One of the most entertaining parts of a movie is when a noted actor or celebrity makes a cameo appearance. Not only does the movie add a new dynamic to the scene, but it also becomes entertaining for the fans. From Tom Cruise’s unrecognizable disguise as Austin Powers in Goldmember to Neil Patrick Harris’s career-revitalizing bit in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Hollywood has given many memorable cameos. Here’s a list of 20 such appearances.
1. Matthew McConaughey in The Wolf of Wall Street
Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street is an acclaimed movie that focusses on the life of real-life stockbroker, Jordan Belfort. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Belfort, the movie features Matthew McConaughey in an iconic cameo where he plays Mark Hanna, a senior stockbroker. Hanna takes Belfort for lunch and introduces him into the world of trading by performing an amusing chant that involves chest-thumping. Interestingly, the chant is Matthew’s real-life relaxation technique.
2. Daniel Craig in Star Wars: The Force Awakens
A cameo that has become pop culture lore, Daniel Craig is a huge fan of Star Wars and when he came to know that his movie and The Force Awakens is filming close by, he requested a friend to get him in. What turns out in the movie is that Craig is inside a stormtrooper suit and is never once unmasked! He plays FN-1824, upon whom Rey uses Jedi mind tricks and frees herself. A hilarious bit.
3. Keanu Reeves in Always Be My Maybe
The hit 2019 rom-com got viral when Ali Wong’s character goes on a double date with Randall Park’s character and his partner. The three wait for Wong’s love interest and are shocked (along with the audiences) to know that it is Keanu Reeves himself. Reeves plays a comically exaggerated version of himself and even gave ideas to make his cameo better. Funnily enough, the director wanted Reeves but was scared to approach him. But Reeves hopped on board right away.
4. Brad Pitt in Deadpool 2
The Hollywood superstar makes his presence in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo. Reportedly, Brad Pitt took less than two hours to film his bit and. In a movie where there are other cameos, Pitt appears as the superhero Vanisher, and true to his name, vanishes quickly. The scene takes place when Pitt’s character jumps off the airplane to save the day but is killed by entangling into hydro lines. Pitt was supposed to play Cable, bit his bit is fun nonetheless.
5. Matt Damon in Thor: Ragnarok
In one of the most secretive cameos, Matt Damon surprised not just the audiences but even the cast of Ragnarok, who had no idea that Damon has a cameo in the film. When Thor (Chris Hemsworth) comes back to Asgard, he sees that his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is taking part in a play where he is playing his father, Odin. In the scene, Damon essays Loki’s character and uses various wigs and maekup. The play-within-a-movie scene soon became iconic.
6. Bradley Cooper in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
In the fantasy movie, Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez), is a barbarian who is dispelled from her community for marrying an outsider. Viewers were pleasantly surprised to learn that the outsider is Bradley Cooper. He has a little cameo much later in the movie, and plays the role of Marlamin. Even though Holga and Marlamin are now divorced, the film presents deeper feelings between them.
7. Elijah Wood in Spy Kids 3: Game Over
Elijah Wood rode on the wave of his Lord of the Rings popularity and played a short but memorable role in one of the most popular movies of the early aughts. In a scene where Carmen (Alexa PenaVega) gets stuck inside a VR game, Wood makes his entrance as The Guy, a famous game player who can beat even the unbeatable game. Comically though, he is killed instantly by lightning and his character brings comic relief.
8. Bruce Willis in Split
Split is a movie that gained traction due to its portrayal of bipolar disorder. But another reason contributed to its virality. Towards the end, Bruce Willis appears as David Dunn, from his role in Unbreakable. This surprise cameo reveals that Split and Unbreakable take place in the same timeline and both movie’s characters fight it out in Shyamalan’s trilogy finale, Glass. Viewer who had not seen Unbreakable where confused about the meaning of Willis’ appearance, which made the movie popular.
9. Lance Armstrong in Dodgeball
The controversial cycling champion makes a cameo in the brash sport comedy as himself. The owner of a gym, Peter (Vince Vaughn), must save his business from a fitness tycoon (Ben Stiller). With nothing working anymore, Peter decides to enter a dodgeball competition. He meets Armstrong in a scene, where the cyclist mentions how much hard work he put in to become the best. Years later, Armstrong got into a doping controversy, which makes his cameo comical and ironical.
10. Bill Murray in Zombieland
Zombieland is a comedy movie starring Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Woody Harrelson. In a scene where all these actors’ characters arrive in Hollywood, they take refuge from the zombie apocalypse by hiding inside Bill Murray’s home. Hilariously, Murray pretends to be zombie in front of the cast, who kill him instead. The movie has many comic scenes, but Murray delivers the most rib-tickling one.
11. Christopher Lloyd in A Million Ways to Die in the West
Seth McFarlane’s Western Comedy has lots of pop culture references from other movies. One of the most iconic one though is when Christopher Lloyd reprises his role of Doc Brown from Back to the Future. The movie is about a sheep farmer, Albert, who meets a gunslinger and goes on an epic adventure. The cameo is even more memorable as Brown is working on a DeLorean, with the 80s movie’s soundtrack in the background.
12. Chris Evans in Free Guy
Another cameo that is simply hilarious is Chris Evans in Free Guy. Evans was not a part of the movie, but when he passed by the movie’s set, he was requested to do a short scene! The movie is about a non-playable character Guy (Ryan Reynolds), who breaks the game’s pattern and wants to become a hero. In Evans’ cameo scene, Guy wields a Captain America shield and Evans—playing himself—become annoyed by Guy taking on his role.
13. Danny Glover in Maverick
The Western comedy, stars Mel Gibson, who plays a cunning gambler that is competing in a poker tournament. But his world turns upside down when he gets caught in a nefarious ring of double-crossing schemes. Danny Glover and Gibson worked together in the Lethal Weapon movies and when Glover shows up to rob Gibson’s character, the two hilariously refer to a scene from Lethal Weapon to decide if they know each other.
14. Martin Scorsese in Taxi Driver
Taxi Driver is one of the most influential movies and Scorsese turned up in a cameo role after the actor supposed to do the scene became ill. The director gets into Travis Bickle’s (Robert De Niro) taxi and confesses to Bickle that he knows that his wife is cheating and instructs Bickle to take him to the house of her lover. The cameo is chilling as Scorsese’s character reveals that he plans to kill his wife.
15. Neil Patrick Harris in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
The raunchy movie starring John Cho and Kal Penn is about two stoner friends who go on a trip through New Jersey to find the famed burgers of White Castle. The movie also has a guest appearance by Ryan Reynolds. But the How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) star, Neil Patrick Harris, stole the scene when he appears as a womanizing, partying version of himself. His cameo was loved and he ultimately landed the role of HIMYM.
16. James Franco in Knocked Up
The rom-com starring Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl saw James Franco in a light-hearted cameo. Franco plays himself and is interviewed by Heigl’s character for Spiderman 3. As Heigl blubbers continuously around him, Franco makes a reference to popular shows like Punk’d and says that “If this is one of those joke shows, I’m not into it.” A hilarious cameo.
17. Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder
Starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr, the comedy movie, Tropic Thunder, surprised fans when Tom Cruise came in a bald and overweight avatar out of nowhere. Donning a fat-suit and prosthetic hands, Cruise’s cameo as movie producer Les Grossman was so comically profane and outrageous that fans could not believe their eyes. His role even got him a Golden Globe nomination.
18. Anna Q. Nilsson, H.B. Warner, and Buster Keaton in Sunset Boulevard
The yesteryear Hollywood film, Sunset Boulevard, was an acclaimed classic and features a memorable cameo by legendary actors. In a scene where the cast of the film is playing the card game bridge at the house of Norma Desmond’s character, the guests are said to be iconic stars from the silent era and soon, the next shot shows Nilsson, Keaton, and Warner as players. Comically, Keaton only says “pass” twice. A true cameo indeed.
19. Mike Tyson in The Hangover
The iconic 2009 comedy is about four friends who decide to celebrate at a bachelor party in Las Vegas, before one of them gets married. But everything turns upside down when one of them disappears and the others forget their memories. The movie features an iconic cameo by Mike Tyson where he helps the movie’s cast, after a raucous adventure. Interestingly, Tyson was not interested initially, but admired director Todd Phillips’ film, Old School, and gave his nod.
20. Tom Cruise in Goldmember
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Another movie where Cruise wowed the audiences with his ability to don disguises for a cameo and become an unrecognizable character is when he plays a scene in Mike Myers’ film. With false teeth, glasses, and a wig, Cruise essays Austin Powers in a self-referential scene where Steven Spielberg is shooting a movie on Powers. The scene is a film-within-a-film, and the cameo also features Gwyneth Paltrow, Danny DeVito, and others.
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