20 directors who made unexpected cameos in their movies

Some directors like to be a part of their movies and therefore decide to make a cameo appearance in their film that plays as a sort of easter egg for the audiences. After all, there is nothing more exciting for a film buff and an admirer of a particular director, than to unexpectedly see their favorite director on screen. Here are 20 such times, when directors surprised the viewers with some sneaky and hilarious cameos in their movies.

1. M. Night Shyamalan

In his famous movie, The Sixth Sense, which deals with a boy, Cole Sear, who can see and talk with spirits, the director made a small appearance when he came in as a doctor and was concerned that Cole was being abused by his mother. The director has a propensity to appear in his movies and has also made cameos in Glass.

2. Roman Polanski

In his movie, Chinatown, which is about the web of lies and deceit that a spy finds himself in, Polanski makes his cameo worthwhile. In a scene where the spy, Jake Gittes, gets his nostril slashed, it is Polanski who delivers the fatal blow. Most directors’ cameos are short and remain separate from the story, but Polanski’s act was essential to the storyline.

3. Mel Brooks

Blazing Saddles is a postmodernist satire and a Western black comedy that revolves around a corrupt politician and a sheriff who is liked by the people. The director, Mel Brooks, makes an interesting cameo in his movie as he plays multiple characters. He is the corrupt Governor and a Native American chief as well. And he plays out his characters with hilarity.

4. Steven Spielberg

In the movie, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which revolves around a second Jurassic Park, director Spielberg appears in the movie in a very subtle way, which can be missed if one does not pay attention. Towards the end of the film, when a CNN report covers the dinosaurs, one can see the reflection of Spielberg watching TV alongside Jeff Goldblum.

5. Jim Abrahams, David and Jerry Zucker

One of the most iconic comedies, Airplane!, is a film that parodies the disaster movie genre and has a ton of slapstick comedy, surreal humor, puns, and gags. All three of its directors play a minor part in the movie. In a scene where two air traffic controllers fail to correctly guide a plane, they are played by the Zuckers. And Abrahams plays the character of a religious zealot at the airport.

6. Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock is famous for including himself in his many movies. The director has found creative ways to sneak into his movies and has played cameos in movies like Lifeboat. But in North by Northwest, which revolves around an advertising man, who is mistaken for someone else and lands into trouble, Alfred is seen just after the opening credits close and plays a mute character who fails to get onto a bus.

7. Martin Scorsese

Taxi Driver is an iconic neo-noir psychological drama that revolves around an ex-marine, Travis Bickle, who works as a taxi and is disillusioned by the corruption. Scorsese has an unnerving cameo as he is a passenger in Travis’s taxi, who takes the cab to an apartment where a woman is talking to a man. The man then tells Travis, that the woman is his wife and he plans to kill the man and behave violently with his wife.

8. Wes Craven

The director is famous for his horror movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream. In the latter movie, which is about a serial killer who calls people before killing them, the director makes an ominous cameo right before Henry Winkler’s death. Craven shows up as a janitor in an attire that is reminiscent of his other horror movie’s villain, Freddy Krueger.

9. Richard Curtis

Curtis makes a sweet appearance in his movie, Love Actually, which is a rom-com about eight couples, from all age groups, who experience love in special ways, against the backdrop of Christmas. In the opening scene where a wedding is taking place, the director makes an appearance as one of the trombone players.

10. George Lucas

The creator of the famous Star Wars franchise also inserted himself in the installment Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. The movie is about Anakin’s descent into evil and the director appears as Baron Papanoida, who is a man from Pantora. He is seen wearing blue skin when Anakin goes to meet Sheev Palpatine in an opera house.

11. Todd Phillips

The Hangover is a comedy movie that revolves around four friends who get into trouble when they go to Las Vegas for a bachelor party and wake up the next day without any memories. Director Phillips appears early in the film as a mustache-clad man who is being intimate with a woman in the elevator. The director has made cameos in his other movies as well.

12. Michael Bay

The hit disaster movie, Armageddon, starring Bruce Willis, is about a group of deep-core drillers who are assigned by NASA to destroy a giant asteroid that is hurtling towards Earth. In the movie, the director makes a small appearance as he plays a cameo in a white-clad suit and appears as a scientist.

13. Peter Jackson

Jackson has always made a cameo in The Lord of the Rings Franchise. In the famous movie The Fellowship of the Ring, which is about Frodo and his journey as he encounters a powerful ring, Jackson is seen in the movie as a hilarious drunken man who is enjoying at the Prancing Pony Inn. He also makes an appearance in the franchise’s second and third installments as well.

14. Stanley Kubrick

Kubrick is another director who has an affinity for making cameos in his movies. In his famous thriller, Eyes Wide Shut, which features Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and revolves around a doctor who gets stuck in an erotic cult, Kubrick appears subtly as a man sitting in a nightclub while Bill meets with Nick Nightingale. Some people think that the person is a double but it is taken to be Kubrick himself.

15. Zack Snyder

The movie Justice League was marred by misfortune as it had multiple reshoots and Snyder left the movie due to his daughter’s death. When Joss Whedon took over and released the movie, it did not fare well. HBO Max then decided to release Snyder’s directorial cut which was better appreciated. In this version, Snyder appears as a customer at a coffee shop from which Lois Lane is leaving.

16. Martin Campbell

In the hit James Bond movie, Casino Royale, which revolves around the 007 spy trying to stop a criminal banker from winning a high-stakes poker game, Campbell sneaks into the movie for a shot cameo that sees him as a tanker truck driver. The appearance is brief and the director was still able to be a part of the movie.

17. Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller

In the movie, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, which is about a gambler who defeats a senator in poker and finds his life in danger as a result, directors, Rodriguez and Miller, appear in the movie as part of a gangster movie that Nancy is watching on TV. They therefore appear in a movie within a movie.

18. Quentin Tarantino

The director has made cameos in his various movies like Death Proof and Django Unchained. But in Pulp Fiction, which is a famous crime movie about the intertwined lives of a group of people, Tarantino makes an appearance as Jimmie Dimmick, who is a character caught in a sticky situation. The appearance proved that even the director can act well.

19. Francis Ford Coppola

In his famous movie, The Godfather: Part 3, which revolves around Michael Corleone who wants to end his family’s criminal activities, the director plays the character of Carlo Tramonti, who is a corrupt Archbishop. The cameo blends in seamlessly with the rest of the movie and allows Coppola to be a part of the movie. Coppola has made a cameo in his other movie, Apocalypse Now, as well.

20. Emerald Fennell

In the movie, Promising Young Woman, a young woman with past trauma, decides to take revenge against a man who assaulted her best friend, which led to her suicide. Director Fennell appears in the movie as a beauty vlogger who is seen on a laptop, providing a video tutorial to women about pouty lips.