The 25 most surprising movie cameos

Starting things off is the 1950 film noir classic “Sunset Boulevard,” which was directed and co-written by Billy Wilder and earned 11 Oscar nods. In a scene where the main characters are playing a game of bridge, the guests of Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) are described as former actors from the silent era. As the camera cuts to the different players, they are revealed to be real-life acting legends Anna Q. Nilsson, Buster Keaton, and H.B. Warner. Although Keaton is arguably the most famous of the group, he was comically only given two words of dialogue: saying “pass” twice.

Will Ferrell fans know to expect the unexpected when it comes to his films, but audiences were nevertheless shocked when the epic fight scene in 2004’s “Anchorman” began and Ron Burgundy’s foes were portrayed by Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, and Tim Robbins. Add a man on fire, a hand grenade, a trident, and a spot-on reference to “Planet of the Apes,” and you’ve got yourself a sure-fire recipe for comedic gold.

Taking a page out of Alfred Hitchcock’s book, director Martin Scorsese inserted himself into his fifth feature film, 1976’s “Taxi Driver.” Scorsese’s cameo only lasts for a few minutes, during which he plays a creepy cab passenger who is stalking and plans to kill his wife. The creepiest part of the scene is probably the fact that although Scorsese talks constantly and asks numerous questions, Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro) never speaks to him. 

Interestingly, this was actually the second cameo by the director in “Taxi Driver,” as he can also be seen earlier in the film when Bickle is watching Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) from his cab.

Many men were after the heart of Mary in the 1998 Farrelly Brothers comedy, “There’s Something About Mary,” starring Cameron Diaz. They all resorted to some kind of lying or deception to win her over, except for an oft-mentioned but never-shown suitor named “Brett.” In the last scene, Brett is revealed to be Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, who makes a cameo as himself and almost ends up with Mary before she chose Ted (Ben Stiller) instead.

Never underestimate Mike Myers’ ability to get stars to appear in his films. After securing previous cameos from the likes of Alice Cooper (“Wayne’s World”), Charlton Heston (“Wayne’s World 2”), and numerous folks in the first two Austin Powers films, he finished the third and final one (“Austin Powers in Goldmember”) with cameos by Danny Devito, Gwyneth Paltrow, John Travolta, Kevin Spacey, and Tom Cruise – who portrayed all of the franchise’s main characters in a sort of “film within a film” at the very end.

A whole bunch of comedians appear in the 2009 film “Funny People” alongside Adam Sandler, but audiences never expected to see a cameo by Eminem. During a dinner scene, the rapper catches Ray Romano (as himself) looking at him from across the room and begins to berate him for staring, using ample amounts of profanity. Ray sheepishly backs down from the heated confrontation, which leads Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) to remark, “I thought everybody loved you.”

In a brief scene in Mel Brooks’ 1974 comedy “Young Frankenstein,” the monster has an interaction with an old blind hermit, who tries to give him some soup but ends up unknowingly ladling the hot broth into the monster’s lap each time. It’s already a hilarious scene to watch, which is why many people don’t realize that the old man was played by a 44-year-old Gene Hackman, who, at the time, was mostly known for his dramatic roles in films such as “Bonnie & Clyde” (1968), “I Never Sang for My Father” (1970), “The French Connection” (1971), and “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972). 

When the characters played by Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, and Abigail Breslin arrive in the desolate streets of Hollywood in the 2009 comedy “Zombieland,” they take shelter in a mansion owned by Bill Murray – with Murray still alive inside, pretending to be a zombie! The legendary comedian ended up getting killed in a prank gone wrong, but thankfully he first treated audiences to one of the funniest death scenes in film.

The music of Huey Lewis and the News is featured prominently in the “Back to the Future” films, including Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) playing “The Power of Love” during the audition for his school dance. However, many people don’t realize that Lewis himself actually appears in the film, in the aforementioned audition scene. In case you missed it, he’s the school administrator with the megaphone that tells McFly he is “just too darn loud.”

Former NBA great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s role in the 1980 comedy “Airplane!” was probably a bit larger than your average cameo, but it still fits the definition, as Abdul-Jabbar plays himself – even though he’s pretending to be a pilot named Roger Murdock. The former Lakers center is completely out of the movie by its halfway point, but the character was so popular that Kareem eventually reunited with “Airplane!” star Robert Hayes for a press event to celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary.

With Steven Spielberg at the helm, there was no limit to who could have possibly turned up in the 1991 Peter Pan film “Hook,” which is why it wasn’t especially surprising to see the likes of Phil Collins, David Crosby, and Jimmy Buffett in minor roles. What was surprising, however, was the fact that Glenn Close – owner of five Academy Award nominations at the time – had an extremely brief cameo. Even more surprising? Close is almost completely unrecognizable under all the pirate gear, short and shaggy grey hair, and a bushy beard. In case you missed her, she was the male pirate who was banished to the “boo box” after Captain Hook questioned his allegiance.

Two different Jimmys are given cameos in 2015’s “Jurassic World”: Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Buffett. The former’s role is obvious, as he plays himself in a safety video for the gyrosphere ride. Buffett, however, appears in a bit so small that most people don’t even recognize him – even though he’s right in front of their faces. Remember the scene where the flying pterosaurs attack all the tourists and a man is seen desperately holding onto his two margaritas as he runs for cover? Yep, that’s Mr. Margaritaville himself.

“Alien” is one of the best sci-fi films ever made, and “Spaceballs” is one of the best comedies. What do they both have in common? John Hurt digging into a meal that ends with him having an alien burst out of his chest. The only difference is that in “Spaceballs,” the alien has a hat and cane and sings a rousing rendition of “Hello! Ma Baby.”

In the final scene of the 2012 film adaptation of “21 Jump Street,” officers Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum) are engaged in a shootout when two of their apparent foes reveal themselves to be undercover DEA agents. As the men remove their disguises, audiences around the country were shocked to see that the actors under the makeup were Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise, two of the main cast members of the original “21 Jump Street” TV show. Comically, both men are immediately shot.

When the goofy teen comedy “EuroTrip” began, nobody expected to see an A-list celebrity making an appearance. Yet one of the film’s first scenes features a punk band taking the stage with a tattooed and pierced Matt Damon as the lead singer. Adding to the hilarity, it is revealed that the protagonist’s girlfriend has been cheating on him for some time with Damon’s character – who exposes the affair via song.

If, like us, you were wondering how the 2004 comedy landed Damon, it’s because the Academy Award winner actually went to college with the “Eurotrip” writers, and he just happened to be nearby when it was being filmed. 

We’re not sure what was more surprising: the fact that sci-fi superfan Kevin Smith got Mark Hamill (a.k.a. Luke Skywalker himself) to appear in his movie “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” that Hamill was willing to poke fun at the most famous role of his career, or that he was cool with using strong language while portraying a character whose name is so inappropriate that we can’t even print it. In the end, it didn’t matter, because we’re all geeks too, and seeing Hamill in any sci-fi role is an absolute delight. 

Finding out that Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) is paired up in a celebrity golf tournament with Bob Barker, someone who is his polar opposite, is funny enough by itself. However, things get even more ridiculous when Barker begins to berate his partner for his poor play, and the two get into an all-out fist fight. We can’t print the funniest lines of the scene here - but trust us, this part of 1996’s Happy Gilmore” is endlessly hilarious.

Johnny Depp cited Keith Richards as one of the inspirations for his portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, so it was quite the surprise when the franchise managed to get the Rolling Stones guitarist to actually appear in one of the movies as Sparrow’s father, Captain Edward Teague. The 2007 adventure film “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” has a runtime of 168 minutes, and Richards appears in less than three of those – but his cameo was so successful that he ended up returning for 2011’s “On Strangers Tides” and 2017’s “Dead Men Tell No Tales.”

Director Richard Donner opted to include a bunch of cameos in his 1994 Western comedy “Maverick,” including a former co-star of the film’s leading man, Mel Gibson. During a bank robbery, Maverick (Gibson) seems to recognize the bandit (an uncredited Danny Glover), who recognizes him in return. They stare at each other, shake it off, and then continue staring as the “Lethal Weapon” music begins to play in the background. When Glover eventually makes his getaway, he utters Roger Murtaugh’s famous catchphrase: “I’m getting too old for this [stuff].”

In one short scene of the 1993 screwball parody film “Hot Shots! Part Deux,” Topper Harley (Charlie Sheen) is writing in his journal while traveling alone in a boat, when suddenly his narration is interrupted by the narration of Captain Benjamin Willard, a character played by Charlie’s father, Martin Sheen, in the 1979 war drama “Apocalypse Now.” When the younger Sheen looks up, he sees a boat approaching him going the opposite direction with Willard at the helm. As they pass, both Sheens simultaneously point at each other and exclaim, “I loved you in ‘Wall Street!’”

Mike Tyson initially didn’t want to appear in the 2009 smash-hit comedy “The Hangover,” in which he helps out the characters played by Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper, and Zach Galifianakis after they stole and returned his pet tiger. However, when Tyson found out that director Todd Phillips previously made “Old School” – a film he very much enjoys – the champ changed his mind.

Neil Patrick Harris didn’t just appear in the 2004 stoner comedy “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” – he stole the show and revitalized his career. NPH’s cameo had him playing himself, but a drug-taking, hard-partying, womanizing version of himself, which audiences absolutely loved. Keep in mind, this was before Harris was cast as Barney Stinson on “How I Met Your Mother,” back when most people still remembered him best as the child actor who played Doogie Howser from 1989 to 1993.

Although the paparazzi kind of ruined the surprise, many moviegoers were still shocked to see Tom Cruise appear in the 2008 comedy “Tropic Thunder” alongside Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., and Jack Black. Cruise’s role as movie producer Les Grossman was so outrageous, profane, and over-the-top that some viewers didn’t even recognize the legendary actor - especially since he wore a fat-suit, large prosthetic hands, and a bald cap. Cruise’s performance (most notably when he busted a move to Flo Rida’s “Low”) earned him a Golden Globe nod for Best Supporting Actor.

In addition to an all-star cast, the epic 1963 comedy “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” features cameos from almost every major comedian alive at the time of production, including Jack Benny, Carl Reiner, Stan Freberg, Don Knotts, and Jerry Lewis. Our favorite, however, is the appearance by The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Joe DeRita), who can be seen standing silently as firemen at the Rancho Conejo Airport.

In a surprise, uncredited role, Will Ferrell appeared in the 2005 romantic comedy “Wedding Crashers,” as a fellow crasher named Chazz Reinhold who gives advice to Owen Wilson following his falling out with Vince Vaughn. Although Ferrell’s cameo only lasts for a few minutes, his lines about meatloaf and his mom ended up being among the most quoted from the film.