Yeah, I think we’re drifting away from what I was looking for, which is established actors showing up out of nowhere. The Milton Berle reference is a good one, too. I’m not looking for people before they hit it big.
Ben Stiller is in the music video for the Jack Johnson song Taylor.
Also, there are numerous celebrities in the music video for Moby’s We Are All Made of Stars, including Corey Feldman, Sean Bean, and Ron Jeremy.
Benicio Del Toro is in Madonna’s La Isla Bonita video.
From off the top of my head:
Iron Maiden’s Can I Play With Madness features Monty Python’s Graham Chapman in one of his last appearences before his death.
This one is not to be watched at work … extremely violent:
Slayer’s Repentless features a prison riot and features Danny Trejo
Not sure if it’s what the OP is looking for, but I just like Andy Sandburg and The Lonely Island’s appearance in Jack Johnson’s At or With Me.
Pre-fame randomness would have to be Courtney Cox’s appearance in that Bruce Springsteen video.
Beastie Boy’sMake Some Noiseis full of random celebrity cameos
Madonna’s Papa Don’t Preach had Danny Aiello
IIRC Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Want To Have Fun her father was Wrestling’s Captain Lou
Lauper also had Andre the Giant in her Goonies video
Arnold Schwartzenegger in Guns N Roses You Could Be Mine
Rodney Dangerfield in Billy Joel’s Tell Her About It
Arsenio Hall in Paula Abdul’s Straight Up Video
Not Random since wives of singers:
Christie Brinkley in Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl
Tawny Kitaen in Whitesnake’s Here I Go Again
George Harrison’s Crackerbox Palace (truly a weird video) features several Monty Python alums, including Neil Innes (he’s pushing the pram in the first scene) and Eric Idle (who also directed the video). According to the Wikipedia entry, John Cleese is also in the video, though I can’t spot him.
Their appearance in the video isn’t entirely random, however; Harrison was friends with the Pythons, and he had formed HandMade Films to finance “Monty Python’s Life of Brian”.
One I forgot to mention on my own:
“Weird Al” Yankovic as the producer in the Ben Folds song “Rickin the Suburbs.”
And Patton Oswalt, Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant (the latter 2 from Reno 911!") appear in Weird Al’s video to “Foil.”
Paul McCartney shows up at the end of Tracey Ullman’s “They Don’t Know” video
It’s not exactly a music video, but one of ELO’s Wembley concerts in 1978 (the Out of the Blue Tour) was a charity benefit (attended by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester), and a video recording was made of the concert. The band was introduced by Tony Curtis, of all people.
Sasha Baron Cohen is in Madonna’s “Music” video.
He’s the cop.
Or definitely him at 1:29.
Matt Dillon was already famous at the time. At least he’d already done all his 80s teen roles that established his initial fame. This was around 5 years after “The Outsiders,” for example. I don’t know the story behind the video but I think he was friends with the band.
I was working at a restaurant when this video came on, and one of the waitresses (a seasonal worker from England) said “Look. It’s Ali G!”
I had no idea who that was, and I don’t think anyone else did either.
So, if I know him from anything at first, it’s from that music video. Borat? It’s that guy who played that character that was in the Madonna video.
How about:
Eric Roberts in The Killers’ “Mr Brightside”
Dennis Hopper and Danny Devito in Puff Daddy’s “Victory”
Julian Lennon’s “Stick Around” featured appearances by Jami Gertz, Michael J. Fox, Joe Piscopo and Martin Kove. IIRC Fox had turned up to watch the filming and, because he was already wearing a “Pizza” t-shirt, got a cameo as a delivery guy.
I remember seeing Jaime Pressly (Joy from My Name is Earl) in a Marilyn Manson video, but I wouldn’t have noticed her if I hadn’t seen the video (which was filmed a few years earlier) after seeing her in that show.
But the absolute **goldmine **of “Seemingly random actors in music videos” - and I really, really mean this - is Sesame Street’s “Put Down The Duckie” - not just for the number of them but the sheer range of idioms they come from - television and stage comedy and drama, pop music, jazz, folk, classical, world music, professional sports, etc. It’s a bit dated and I’ll admit I only have a vague idea who the athletes are, but it’s worth a watch. Just wait for it…
Some of these people get around in the music video world
He also is the cop in Rihanna’s “Bitch better have my money”
Danny Devito is also in One Direction’s “What makes you beautiful”
But the bigger WTF is Puff Daddy appearing in Lonely Island’s “Go Kindergarten”
Forgot to mention James Corden turning up in the middle of Rizzle Kicks’ “Mama Do The Hump” for no particular reason. Just walks in and starts dancing.