I know we’ve done this thread quite a bit, but I thought I’d start one for actors from more recent shows that you’ve noticed in bit parts in other movies.
(And because I have a couple of good ones).
War Of The Worlds: Kenny from Rescue Me was the boat captain of the car ferry that gets attacked and pulled under. I think he had one line.
The Italian Job (remake): Ed Norton’s security guard was…Oscar from The Office.
Jin from Lost has been in tons of stuff, but I saw him turn up in two movies I saw recently: he was Doc Ock’s assistant in Spiderman 2, and he had a really small role in The Onion Movie as one of the guys from the rape-theme role-playing party game scene.
Bump - I was watching A.I. Artificial Intelligence recently, and in the scene where Gigolo Joe tries to talk the teenagers into giving him and David a ride to Rouge City, one of the teenagers is Adrian Grenier, Vinny Chase from Entourage.
I just saw Bottle Shock and spotted Mary Pat Gleason from The Middleman in a bit part. Eliza Dushku also shows up in Bottle Shock in a pretty small role (though she was billed in it).
Richard Schiff, a major supporting character in West Wing, showed up on BURN NOTICE just long enough to say hi and get shot. (It reminded me of the “Tonight’s Special Guest Star” openings of POLICE SQUAD.)
On last season’s finale John Mahoney (Frasier’s dad) guest starred as the head of the mysterious organization that burned Michael Weston and was only on screen for about 5 minutes.
(There have been others too but I’m blanking; Tyne Daly is said to be making a guest appearance to reunite with Sharon Gless when the series resumes, but I’m hoping it won’t be a bit part.)
Speaking of Sharon Gless co-stars and FRASIER, I remember being surprised a few years ago when Hal Sparks, then a star of Queer as Folk, appeared as a desk clerk on FRASIER in a role that was basically an extra. He was also in Dickie Roberts Child Star in a tiny role as a literary agent, also while QAF was in production. I can’t imagine he earned much from either of these, but I suppose every little bit helps and all.
I (regrettably) saw GI JOE last week and there were several bit parts/small roles with recognizable actors, including Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje(Adebisi on OZ and a recent guest star on MONK) speaking in his English accent for a change rather than the African he usually uses on programs. (I didn’t see him on LOST- was he a regular or a guest star? African or English?) Though he’s not a TV star Brendan Fraser was basically a walk-on as a drill instructor.
While his most recent regular role was years ago (THE TORKELSONS maybe)
I remember being surprised seeing William Schallert (Patty Duke’s TV dad) as the mayor, a role that was basically a walk-on. I listened to the commentary later and he did the appearance as a favor to Michael Ball, who was a fan of PATTY DUKE and wanted to feature him somewhere in the program. (He offered him the role of a lecherous great-uncle but Schallert understandably declined.)
He’s not from a show, I guess, but Christopher Lloyd is a Klingon commander in Star Trek Three: The Search for Spock. I never would have picked him out under the makeup, but his voice is so distinctive.
Jewel Straite (Kaylee from Firefly had a role as a kidnap victim on The X-Files.
Sampiro, I think you might be missing the spirit of the OP. I’m looking for actors you wouldn’t even have recognized a few years ago that you now notice in earlier roles.
As an example, if you were recently watching a Frasier re-run or a West Wing re-run and Michael Weston had a bit part.
I’m not sure if these count, but I was a bit surprised to see “Law and Order” stars Mariska Hargitay as a hooker in “Leaving Las Vegas,” and Christopher Meloni as a cop in “Twelve Monkeys.”
Schiff also plays Dustin Hoffman’s jerk of a boss in the recent romance Last Chance Harvey. Not a big leap from his jerk character in The West Wing.
Speaking of which, Bradley Whitford, Josh Lyman on The West Wing, played the jerk of a son in Bicentennial Man.
The guy who plays the janitor on *Scrubs *had earlier played a Chicago cop in *The Fugitive * (they even built a *Scrubs *episode around it). He also played a government agent in Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull Movie That Really Sucked.
Not too recent, but that reminds me that the dad from Beverly Hills 90210 had a tiny part as a Philadelphia cop in Trading Places (in the scene where Dan Ackroyd is being booked). Blink and you’ll miss him.
Both Hiro and Matt Parkman from Heroes have bit parts in Austin Powers, I think it is the third one. Hiro speaks one line about a Godzilla look-alike destroying Tokyo. Matt Parkman is one of the chest painted guys who spell TIT(AN)S.
Adam Baldwin (from Firefly and Chuck) had a medium-sized role as a military guy in Independence Day - which seems to be second only to Die Hard in the number of times it’s replayed on basic cable.
I occasionally watch Las Vegas reruns at lunch, and I was surprised to see both Jin from LOST and Ando from Heroes playing brothers in an episode. Interestingly enough, I think Jin was the one who spoke perfect English while Ando had trouble with it, an interesting role reversal.
I *was *grateful…still am actually…
Though in my defense, there is one scene in particular that can reduce a person down to basic, primal, caveman-like grunts(and grammar).
When ST3 came out, Lloyd was best known for his role on Taxi.
