Comedy movies tend to have more cameos than most other movies, as the simple presence of an actor can be a great joke in and of itself. Comedies give famous actors and other celebrities a chance to poke fun at their public personas, so they often subvert audience’s expectations of themselves for laughs.
Comedies are more likely to feature fun cameos from non-actors, since acting skills aren’t necessarily vital to getting a laugh in certain situations. While there have been many hilarious cameos from great comedic actors over the years, athletes, musicians and TV personalities can all get in on the fun.
10Bob Barker - Happy Gilmore (1996)
Bob Barker Sheds His Nice Guy Persona
Bob Barker makes a hilariously uncharacteristic cameo appearance alongside Adam Sandler inHappy Gilmore.Barker was known for his warm personality and his quick wit during the years that he spent hostingThe Price is Right.Happy Gilmoreflips this persona as he gets into a fist fight with Happy.
Bob Barker’s cameo highlights how Happy’s combative personality can get under anyone’s skin.
Bob Barker’s cameo highlights how Happy’s combative personality can get under anyone’s skin, even one of America’s most beloved TV hosts. It also shows that Happy doesn’t care one bit about his public image.Happy Gilmore 2already lists Travis Kelce, Eminem and a long list of pro golfers in its cast, and there could be more surprise cameos in store.
9Tom Cruise - Tropic Thunder (2008)
Cruise Gets A Rare Chance To Flex His Comedy Chops
Tom Cruise had plenty of memorable comedy roles early in his career, but he’s mostly been known as an action star more recently.Tropic Thundergave him the chance to remind audiences how funny he could be, as he plays a foul-mouthed studio executive.
Cruise’s performance is so eye-catching that there have been calls for aLes Grossman spinoffmovie ever sinceTropic Thunderfirst came out.Cruise makes plenty of big swings in his performance, and they all connect wonderfully. Despite his limited screen time, he proves to be just as funny as Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Steve Coogan or any of the other comedy greats in a stacked cast.
8Harrison Ford - Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)
Ford Is An Underrated Comedic Actor
Anchorman 2isn’t quite as funny as the original movie, but there are still some laugh-out-loud moments. Harrison Ford’s early cameo is one of them. He plays a seasoned news anchor tasked with selecting his successor, andhis no-nonsense, deadpan style causes some hilarious friction with Ron Burgundy’s overblown silliness.
BothAnchormanmovies are stuffed with great cameos. Most of these come in the street fight scenes between rival news teams, where Ben Stiller, Will Smith, Jim Carrey, Tina Fey and many more outstanding comedians have their brief moments. Harrison Ford’s cameo stands out for a couple of reasons, and not just because he’s separate from the fight scenes.
7Cate Blanchett - Hot Fuzz (2007)
Blanchett’s Cameo Is Easy To Miss
Edgar Wright’s Cornetto trilogyis so densely packed with jokes that it can be easy to miss one or two. As well as a rapid-fire rate of hilarious quips, there are also plenty of great visual gags, either as a result of Wright’s snappy direction or physical comedy. Cate Blanchett’s cameo is a joke that’s intentionally hard to pick up on.
Blanchett appears briefly as a forensic investigator, wearing a mask that almost completely obscures her real identity. It’s an absurd joke to intentionally waste such a talented and famous actor on a role that point-blank refuses to get the best out of her, butit’s a wonderful Easter egg for anyone who can identify her.
6Britney Spears - Austin Powers In Goldmember (2002)
Austin Powers Has Plenty Of Funny Cameos
TheAustin Powersmovies have a few funny cameos, butGoldfingertakes things to the next level in its opening credits. After Austin watches Steven Spielberg directing an adaptation of his life starring Tom Cruise, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito, he breaks out into a dance number that swings past Quincy Jones and Britney Spears.
EachAustin Powersmovie begins with a splash of fun, soGoldmember’s star-studded intro is par for the course. Still, Britney Spears' cameo stands out from the rest, as she has a mojo-fuelled dance-off with Austin Powers before revealing that she’s a fembot, which is a fun callback to the first movie of the trilogy.
5Bugs Bunny & Mickey Mouse - Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Two Cartoon Icons Share The Screen For A Brief Moment
WatchingWho Framed Roger Rabbitoften causes audiences to ask the same question over and over again: “how did they do that?” While this is mostly about the groundbreaking visual effects, it’s also strange to see Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse sharing the screen, since they’ve been icons of rival studios for so long.
Who Framed Roger Rabbitis packed with iconic cartoons, and not just from Disney’s stable.Seeing Betty Boop and Daffy Duck pop up evokes the same feeling as seeing an unexpected celebrity cameo in any other movie. Bugs and Mickey’s double-act is the most surprising of all though, and it creates one of the movie’s best moments.
4John Hurt - Spaceballs (1987)
Hurt Recreates One Of His Most Famous Roles
British actor John Hurt has an impressive list of credits to his name. Although he also enjoyed an illustrious career in theater and TV, one of his most famous film roles came in the 1979 sci-fi classicAlien.Spaceballssees him recreating the iconic chestburster scene, with the perfect punchline: “not again.”
Spaceballsis filled to the brim with references to sci-fi movies, aside from the obviousStar Warsparody. The chestburster scene is already funny, but the fact that Mel Brooks got John Hurt involved makes it much funnier. Theupcoming sequelSpaceballs 2will probably poke fun at more recent sci-fi movies, and similar cameos would be a good way to maintain a sense of continuity.
3Robert Patrick - Wayne’s World (1992)
Wayne’s World’s Pop Culture References Are Right Up To Date
Wayne’s Worldis known for its pop culture references, and its allusions to movies, commercials, music and TV make it a time capsule from the early ’90s. One reference that has aged brilliantly is Robert Patrick’s cameo, in which he seemingly reprises his menacing role as the T-1000 fromTerminator 2: Judgment Day.
Robert Patrick also appears as the T-1000 in 1993’sLast Action Hero,which stars Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Terminator 2came out in July 1991, just eight months beforeWayne’s World.This topical humor is in line with the comedy movie’s roots as aSaturday Night Livesketch, although Robert Patrick’s cameo is just as funny over 30 years later.Wayne’s Worldrightly predicted that Patrick’s character inTerminator 2would go down in history as a cinematic icon.
2Matt Damon - EuroTrip (2004)
Damon Loves An Occasional Cameo
Matt Damon has a habit of popping up in movieswhen audiences don’t expect to see him. He’s a slimy politician inDrive-Away Dolls,an actor inThor: Ragnarokand a heightened version of himself alongside Ben Affleck inJay and Silent Bob Strike Back.His appearance inEuroTripis just one of many memorable cameos.
Matt Damon ensures that his short screen time is hard to forget inEuroTrip,and not just because of his obvious star power. The song “Scotty Doesn’t Know” is an in-your-face anthem that sums up Damon’s character as a tattooed punk rocker who clearly plays into the sex appeal of his music.
1Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - Airplane! (1980)
The NBA Legend Provides One Of The Movie’s Best Moments
It’s always a fun surprise to see a famous athlete making a cameo in a movie, like Mike Tyson inThe Hangoveror Brett Favre inThere’s Something About Mary.While these cameos are generally a mixed bag, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s brief appearance inAirplane!stands out as the gold standard.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was in the prime of his career by the time he appeared inAirplane!
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was in the prime of his career by the time he appeared inAirplane!The only character who recognizes his true identity is a child who’s invited up to the flight deck. To everyone else, he is humble First Officer Roger Murdok. Why exactly he’s trying to keep a low profile is never explained, but that’s just part ofAirplane!’s absurd humor.
