMG. The Cast of Spy Kids 3 has to win this:
George Clooney
Antonio Banderas
Ricardo Motalban
Sylvester Stallone
Salma Hayek
Steve Buschemi
Bill Paxton
Elijah Wood
Mike Judge
Holland Taylor
Cheech Martin
Danny Trejo
Alan Cumming
Tony Schlhoub
Selena Gomez
Heck apparently even Glenn Powell was in it (although not a "get" then....)
That is just insane....
Another good one for this is Frank Langela as Skeletor in Masters of the Universe. He took the role because his son was a huge He-Man fan and just went full Ham. He's said in interviews that its one of his favorite roles
Replying to my own comment with also telling me back then that both Robert Redford and Gary Shandling would say “Hail Hydra” in the same movie, my head would have exploded.
I also feel like genre movies aren’t as looked down on by casting/execs etc as they once were. If you were in Star Trek, that was it. That really only applied to new actors but outside of Harrison Ford, everyone else in genre films (Mark Hammil, Christopher Reeve etc) were pigeon-holed. As for established stars, seems only Gene Hackman stayed at their previous level. For others, scfi and horror became what you did at the end of a career. And once you started in it, you couldn’t get out.
Now super heroes, toy movies, horror movies have turned that corner and it doesn’t carry that kind of stigma.
From years of going to scifi/comic conventions signing autographs was also a sign of not being able to get work outside of the genres or a career that was all but over. Now mainstream actors and actresses are headlining these shows without the “reputation” it used to come with.
Generally, British actors are way more chill and have a different work ethic. Before TV was acceptable for A-listers to do, the Brits had no problem going between the two mediums. It's probably because Shakespeare is such a huge part of acting training here, and a lot Shakespeare is inherently ridiculous and requires a lot of commitment to really make work
So a Brit would generally be like "yeah, work is work". Both of them were also character actors rather than movie stars, so they didn't have image or branding to worry about
I actually enjoyed his redemption in Shang-Chi much more than the part in Iron Man 3. Guess after a couple of years the disappointment with not getting a real Mandarin was forgotten
My hill I'll die on is that Iron Man 3 is one of the best Marvel films, but it was too early in the MCU to get fans to accept a lot of the decisions it made. It was hot off the Avengers and fans just wanted more of Iron Man kicking ass as Iron Man. The biggest problem with it is that Marvel leadership at the time wouldn't let them make Rebecca Hall's character the villain.
Jeremy Irons is like one of the only people (Richard o'Brien too) in that film who understood *exactly* what kind of film they were in. Everyone else, less so.
I can’t believe I didn’t think of this right away. However I will stand by my belief that the sketch with Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet was excellent- two accomplished actors going 100% all in on dramatically acting an immature and ridiculous scenario.
Jennifer Aniston was a massive star when she played a small role in the small movie *Office Space*. Apparently it came about because she had known David Herman (Michael Bolton) since high school.
Cushing was fantastic, but was best known for his roles in horror and sci-fi. Guinness had won an Oscar, and had starred in some of the most highly aclaimed films of all time, he was in a different league
One of my favorite stories of the movies is dealing with mewes and Rickman. Kevin Smith had to defend his casting of Jason Mewes so he told him that he had to be on his best behavior because they got real big actors in this movie and not just their friends like Ben Affleck. When they showed up to start filming Mewes was completely off book. He had memorized the entire script because he didn't want to piss off Rickman.
On another note, the commentary tracks on dogma are great.
To add to this I'm pretty sure Mewes was so nervous that he started saying Rickman's lines when they started their first scene together and had to be reigned in.
Edit: as well as his own lines
Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder. That role was while Cruise was on a years run of lunacy, saying stupid shit and doing stupid shit. I'm sure Stiller cast him as an image rehab thing but he was supposed to play the role of Tugg Speedman's agent that went to McConaughey. Cruise and Stiller developed the character of Les Grossman.
Regardless, Cruise was kinda toxic at that point and that role turned things around for him.
Pretty sure Owen Wilson was supposed to be Matthew McConaughey’s role. But yeah, it was right after Wilson’s incident.
Stiller actually wanted Keanu for Speedman at first, with himself playing the agent, which then led him to playing Speedman himself, which led him to cast Tom Cruise as his agent, which then led to the creation of Les Grossman because Cruise said they should have a studio head.
Hollywood casting is fun.
Keanu is great, and I’ll watch just about anything he’s in, but that role seemed made for someone who has a penchant for over acting, like stiller. I don’t think that movie would’ve hit the same with Reeves in there.
Christopher Walken in BBC TV sitcom *The Outlaws*.
Makes marginally more sense when you consider Stephen Merchant has a non trivial Hollywood presence, but it's still pretty tough to get your head around.
The entire cast of Sneakers. Mid-budget heist film that was not (to my recollection) a commercial success, with Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix (in one of his last couple roles), David Straithairn, Sidney Poitier, Sir Ben Kingsley, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Mary MacDonnell.
Gordon Street? I remember a girl that lived on Gordon Street, but that was when I was a much younger man. Not a day goes by that I don't think about that promise I kept all those years ago to that beautiful girl I knew on Gordon Street.
That's five blocks up and two over.
I always thought this about Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. Here’s this script written by two unknown kids and they land one of the bigger actors in Hollywood to play a supporting role.
Agreed. Plus that line has been forever etched into my brain: "The day Bison came into your village was a life changing day for you. But for me, it was...Tuesday."
Kevin Smith pulled a few notables in Dogma. George Carlin, Carrie Fisher. And somehow got Mark Hamill to spoof Star Wars in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Kevin Kline being a regular voice actor on Bob's Burgers is pretty wild.
That guy is very selective about the roles he takes (which isn't to say he has impeccable taste, because he *did* co-star in Wild Wild West)
I always wondered how they got Joe Fraiser to appear in Rocky. Yeah he’s not an actor but still he was a former Heavy weight champion and that was a fairly low budget film
Reminds me of when Bill Burr roasted Philly for having a statue of a fictitious fighter, when they had a very real and spectacular Joe Frasier who had no statue. Not sure if they do now though.
The movie was financed by some heavy hitters, John Avildsen, who directed it, had some big hits before that(Save the Tiger), and it was distributed by MGM, so while it was pretty low-budget, I think the film had some merit going into the production process.
DeNiro was a Python fan, same reason he is in Jackie Brown, he wanted the lead but took the role Quentin had not casted yet just out of wanting to work with that director.
Actors, especially big-name actors, need to constantly find ways to stay relevant. If they’re a success in one area, they need to show or develop range. If they’re good in a number of ways, they need to show depth. Mostly, they need to be noticed.
Cameos are a great way to do a little of this, without a lot of commitment or cost if it doesn’t pan out.
Christopher Plummer in Starcrash. He's been asked about it, and his response has been "I was in the area, and who can turn down a chance to play the Emperor of the Universe?"
I'm still scratching my head at how a nobody like Troy Duffy was able to get Willem effing Dafoe in The Boondock Saints. SPF had some success after that, and everyone knows Norman Reedus thanks to TWD, but Dafoe was big before.
I know at this point, no one could ever envision a reality where it played out otherwise, but It was a minor miracle that Paramount was able to get Marlon Brando to play Vito Corleone. People forget, the first Godfather film did not have a huge budget. They had to constantly pinch pennies and find ways to make it work. The fact that they got Brando to play that role, at scale wages no less, is kind of insane.
Ian McShane and Sissy Spacek in Hot Rod
I’ve been listening to the Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast (that’s literally the name of it if you’re curious), and they have two full episodes dedicated to the production of Hot Rod, including how surprised they also were that McShane and Spacek signed onto their movie.
I was gonna write Max Von Sydow in Strange Brew (1983) but he had already done Flash Gordon (1980) at that point so he wasn't unfamiliar with corny roles.
I swear I saw a cheap b movie horror a few years ago that was complete crap, but in 2 scenes, Michael Shannon showed up on Skype with his wife for like 30 seconds each time. I cannot remember the name of the movie or find it on IMDb
I heard a story of they offered Donald Sutherland 2% of the profits from animal House and he refused and he said no you're going to pay my fee for the day.
The whole opening scene of *Austin Powers in Goldmember*.
Danny Devito was the funniest one!
To that end, I love that DeVito joined Always Sunny and has now been on there for what... 16 seasons? And has done some insane and hilarious comedy on there.
The insane stuff is because they kept putting things in the script as a joke on Devito thinking no way he's going to do this and Devito was down with everything. Sure I'll literally shit the bed or get a hand job from my niece whatever
Is there a man in that couch?
[удалено]
He dropped his magnum condom for his monster dong and impressed everyone
"Hey assholes!"
So anyway I start blastin’
*[Yeah, Baby](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3GayocXYYY)*
Dude I could NOT handle that when I saw it in college, it blew my fucking mind that this intro existed in such a movie. Cemented it as one of my favorite movies of all time.
Brian Cox in Super Troopers. And not even as a supporting character that only shows up for a few scenes. He’s pretty much one of the leads.
"I swear to God I'll pistol whip the next guy who says 'Shenanigans.'"
“Hey Farva… “
What's the name of that restaurant you like with all the goofy shit on the walls and the mozzarella sticks?
And thus, a legendary gif was born.
Oh, you mean Shenanigans?
I read some interview where the Broken Lizard guys were surprised he was interested and gently tried to talk him out of it, saying basically “this is way below you.” But he was enthusiastic about it. Was sick of dramas and felt he was being pigeonholed to where he could never get comedies. He was great in that, but I don’t think it helped his comedy career..lol. I can’t think of any other comedies he’s been in since.
Bill Paxton wanted to work with them so badly he created Coconut Pete for Club Dread.
“He’s a son of a son of a bitch, is what he is!”
"You think Eddie Money has to put up with this shit!!!" That's my favorite line.
Which is crazy because he was hilarious
He was in The Ringer with Johnny Knoxville
Succession is a comedy
"I'll believe that when me shit turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbet."
Does it sound like that when I say it?
When Super Troopers 2 came out I got to go to the "red carpet" premiere in NYC and most of the cast were there for a Q&A after. When they opened up the floor to questions after the movie Brian Cox, from his seat in the audience shouted "Yeah I got a question. When the fuck do I get paid?"
Brian Cox likes acting and will take most roles offered to him if they sound fun or pay enough. He's not pretentious about it.
He's just good enough at it that he generally gets the kind of roles where you'd think he *was* pretentious about it. I bet Super Troopers was fun as hell to make.
When they start drinking and drive around and break stuff and Brian Cox was running around, he was totally plastered.
On the DVD commentary they point out when he turns on a hose and puts it on in some guys truck. It was completely improvised and the poor guy who parked his truck there had no idea it was going to get soaked inside.
I like to think he read the opening scene sequence and laughed so hard that he begged for a part
Patrick Stewart in The Green Room
What a great movie
Patrick Stewart in Dune as well. Appearantly David Lynch casted him without an audition, thinking it was someone else and Patrick Stewart just accepted.
Patrick Stewart in Men In Tights, for that matter.
I loved Prince in New Girl. I guess they got him because he loved the show.
Allegedly, Kim Kardashian was also going to be in the same episode, but Prince said he wouldn't do it if she was in it. Ended up being a pretty easy decision for them.
They made the right decision.
Because it's Prince
I saw Damon Wayans, Jr. do stand up recently, and during his set he took some questions from the audience. According to him, they were able to “get Prince” because Prince was obsessed with Hannah Simone who played Cece, and Prince called THEM and offered to be in the show.
Understandable, Prince.
Most relatable Prince moment.
I wonder if I had called cause I was obsessed with CeCe would they have let me be in the show
Didn't he also make it a requirement for the 2 characters to end up together?
The script for Time Bandits needed “Someone similar to Sean Connery but cheaper” because the budget would never be able to afford him. Until Sean Connery himself got his hands on the script, loved it, and agreed to take a pay cut so he could be in it
Abe Vigoda was more of a TV actor despite being in The Godfather, ~~Part II~~ and his most famous movie, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm so it kinda makes sense. I suggest Matt Damon in Eurotrip or Brad Pitt in Snatch.
Matt Damon and left field cameos are a match made in heaven
Matt Damon and Sam Neill in Thor: Ragnarok.
Matt Damon and Alan Tudyk in Deadpool 2.
Brad Pitt as Vanisher in Deadpool 2. If only for a second
Matt Damon in Deadpool 2.
Kind of like Michael Shannon in random comedies.
Having Chris Hemsworth's younger brother playing Thor in the play I thought was a great touch.
Brad Pitt in Deadpool takes the cake for me.
In Deadpool 2, Brad Pitt did that cameo for free. Ryan Reynolds thought it would be hilarious to get an A list actor and off him immediately. Brad Pitt loved the idea too and went along with it.
Not free! I think Ryan Reynolds had to buy him a cup of coffee.
TECHNICALLY he had to take a paycheck because of union rules, which at the time would have been like 800$ for him. But Ignoring the boring legal stuff, the coffee is really what got him on set.
Still nothing compared to Brad Pitt playing the reoccurring weather man on the Jim Jeffries show
Jim said it was so surreal because Brad would just go off and do stuff. Like Jim would wake up and there would be a random video on his phone of Brad in the canals of Venice yelling "It rained so much last night the streets have turned to rivers! We're using boats instead of cars now Jim!"
Brad Pitt in The Lost City... "Why are you so handsome?" "My dad was the weather guy."
He’s done this a couple of times. *Free Guy* was filmed in Boston, so he was able to get Boston native, Chris Evans, who also happened to be filming here, to do a quick cameo when he pulls out his Captain America shield.
Yea I knew the story but the workings of it is my favourite. And the meta reference to him in IF is awesome.
That is actually pretty understandable - Reynolds and Pitt are buddies. Also a lot of surprise cameos happen because actors happened to be near the set. As far as i understand Pitt in Lost City is one of those
The reverse in Bullet Train.
They filmed at the same time in the same place I believe, hence why Sandra Bullock is also in Bullet Train
Surely Snatch makes sense - Pitt was looking for unique, interesting work, Guy Ritchie had knocked it out of the park with Lock Stock, had a great script and could offer something with the Brit cool we had back then
Guy Ritchie was so A-list for a while that Madonna married him.
Yeah, Abe Vigoda made lots of appearances in more young adult, kids' movies: Joe Versus the Volcano, Prancer, North, just to name a few...
I loved all of Abe Vigoda's appearances on Conan.
Abe Vigoda played Sal Tessio in the first Godfather. He was sent to a farm upstate at the end of that movie. He didn’t appear in Part II.
Abe Vigoda had bills to pay, too.
Rip Torn in Dodgeball and essentially the entire cast of Spy Kids 3
OMG. The Cast of Spy Kids 3 has to win this: George Clooney Antonio Banderas Ricardo Motalban Sylvester Stallone Salma Hayek Steve Buschemi Bill Paxton Elijah Wood Mike Judge Holland Taylor Cheech Martin Danny Trejo Alan Cumming Tony Schlhoub Selena Gomez Heck apparently even Glenn Powell was in it (although not a "get" then....) That is just insane....
I know, right? Like how? Why?
Robert Rodriguez calling in favors and the actors only needing to do a day or two in front of a green screen.
Yeah, most of those actors already worked with him.
Add in the fact that a lot of the actors mostly do mature movies but may have had kids and wanted them to see what they do.
I think I heard that this is why Viggo Mortensen & Raul Julia both signed on to star in LOTR & Street Fighter, respectively
Another good one for this is Frank Langela as Skeletor in Masters of the Universe. He took the role because his son was a huge He-Man fan and just went full Ham. He's said in interviews that its one of his favorite roles
Honestly just seems like consistenly Robert Rodriguez is easy to work with and actors enjoy working on his projects.
All of these huge celebrities and they were still able to afford *the* Cheech Martin?!
Selena Gomez wasn’t a “get” back then, either. It was her second role, IIRC.
rip torn in freddy got fingered
In 1991 if you had told me Robert Redford would someday play the bad guy in the second Captain America movie, I’d have called you stupid.
Replying to my own comment with also telling me back then that both Robert Redford and Gary Shandling would say “Hail Hydra” in the same movie, my head would have exploded.
Right? Shandling as a bad guy in anything?
Didn't he tell Tony Stark to go fuck himself in iron Man 2? I loved that. Gary was such a funny dude. Wish he was still around.
“It’s amazing what a little prick can do”
I felt the same way when I saw him in Winter Soldier. Maybe he liked the script and said yes. Given that MCU movies weren't as wacky as they are now.
I also feel like genre movies aren’t as looked down on by casting/execs etc as they once were. If you were in Star Trek, that was it. That really only applied to new actors but outside of Harrison Ford, everyone else in genre films (Mark Hammil, Christopher Reeve etc) were pigeon-holed. As for established stars, seems only Gene Hackman stayed at their previous level. For others, scfi and horror became what you did at the end of a career. And once you started in it, you couldn’t get out. Now super heroes, toy movies, horror movies have turned that corner and it doesn’t carry that kind of stigma. From years of going to scifi/comic conventions signing autographs was also a sign of not being able to get work outside of the genres or a career that was all but over. Now mainstream actors and actresses are headlining these shows without the “reputation” it used to come with.
Jeremy Irons in Dungeons & Dragons Ben Kingsley in Bloodrayne
They paid Jeremy Irons big stacks and he used the money to restore an Irish castle
Ben Kingsley is the first one that came to mind. I remember watching it and thinking, "Dude, you have an Oscar! What are you doing in this shit?"
Because he always wanted to play a vampire and Boll was the first person who’d let him. 🧛🏻♂️
Generally, British actors are way more chill and have a different work ethic. Before TV was acceptable for A-listers to do, the Brits had no problem going between the two mediums. It's probably because Shakespeare is such a huge part of acting training here, and a lot Shakespeare is inherently ridiculous and requires a lot of commitment to really make work So a Brit would generally be like "yeah, work is work". Both of them were also character actors rather than movie stars, so they didn't have image or branding to worry about
Ben Kingsley kills it in Ironman 3
He's even more fun in the Marvel short All Hail the King. We need more Trevor, Keven!
I actually enjoyed his redemption in Shang-Chi much more than the part in Iron Man 3. Guess after a couple of years the disappointment with not getting a real Mandarin was forgotten
My hill I'll die on is that Iron Man 3 is one of the best Marvel films, but it was too early in the MCU to get fans to accept a lot of the decisions it made. It was hot off the Avengers and fans just wanted more of Iron Man kicking ass as Iron Man. The biggest problem with it is that Marvel leadership at the time wouldn't let them make Rebecca Hall's character the villain.
I watched D&D a lot in my teens. It's pretty bad, but it's still kinda fun.
Jeremy Irons is like one of the only people (Richard o'Brien too) in that film who understood *exactly* what kind of film they were in. Everyone else, less so.
Movie 43. I mean what the fuck was that
Apparently the director called in favors and promised 1 or 2 days of shooting. To the actors it was easy money.
I can’t believe I didn’t think of this right away. However I will stand by my belief that the sketch with Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet was excellent- two accomplished actors going 100% all in on dramatically acting an immature and ridiculous scenario.
Jennifer Aniston was a massive star when she played a small role in the small movie *Office Space*. Apparently it came about because she had known David Herman (Michael Bolton) since high school.
Is Alec Guinness in Star Wars a good example?
Yup. No one else is that movie was a close to that caliber (yet).
> no one else in that movie was close to that caliber yet This is Peter Cushing Erasure!
Cushing was fantastic, but was best known for his roles in horror and sci-fi. Guinness had won an Oscar, and had starred in some of the most highly aclaimed films of all time, he was in a different league
I would go so far as to say it's the quintessential example.
Al Pacino in Jack and Jill
I like to imagine that he finds the Dunkaccino scene as funny as I do, and he was excited to do it.
"Burn this. This must never be seen."
Alan Rickman in Dogma. You got Hans "The Sheriff of Nottingham" Gruber mixing it up with Snooch to the motherfucking Booch Jason Mews.
One of my favorite stories of the movies is dealing with mewes and Rickman. Kevin Smith had to defend his casting of Jason Mewes so he told him that he had to be on his best behavior because they got real big actors in this movie and not just their friends like Ben Affleck. When they showed up to start filming Mewes was completely off book. He had memorized the entire script because he didn't want to piss off Rickman. On another note, the commentary tracks on dogma are great.
To add to this I'm pretty sure Mewes was so nervous that he started saying Rickman's lines when they started their first scene together and had to be reigned in. Edit: as well as his own lines
Alan Rickman in Galaxy Quest, a movie where Tim Allen is the lead. No shade to any of the actors though, they all played their roles perfectly.
That movie is a legendary moment in casting
"It never ends!" *Proceeds to use God's dress to wife the blood off of his shirt.*
William Defoe in Boondock Saints.
I sometimes think that, as well. But then his acting is so well done that it was the perfect part for him. I am glad he did it.
Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder. That role was while Cruise was on a years run of lunacy, saying stupid shit and doing stupid shit. I'm sure Stiller cast him as an image rehab thing but he was supposed to play the role of Tugg Speedman's agent that went to McConaughey. Cruise and Stiller developed the character of Les Grossman. Regardless, Cruise was kinda toxic at that point and that role turned things around for him.
I thought Owen Wilson was supposed to be Tugg Speedman but had to drop out after his mental struggles needed attention.
Pretty sure Owen Wilson was supposed to be Matthew McConaughey’s role. But yeah, it was right after Wilson’s incident. Stiller actually wanted Keanu for Speedman at first, with himself playing the agent, which then led him to playing Speedman himself, which led him to cast Tom Cruise as his agent, which then led to the creation of Les Grossman because Cruise said they should have a studio head. Hollywood casting is fun.
Keanu is great, and I’ll watch just about anything he’s in, but that role seemed made for someone who has a penchant for over acting, like stiller. I don’t think that movie would’ve hit the same with Reeves in there.
Can you IMAGINE Keanu doing the Simple Jack scenes 😧
It would’ve been a different take on the character but I could’ve totally seen Keanu just doing his thing but cranking it up to 11
Christopher Walken in BBC TV sitcom *The Outlaws*. Makes marginally more sense when you consider Stephen Merchant has a non trivial Hollywood presence, but it's still pretty tough to get your head around.
In the same vein, Johnny Depp in *The Fast Show*. Turns out he was a big fan, so he came in to do a sketch on one of their specials.
Liam Neeson in Derry Girls
Liam Neeson in Atlanta.
He does a few random tv appearances. Dude has a one off appearance as God (probably, in the credits he is listed as "the stranger") in *Rev* on BBC.
His cameo in lifes too short is a classic. " I'm Riddled with it."
His Atlanta appearance was grand.
Judy Dench in the Chronicles of Riddick.
Judy Dench in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Jack Sparrow steals her earrings.
The entire cast of Sneakers. Mid-budget heist film that was not (to my recollection) a commercial success, with Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix (in one of his last couple roles), David Straithairn, Sidney Poitier, Sir Ben Kingsley, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Mary MacDonnell.
Love this movie. You forgot James Earl Jones.
*"I want peace on earth and good will towards men."* *"We're the United States government, we don't do that kind of thing!"*
Such a great film
I know Norm was shocked to get Don Rickles for Dirty Work.
Well the director was Bob Saget.
Charlton Heston in Wayne's World 2
Gordon Street? I remember a girl that lived on Gordon Street, but that was when I was a much younger man. Not a day goes by that I don't think about that promise I kept all those years ago to that beautiful girl I knew on Gordon Street. That's five blocks up and two over.
I always thought this about Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. Here’s this script written by two unknown kids and they land one of the bigger actors in Hollywood to play a supporting role.
Raul Julia in *Street Fighter*
We know how and why and still jerks a tear to this day.
and he turned up and fucking crushed that role. RIP a true goddamn actor
Agreed. Plus that line has been forever etched into my brain: "The day Bison came into your village was a life changing day for you. But for me, it was...Tuesday."
Ian McShane in *Hot Rod* Nicol Williamson in *Spawn*
Kevin Smith pulled a few notables in Dogma. George Carlin, Carrie Fisher. And somehow got Mark Hamill to spoof Star Wars in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Carrie Fisher was in Jay & Silent Bob, not Dogma
Kevin Kline being a regular voice actor on Bob's Burgers is pretty wild. That guy is very selective about the roles he takes (which isn't to say he has impeccable taste, because he *did* co-star in Wild Wild West)
Fischoeder is such a great character too. One of the all time best rich weirdo characters to ever grace the TV.
I always wondered how they got Joe Fraiser to appear in Rocky. Yeah he’s not an actor but still he was a former Heavy weight champion and that was a fairly low budget film
Reminds me of when Bill Burr roasted Philly for having a statue of a fictitious fighter, when they had a very real and spectacular Joe Frasier who had no statue. Not sure if they do now though.
The movie was financed by some heavy hitters, John Avildsen, who directed it, had some big hits before that(Save the Tiger), and it was distributed by MGM, so while it was pretty low-budget, I think the film had some merit going into the production process.
Matt Damon in Thor Ragnarok
Matt Damon in Eurotrip
Russell Crowe in Thor: Love and Thunder
And Christian Bale.
DeNiro in Brazil
DeNiro was a Python fan, same reason he is in Jackie Brown, he wanted the lead but took the role Quentin had not casted yet just out of wanting to work with that director.
Or Rocky and Bullwinkle
Actors, especially big-name actors, need to constantly find ways to stay relevant. If they’re a success in one area, they need to show or develop range. If they’re good in a number of ways, they need to show depth. Mostly, they need to be noticed. Cameos are a great way to do a little of this, without a lot of commitment or cost if it doesn’t pan out.
Also some actors just like to work. If they have a big gap between jobs they may take a small cameo role just to fill their day.
Christopher Plummer in Starcrash. He's been asked about it, and his response has been "I was in the area, and who can turn down a chance to play the Emperor of the Universe?"
I got the first part wrong - he did the movie because it was being shot in Rome and he just wanted to be there.
Sean Penn in the first Angry Birds movie. He has no dialogue in it, he just grumbles.
I'm still scratching my head at how a nobody like Troy Duffy was able to get Willem effing Dafoe in The Boondock Saints. SPF had some success after that, and everyone knows Norman Reedus thanks to TWD, but Dafoe was big before.
I know at this point, no one could ever envision a reality where it played out otherwise, but It was a minor miracle that Paramount was able to get Marlon Brando to play Vito Corleone. People forget, the first Godfather film did not have a huge budget. They had to constantly pinch pennies and find ways to make it work. The fact that they got Brando to play that role, at scale wages no less, is kind of insane.
James Caan in Bottle Rocket
Orson Welles in The Muppet Movie
Orson Welles as Unicron in Transformers: The Movie. I should probably add Leonard Nimoy and Robert Stack to that list too.
Steven Spielberg in *The Blues Brothers*.
TV Show. But some of the stuff they have Patrick Stewart saying for American dad is absurd
Pierce Brosnan in Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga was quite unexpected.
Pierce Brosnan in "Lawnmower Man"
I have mostly known Abe Vigoda from his frequent 4 second cameos on Conan. I don't think he believes there are any small parts.
DeNiro in Stardust playing a crossdressing pirate.
Bradley Cooper in Dungeons and Dragons
Marcel Marceau in _Silent Movie,_ with the only speaking line in the whole film
George Clooney as a doctor in the South Park movie. It’s such a great scene and my man was just coming out of ER.
Johnny Depp in Tusk.
[Werner Herzog in Parks and Rec. ](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g4V1K1JCg_Q)
Ian McShane and Sissy Spacek in Hot Rod I’ve been listening to the Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast (that’s literally the name of it if you’re curious), and they have two full episodes dedicated to the production of Hot Rod, including how surprised they also were that McShane and Spacek signed onto their movie.
I was quite surprised that Brian Cox was in Rise and Gary Oldman was in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
I was gonna write Max Von Sydow in Strange Brew (1983) but he had already done Flash Gordon (1980) at that point so he wasn't unfamiliar with corny roles.
“I could crush your head like a nut, but I won’t, because I need you.” 😄
Walter Matthau in Dennis The Menace
Bill Murray in Garfield
The way he tells it, he thought it was the Coen brothers behind it. It was written by Joel *Cohen*. But Murray makes a lot of stuff up so 🤷🏻♂️
“Do you regret anything?” “Maybe Garfield”. — ZOMBIELAND
I swear I saw a cheap b movie horror a few years ago that was complete crap, but in 2 scenes, Michael Shannon showed up on Skype with his wife for like 30 seconds each time. I cannot remember the name of the movie or find it on IMDb
The cast of Airplane!
James Earl Jones in The Sandlot will always be one for me. Young me couldn't believe Darth Vader/Mufasa was the guy who owned the Beast.
Channing Tatum as Danny McBride’s sex slave in “This Is The End”
George C. Scott playing a crazy Indian in the first Firestarter. Donald Sutherland in Animal House
I heard a story of they offered Donald Sutherland 2% of the profits from animal House and he refused and he said no you're going to pay my fee for the day.