# Surprising cameos in movies or TV shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437 "2014-02-27T18:50:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/1 "2014-02-27T18:50:01Z")
That “obscure movies” thread had a reference to Ron Jeremy in a mainstream picture, which made me think of this. So, what are some of yours? Here are two that immediately come to mind for me: “Calendar Girls”: The movie was disappointing, but I did watch it to the end, and I was kind of glad I did because the women are all staying at a hotel along with several members of Anthrax. 😃 I found that quite amusing. One of Pee-Wee Herman’s movies has Twisted Sister in a cameo. The movie is rated PG because they’re performing a song called “Burn In Hell”. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/2 "2014-02-27T18:57:01Z")
[Thread from several years ago.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=589556) (But obviously feel free to add more.) ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/3 "2014-02-27T19:51:00Z")
It shouldn’t have been a surprise, but the cameos at the end of 21 Jump Street surprised me when they were revealed. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/4 "2014-02-27T19:56:15Z")
Bill Murray’s appearance in _Zombieland_ surprised and tickled me. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/5 "2014-02-27T20:03:22Z")
Oscar the Grouch in the Muppet Movie. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/6 "2014-02-27T20:18:14Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Oscar the Grouch in the Muppet Movie. A cameo in a Muppet movie should never be a surprise… DeNiro in American Hustle surprised me. ---
**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 27, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/7 "2014-02-27T20:22:39Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Oscar the Grouch in the Muppet Movie. I was just about to mention that one. Most recently, I would say James Gandolfini’s role as the CIA Director in _Zero Dark Thirty_ was the most surprising, esp. because it took me a few minutes to realize it was him! ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/8 "2014-02-27T20:32:42Z")
One of my recent favorites is from the remake of **The Italian Job** , where Seth Green’s nerdy tech character says that he originally invented Napster when he was in college but his roommate stole it. They show a flashback of him asleep in college and someone sneaks in and steals a disk that says “Napster” on it. The thief in the scene was actually Shawn Fanning, the creator of Napster. And possible one of the best of all time, from [Annie Hall](http://youtu.be/sXJ8tKRlW3E) ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/9 "2014-02-27T20:37:29Z")
[This one.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn9yJrrm2tk) Made the damn show. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/10 "2014-02-27T20:37:42Z")
Well, it’s very recent and so deliberate as to be contrived, but I was tickled by the sudden, brief appearance of Captain America in _Thor: The Dark World_. I was also surprised there was no Nick Fury appearance. Don’t they have him signed to play the role about thirty-leven times? ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/11 "2014-02-27T20:40:20Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > And possible one of the best of all time, from [Annie Hall](http://youtu.be/sXJ8tKRlW3E) Nice… Was expecting Goldblum, but this one is better since Goldblum was a nobody when he did AH, so not really a cameo. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/12 "2014-02-27T21:11:04Z")
Back to School with: Kurt Vonnegut Oingo Boingo Sam Kinison ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/13 "2014-02-27T21:13:01Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Back to School with: > > Kurt Vonnegut One of the most hilarious and unexpected punchlines in movie history. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/14 "2014-02-27T21:27:15Z")
I was watching The Adventures of Baron Munchausen the other night with my kid and forgot the very brief cameo by Sting. ---
**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 27, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/15 "2014-02-27T21:37:59Z")
Brett Favre in [There’s Something About Mary](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0129387/?ref_=nv_sr_5) ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/16 "2014-02-27T22:00:57Z")
In the most recent episode of “The Good Wife”, when the father of Marilyn’s baby is revealed as Peter Bogdonavich! ---
**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 27, 2014, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/17 "2014-02-27T22:10:16Z")
Tom Cruise in _Tropic Thunder_. Bonus point, 'cuz it wasn’t until his second appearance that I figured out it was a cameo. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/18 "2014-02-27T22:16:09Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Tom Cruise in _Tropic Thunder_. Bonus point, 'cuz it wasn’t until his second appearance that I figured out it was a cameo. Do we maybe need a working definition of “cameo” here? ---
**Author:** ![Roundabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dec6dc/32.png) [@Roundabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roundabout)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/19 "2014-02-27T22:39:46Z")
Michael Jackson on The Simpsons. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/20 "2014-02-27T22:59:31Z")
I was watching “Two and a Half Men” a couple of seasons ago where Charlie had to use the restroom quite desperately, but it was in use. The occupant eventually comes out and is none other than Eddie Van Halen, carrying his guitar. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437.md?page=2)