# Surprising cameos in movies or TV shows

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437>\
**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:** 2\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/61 "2024-01-08T17:13:24Z")

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Roger Daltrey not only sang the CSI theme songs, he guest starred in the episode “Living Legend”…as five different characters.

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**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-cameos-in-movies-or-tv-shows/682437/62 "2024-01-08T17:25:28Z")

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> [@buddha\_david](#):
>
> 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!

As a _Doctor Who_ fan, I was more stunned by John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) showing up as one of Gandolfini’s aides. Barrowman was the lead on a TV show at the time, and the fact that he’d be in _Zero Dark Thirty_ for just two or three lines of dialogue was jarring.

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