# Humorous Allusions to Actors' Previous Roles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191 "2020-12-16T16:54:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**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 1, 2021, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/161 "2021-02-01T01:23:01Z")
> [@icon](#): > > William Shatner, plays himself and makes references to his role as T.J. Hooker in the movie _ **Showtime** _ with Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro, which ends with him jumping onto and bouncing of off the hood of a car. Which reminds me that John Schneider, of _ **Dukes of Hazzard** _ fame, later went on to play Jon Kent on _ **Smallville** _ — and the writers of course eventually had Tom Wopat show up as his good-ol’-boy pal who’s an in-over-his-head state legislator — with a Dodge Charger that, for plot-contrivance reasons, Wopat has to slide in through the window of, before Schneider drives so fast as to briefly get airborne. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2021, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/162 "2021-02-01T02:08:38Z")
But the Council of Elrond reference is straight from the book, not something added for his character in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/163 "2021-02-10T04:53:02Z")
My wife is into period dramas, with all the costuming and architecture and furniture and details. So I happened to walk through the living room at times when she was watching Queen Elizabeth I on TV or had rented The Queen. And later, because my wife liked the actress so much, we went to see The Debt when it was in the theaters. In contrast, I prefer espionage and action flicks – Die Hard and Sum of All Fears, that kind of thing. So it was rather interesting to rent R.E.D. because Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman were in it and see Hellen Mirren show up halfway through – as an assassin, no less, named Victoria. It was fun. Action flicks aren’t usually academy award material, but they’re fun. And I was watching R.E.D. a second time and thinking, “Didn’t she play in one of those British period pieces at one time or another?” And then she walked into the VP’s banquet and the woman greeting people took her invitation and said, “Oh, hello…Misses…Brown?” And I thought, “Oh, that’s brilliant! She’s Victoria – Queen Victoria who was nicknamed Mrs. Brown by her staff.” But later I thought, "No, no, that was Judy Dench in Mrs. Brown; sure they’re both C.B.E. Dames, but they hardly look similar. But R.E.D. was fun enough so I rented R.E.D. 2 which includes a part where the gang is trying to break into the super-secret asylum/prison beneath the Tower of London. For her part, Helen Mirren’s character just goes right in the front entrance and starts ranting and raving about how everyone is following her and there are assassins out to get her and they’ve all been put up to it by “my sister, that Scottish bitch, Mary!” and that was so much more blatant than the subtelty of “Mrs. Brown” in R.E.D. that I couldn’t dismiss it. And clearly that was a poke at Mirren’s earlier roles as the Snow Queen, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth II, and various other royal titles. –G! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/164 "2021-02-10T15:20:41Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > But the Council of Elrond reference is straight from the book, not something added for his character in the movie. That just makes the moment even more profound/absurd/amusing. I lost it completely seeing that for the first time. Made the film far more memorable for me than it would have been otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/165 "2021-02-10T18:23:02Z")
Of course, and I laughed out loud about it in the theater (with 2 or 3 other Tolkien fans), but my point is that it’s more a case of serendipity, than an intentional joke added because Sean Bean was in the movie. Unless it was the other way, and they case Mr. Bean because of the Elrond reference… ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/166 "2021-02-10T21:57:42Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > In The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon and Amy put lists of possible Halloween couples costumes on a white board. One entry on Amy’s side was Blossom and Joey. There was also one where Raj made an offhand comment along the lines of “You know the girl from _Blossom_ got a Ph.D. in neuroscience?” ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/167 "2021-02-10T22:00:20Z")
That was a couple of years before Mayim joined the cast, though. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/168 "2021-02-11T03:09:22Z")
There was an episode of Nash Bridges, which I happened to catch the end of, in which Philip Michael Thomas and Tommy Chong in guest roles were talking about the main characters along the lines of “man, I would not be wanting to try to work with those guys” (Don Johnson and Cheech Marin). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/169 "2021-02-11T03:24:41Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > That was a couple of years before Mayim joined the cast, though. They were playing the long game. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/170 "2021-02-11T13:56:26Z")
There was also a scene where Cheech and Chong walk into a newly legal pot shop, and Chong asks for Dave, with the predictable reply. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2021, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/171 "2021-02-12T14:29:33Z")
I just saw a [Verizon commercial](https://www.cbr.com/verizon-super-bowl-lag-ad-samuel-l-jackson/) with Samuel L. Jackson interrupted while giving an inspirational speech by being swallowed by some kind of ocean dwelling beast, just like in “Deep Blue Sea”. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2021, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/172 "2021-02-12T18:30:21Z")
_Fierce Creatures_ is a movie that stars Jamie Lee Curtis, whose character’s name is Willa. At one point in the movie, John Cleese calls her Wanda, she replies “huh?”, and he says “sorry, I meant Willa”. This is a callback to their previous movie together, _A Fish Called Wanda_, where Jamie Lee Curtis played Wanda. ---
**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 14, 2021, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/173 "2021-02-14T09:41:32Z")
In an episode of _The Simpsons_, we’re introduced to Sideshow Cecil, played by David Hyde Pierce. At one point (been awhile since I’ve seen the episode, but I believe that this either takes place in a dark room, or Cecil is snuck up on from the back), Bart says, “guess who?” Cecil replies, “Maris?” Maris is the never-seen first wife of Niles Crane, who was played by Pierce, in _Frasier_. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/174 "2021-02-14T18:41:50Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > I just saw a [Verizon commercial](https://www.cbr.com/verizon-super-bowl-lag-ad-samuel-l-jackson/) with Samuel L. Jackson interrupted while giving an inspirational speech by being swallowed by some kind of ocean dwelling beast, just like in “Deep Blue Sea”. And, in the ad which Capital One ran over the holidays, with John Travolta as Santa, and Jackson as one of his elves, Jackson is wearing a t-shirt that says “Happy Holidays ‘With Cheese’,” a reference to the “Royale with cheese” line from their film, _Pulp Fiction_. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkNKICqK-H4) ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/175 "2021-02-14T19:43:16Z")
There’s a bunch of Pulp Fiction nods in that. The $5 Milk Shake and the Twist, too. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/176 "2021-02-14T22:16:50Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > In an episode of _The Simpsons_ , we’re introduced to Sideshow Cecil, played by David Hyde Pierce. Really, just the fact that they cast David Hyde Pierce as Sideshow Bob’s (voiced by Kelsey Grammer) brother is a reference to both actors’ previous roles, since they played brothers on _Frasier_. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/177 "2021-02-14T22:47:29Z")
The Simpsons is about 90% allusion to something or other any way you slice it. Nothing remarkable about that on that show. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/178 "2021-02-14T23:22:56Z")
I don’t think that’s Samuel L. Jackson as an elf, I think that’s just Samuel L. Jackson wearing an elf hat to look festive. Santa calls him “Samuel,” and those look like really fancy digs for an elf. Elves are famously foul-mouthed, so the “are you still swearing” bit could go either way. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/179 "2021-02-15T06:22:59Z")
Every non-Terminator movie where Ah-nuld says “I’ll be back,” or some variation thereof. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9fAZJWV1tkI/maxresdefault.jpg "Arnold Schwarzenegger I'll Be Back Supercut") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fAZJWV1tkI) ---
**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, 2021, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/180 "2021-02-15T08:07:58Z")
Nothing in the OP said it had to be remarkable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191.md?page=10)