# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/41 "2016-02-16T23:50:26Z")
[Cyril Cusack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Cusack), a well known stage and screen actor at time, received 4th billing in _Harold and Maude_. He played Glaucus, an ice sculptor, and is onscreen for less than a minute. In the novelization his character has a bigger part: he’s continually trying to sculpt one perfect work of art from ice before it melts. He also loans the title duo tools. I don’t know if these scenes were shot or not, but it would explain why they had a name actor play a part any extra could have done. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/42 "2016-02-17T00:58:56Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > 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!! Speaking of Drew Barrymore, she was top billed and the only actor featured on the movie poster for Scream. She’s dead in, what, 5 minutes? ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/43 "2016-02-17T01:12:32Z")
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress went to Beatrice Straight, for her role in “Network.” An Academy record at just under 6 minutes. Thus speaketh the sainted Wiki. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/44 "2016-02-17T03:15:26Z")
I recall watching **Logan’s Run** thinking that it “starred” Farrah Fawcett. I was surprised that she was only in one(?) scene or sequence. Maybe 5 minutes? I would have caught it on TV (not first run) and seem to remember a lot of mentions of Farrah Fawcett in the promos. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/45 "2016-02-17T03:33:25Z")
Jude Law gets relatively little screen time in _Spy_, but he and Jason Statham not only get top billing but their pictures appear on the DVD disc. You know whose picture doesn’t appear on the disc? **Melissa McCarthy** , the star who’s onscreen pretty much continuously. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/46 "2016-02-17T04:02:52Z")
Sean Connery and John Cleese had top billing in Time Bandits as opposed to any of the actors who might appear throughout the film. They each had two fairly small roles, while the majority of the movie was concerned with people that were far smaller in stature, both physically and in fame. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/47 "2016-02-17T04:16:34Z")
While Mark Hamil’s role in _The Force Awakens_ is surely one for the record books, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford also deserve mention here. While they both have screen time and lines, it’s much less than Finn and Rey, the real leads of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/48 "2016-02-17T14:00:07Z")
Mid 60s’ **Operation Crossbow** is a wonderful example of this. Sophia Loren was at the top of her career when this WWII spy film was made. So in spite of having less than eight minutes on film she is the "star’ of the movie. She was featured on posters, in the previews, on radio spots, etc In reality, however, she, at best, had a bit part. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/49 "2016-02-17T15:16:03Z")
Oh, another one: In _Alien_, the characters die in reverse order of their prominence. Sigourney Weaver was, at the time, a no-name. ---
**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 17, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/50 "2016-02-17T16:10:13Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > 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.) Since the posts about Drew Barrymore getting killed off and so on should’ve made it clear by now that _SPOILERS AHOY,_ I’d sure like to mention “Sleuth”: the fourth-billed and fifth-billed and sixth-billed actors got less screen time put together than Paquin did in that X-MEN flick, and yet got higher billing. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/51 "2016-02-17T16:12:57Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > 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. Something similar happened with the movie _Can I do it Til I Need Glasses_\*, which was a series of short comedy bits strung together, starring no-name comics. Except that one of the no-name comics achieved Fame between the filming of the movie and its release – **Robin Williams**. All the ads for the film featured him prominently, even though he’s in precisely two sketches. They stuck his name in big letter at the top of the poster, and, later, on the DVD and VHS cases. It wasn’t “top billing”, but the credit for **Alex Hyde-White** got prominent placement in the closing credits for _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_, even though any shots of his face (he played the young Professor Jones to River Phoenix’s Indy in the opening sequence) ended up on the cutting-room floor. I think there’;s one still photo of him somewhere in the movie. \*It was the “sequel” to _If You Don’t Stop You’ll Go Blind_. ---
**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 17, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/52 "2016-02-17T18:35:05Z")
The video of _The Groove Tube_ prominently features Chevy Chase and Richard Belzer. Chase has about three minutes of screen time and Belzer not much more. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/53 "2016-02-17T19:26:19Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Just saw **Suffragette** yesterday. Meryl Streep is on the poster and billed as “and Meryl Streep”. She was on screen for one shortish speech and another line or two. YES! I came in to make this very observation 😃 She’s my favorite actress and I rented the film mostly to see her – what a ripoff! (I thought the movie was pretty much a hot mess,\* Iron-Jawed Angels\*, for all its anachronistic flaws, was far better. YMMV.) ---
**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 17, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/54 "2016-02-17T23:02:35Z")
Bruce Boa got pretty big billing for Full Metal Jacket and he was in one short scene. He played the Colonel that asked Joker about his helmet and peace symbol. ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/55 "2016-02-18T02:26:43Z")
Jet Li is top billed in THE EXPENDABLES 3 but is onscreen for less than 5 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/56 "2016-02-18T02:29:57Z")
Chronos writes: \> Sigourney Weaver was, at the time, a no-name. Interesting piece of trivia: Before _Alien_, Sigourney Weaver appeared in one minor movie, one minor TV show, and one minor TV mini-series, all in what were apparently small roles, and also in one other movie which was an Oscar Best Picture winner, although her time on screen was only ten seconds. That movie was _Annie Hall_. She appeared in the scene at the end where Woody Allen and Diane Keaton’s characters meet again at a showing of _The Sorrow and the Pity_. She played Allen’s date in the scene. You would never recognize her if you weren’t told that it was her: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/FdjUOYLBwd0/maxresdefault.jpg "Final Scene from Woody Allen's Annie Hall") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdjUOYLBwd0) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/57 "2016-02-18T04:34:41Z")
Sandra Bullock is in “Crash” for about 6 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/58 "2016-02-18T05:48:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Oh, another one: In _Alien_, the characters die in reverse order of their prominence. Sigourney Weaver was, at the time, a no-name. [quote=“Wendell\_Wagner, post:56, topic:746198”] Chronos writes: \> Sigourney Weaver was, at the time, a no-name. Interesting piece of trivia: Before _Alien_, Sigourney Weaver appeared in one minor movie, one minor TV show, and one minor TV mini-series, all in what were apparently small roles, and also in one other movie which was an Oscar Best Picture winner, although her time on screen was only ten seconds. That movie was _Annie Hall_. She appeared in the scene at the end where Woody Allen and Diane Keaton’s characters meet again at a showing of _The Sorrow and the Pity_. She played Allen’s date in the scene. You would never recognize her if you weren’t told that it was her: [/QUOTE] Well, in \*Alien \*at the end, would you rather see Sigourney Weaver in her tighty-whiteys, or Yaphet Kotto in his? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/59 "2016-02-18T08:07:41Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > YES! I came in to make this very observation 😃 > > She’s my favorite actress and I rented the film mostly to see her – what a ripoff! (I thought the movie was pretty much a hot mess,\* Iron-Jawed Angels\*, for all its anachronistic flaws, was far better. YMMV.) I felt about the same when I saw _ **“Suffragette”** _ in the theater last year. The biggest impact I got from the film was at the end credits, when they listed countries and the year women **finally** got the right to vote. Switzerland - 1971. Seriously Switzerland? It took you that long to give women the vote??? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198/60 "2016-02-18T14:31:34Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > Switzerland - 1971. > Seriously Switzerland? It took you that long to give women the vote??? I was surprised by that too! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highly-billed-actors-with-almost-no-screen-time/746198.md?page=4)