# Highly billed actors with almost no screen time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2016, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198 "2016-02-15T10:32:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/21 "2016-02-15T17:03:47Z")
> **[Top List Thursday - Oscar winners with the shortest screen time](https://www.criticalhit.net/entertainment/top-list-thursday-oscar-winners-with-the-shortest-screen-time/)** > > I was going to start this off with a confession about my laziness, but while you say "lazy" I say "efficient". It's not that I want to do nothing, but ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/22 "2016-02-15T17:14:28Z")
Monica Bellucci in _Spectre_: her name is on every poster, very early in the opening credits, and is featured prominently in much of the marketing, but she only appears on screen for a few minutes and her character basically exists solely so Bond has someone else to fuck. ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/23 "2016-02-15T18:20:10Z")
Angelina Jolie was third billed in _Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow_ but was in it for about ten minutes. Laurence Olivier was also hyped as giving a performance from beyond the grave with CGI magic, but it amounted to basically one blurry scene of his face. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/24 "2016-02-15T18:34:50Z")
The all-time champ here is Eddie Murphy in _Best Defense_. Heavily hyped in the ads and 2nd billed after Dudley Moore. He wasn’t even in the [original version](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_Defense#Production) of the film! They later filmed some scenes and added him into it. He never interacts with the main characters. He did it for the paycheck and quickly regretted it. Terrible film. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/25 "2016-02-15T18:37:15Z")
When _Ragtime_ was released, there was a lot of publicity about James Cagney appearing in the movie. Granted, Cagney was a movie legend and he hadn’t made a movie in twenty years. But he was only in a couple of scenes in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/26 "2016-02-15T18:46:13Z")
I haven’t seen _Glengarry Glen Ross_. But doesn’t Alec Baldwin’s character only appear in one scene? I know his character didn’t even exist in the original play. Despite this, Baldwin’s on the poster and clips of his performance were used to promote the movie. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/27 "2016-02-15T19:37:40Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I haven’t seen _Glengarry Glen Ross_. But doesn’t Alec Baldwin’s character only appear in one scene? I know his character didn’t even exist in the original play. Despite this, Baldwin’s on the poster and clips of his performance were used to promote the movie. True. [http://www.avclub.com/article/why-iglengarry-glen-rossi-alec-baldwin-scene-is-so-82782](http://www.avclub.com/article/why-iglengarry-glen-rossi-alec-baldwin-scene-is-so-82782) “Yet he arguably sets the tone for the entire movie, providing a much more concrete sense of the pressure these salesman are under.” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/28 "2016-02-15T20:10:46Z")
All the good ones that I know are taken, so I’ll post a more obscure one. _Vanishing Point_. The film is billed as having [Charlotte Rampling](http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/YKAAAOSw5IJWeg6B/s-l300.jpg), but in the US version all her scenes were removed. So she’s one of two people on the packaging, but isn’t in the film at all! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/29 "2016-02-15T20:18:56Z")
All the Special Guest Stars on the series _Police Squad!_ died violently before the opening credits even ran. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/30 "2016-02-15T20:32:22Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Marlon Brando was _top-billed_ in SUPERMAN for his ten minutes of screen time. Brando also got an Oscar nomination for about 10 or 15 minutes of screen time in _A Dry White Season_. Not sure where he was billed–I only saw the movie once back when i came out on cable. How much screen time did Anthony Hopkins have in _The Silence of the Lambs_? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/31 "2016-02-15T20:54:31Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > How much screen time did Anthony Hopkins have in _The Silence of the Lambs_? > [@Superdude](#): > > [http://www.themovies.co.za/2015/01/29/top-list-thursday-oscar-winners-with-the-shortest-screen-time/](http://www.themovies.co.za/2015/01/29/top-list-thursday-oscar-winners-with-the-shortest-screen-time/) 16 minutes – which always surprises me because you feel his presence throughout! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/32 "2016-02-15T21:02:30Z")
Darth Vader was onscreen for 12 minutes in \*A New Hope. \* ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/33 "2016-02-15T21:14:19Z")
Just yesterday I saw “Infinitely Polar Bear,” a meh little film from about a year ago starring Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana. I believe third-billed was Keir Dullea, who appears in one scene that’s maybe four minutes long, tops. Cool to see him, though – looking quite a bit like he did when he was “aged” with makeup for that one scene back in 1968! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/34 "2016-02-15T21:14:58Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Darth Vader was onscreen for 12 minutes in \*A New Hope. \* And the actor isn’t top-billed, or second-billed, or third- or fourth- or fifth-billed; the end credits I just viewed don’t list him sixth or seventh or eighth, either. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/35 "2016-02-15T21:54:59Z")
Sean Connery was not credited for the 1991 Robin Hood , he was only in 1 scene. But he got $250k which he gave to charity. He also played Robin Hood in a 1976 movie where he got top billing. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/36 "2016-02-15T22:30:45Z")
Jack Nicholson was second-billed in _A Few Good Men_ but only appeared in four scenes. > [@Zeldar](#): > > What’s even weirder is the ex post facto reward that people like Kevin Costner got by appearing on the VCR box as a star in some jerkleg straight-to-video mess in which he had maybe one line or one shot of his face in the entire movie. I can’t even remember the name of the thing, but I was wary enough not to fall for the trick of renting it. That would be [_Sizzle Beach, U.S.A._](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072173/) (aka _Malibu Hot Summer_) Along similar lines: the indie film [\* Motorama\*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorama_(film)) features Drew Barrymore in a very brief, 30-second dream sequence. Even though she wasn’t highly billed, the DVD cover prominently features her face with the tagline: _“There’s only one way to win the girl of your dreams”_ …which has _nothing_ to do with the movie’s plot!! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/37 "2016-02-15T23:22:06Z")
_Sidekicks_ had Chuck Norris prominently billed, but he appeared in a cameo at the end and in some short dream sequences. But, of course, Chuck Norris can star in a film without even appearing in it. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/38 "2016-02-16T22:47:35Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Mark Hamill was second billed after Harrison Ford in _The Force Awakens_. He had about a minute of screen time, and no lines. That has to be some sort of record. Anna Paquin got stupid high billing for Days of Future Past with something like 10 seconds of screen time and also no lines. THAT has to be the record. (I understand there’s an alternate cut that they later put on DVD with her actually in the movie, but that’s irrelevant to the discussion, IMO. As originally seen in theaters and video release, she’s simply a background prop.) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/39 "2016-02-16T23:15:19Z")
Bryan Cranston had an unfortunately small amount of screen time in the recent **Godzilla** , particularly considering how front-and-center he was for all the marketing. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/40 "2016-02-16T23:44:59Z")
Michael O’Donoghue’s execrable [Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079583/) was advertised with a star-studded cast, including Carrie Fisher, Teri Garr, Margot Kidder, Debbie Harry, and several SNL stars including Bill Murray. Nearly all of these actors were onscreen for, at most, a few seconds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198.md?page=3)