37 Lovable, Hateable, Forgettable or Eye-Rollable Celebrity Cameos in Movies and TV Shows

Did these cameos help or hurt their movie or show?
37 Lovable, Hateable, Forgettable or Eye-Rollable Celebrity Cameos in Movies and TV Shows

Celebrity cameos walk that fine line between awesome and awful. Suspension of disbelief is essential in a good movie or TV show, so a familiar face popping up can have that proverbial record-scratch moment that takes us right out of it. Sometimes the creators nailed the placement and joke, but your liking of or distaste for said celebrity plays a huge role in its awesomeness. In other words, it’s tricky business. 

Decide for yourself: Which of these fall into your good, bad or indifferent piles?

Judd Apatow

Judd Apatow went full frontal in Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. The Lonely Island's second movie crams in a bunch of different celebrity guest stars, but only one showed us their junk instead of their face: Judd Apatow. You'll know the scene when you see it, believe us. Perhaps it was a special treat for anyone who's complained about having to look at his face. CRACKED.COM

Bill Murray

You probably missed Bill Murray in Dumb and Dumber To. His character is hard not to notice, but since he never removes the mask, few have realized he's Harry's meth-cooking roommate, Ice Pick. Which turned out to be the least dumb decision in that film, in retrospect. CRACKED.COM

George Romero

George Romero was an FBI agent in Silence of the Lambs. After the conversation in which Clarice tells Hannibal Lecter about the lambs screaming in her nightmares, she's hauled away by a group of FBI agents. The agent with the beard is legendary zombie movie director George Romero. Fortunately, he resisted the temptation to reanimate Buffalo Bill's bathtub buddy. CRACKED.COM

The Simpsons

THE SIMPSONS Julian Assange CRACKED.COM Possibly the :EQ most top-secret cameo of all time, since even the producers didn't know where Assange was recording his lines.

Harvey Weinstein

Harvey Weinstein A FREAKING BARBIE MOVIE CRACKED.COM On this direct-to-DVD movie, My Scene Goes To Hollywood, Weinstein makes a bunch of young actresses jealous by isolating one of them and complimenting her, all while leering from behind his indoor sunglasses.

Lori Loughlin

Lori Loughlin SEINFELD CRACKED.COM Two years after Full House ended, she was on the Serenity now! episode of Seinfeld, playing Jerry's girlfriend. She later became the posterwoman for corruption and privilege in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal.

David Hasselhoff

David Hasselhoff GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 CRACKED.COM After he drunkenly berated his daughter, and after creating a reality show with the explicit goal of forcing his daughters to be famous, and despite slowly turning into the 8-foot surfboard version of himself from the SpongeBob movie, they gave him a bit part where he briefly plays Ego - -- Starlord's awful father.

Vanilla Ice

Vanilla Ice TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES II CRACKED.COM 30 years before he was, extremely sadly, the crown jewel of the president's New Year's Eve celebration, Ice entertained another nearly-maskless mob of cultural relics when he led the infamous Ninja Rap.

Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan GREMLINS 2 CRACKED.COM The future bane of web publishing tears off his tanktop and threatens to fight the gremsters before breaking the fourth wall and apologizing insincerely to the audience.

O.J. Simpson

O. J. Simpson DISNEY'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND CRACKED.COM Simpson appeared as himself in this already unsettling kids' show, which made the truly baffling choice to call its final episode White Rabbits Can't Jump.

Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen BEING JOHN MALKOVICH CRACKED.COM When Malkovich is starting to catch on that something is amiss, he consults his best friend - who would later become the world's foremost expert on manic paranoia-- Charlie tiger blood Sheen.

Hoffa

There's a big-deal director playing dead in Hoffa. Danny DeVito and Tim Burton have worked together more times than most people realize. In DeVito's Jimmy Hoffa biopic, Burton had perhaps the most on-brand role of his career. Не appears momentarily as a dead body in a coffin during a funeral. Presumably, Johnny Depp was hiding nearby behind some curtains. CRACKED.COM

South Park

The voice of Beavis and Butt-Head was in the South Park movie. One of the most memorable moments in Bigger, Longer & Uncut is when Kenny shows his face and speaks without the muffle for the first time. And it just so happens that it was Mike Judge who voiced him. For three whole lines that were sped up to hide his identity. T KE EPRICA T Unfortunately, the rumors of an upcoming Boomhauer movie with puppets are unfounded. CRACKED COM

Kurt Russell

One of Kurt Russell's most successful movies was one nobody knows he was in. R.J. MacReady was in Forrest Gump? Yup! Even though you didn't see him, you definitely heard him. When things didn't work out with the original Elvis impersonator, Russell was brought in to do the voice of The King as a favor to director Robert Zemeckis. Which surely was the less questionable solution than if they had brought in Nicolas Cage. CRACKED.COM

Edward Norton

An Oscar-nominated actor went undercover in Kingdom of Heaven. King Baldwin IV was the most famous king to have leprosy. In this 2005 Ridley Scott movie, he's played by Edward Norton in a mask. During shooting, that mask never came off, so nobody knew it was him. None of the cast knew they were working with the guy who had just been in Death to Smoochy. CRACKED.COM

Nathan Fillion

Nathan Fillion played a big blue creep in Guardians of the Galaxy. When Peter Quill and the gang arrive at the Kyln, they're threatened by a big alien (who gets lifted in the air by his nostrils by Groot). The voice of that alien? Fillion, who did it as a favor for James Gunn. Не did so well that he got to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, in a scene that was ultimately deleted. CRACKED COM

The Blues Brothers

The Blues Brothers featured a whole lot of cameos from musicians... .. and Steven Spielberg. The legendary director shows up as the county tax assessor Jake and Elwood must pay to keep the orphanage from being shut down. Which was pretty much the only payment he received for his contribution. 12 It was probably either that or more aliens/dinosaurs/sharks. CRACKED.COM

David Beckham

David Beckham is hiding in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. The famous soccer player took a break from retirement for an easy-to-miss cameo as a projectionist in Guy Ritchie's adaptation of the '60s spy series. Apparently, a funny mustache and glasses were all that was needed to make him pretty much invisible. Props to the wardrobe department for covering up his dopey-looking (and highly recognizable) tattoos. CRACKED.COM

George Harrison

There was a Beatle in Monty Python's Life of Brian. George Harrison not only donated $3 million to get this movie made, but also founded a company to produce it. And what did he get in return? 15 seconds of screen time as a random dude who breaks the fourth wall with a Liverpudlian allo, then disappears. If only they had given him a bigger role; just imagine how famous he might have been. CRACKED COM

Hot Fuzz

The stabby Santa in Hot Fuzz is a famous director. You might remember Simon Pegg getting knifed by an angry Kris Kringle at the beginning of Hot Fuzz. What you might not realize is that the assailant also directed The Lord of the Rings. Peter Jackson took no credit for his brief but memorable appearance. And the blade was forged in the fires of Mt. Doom! Probably. CRACKED COM

Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah was the voice of Griot in Black Panther. If that talking A.I. sounded familiar, it's almost certainly because you've seen an episode of The Daily Show. Considering a griot is an African storyteller, Noah (who grew up in Apartheid-era South Africa) was an appropriate choice. And he was able to understand Xhosa without subtitles, too. CRACKED.COM

Tom Hanks

FAMILY TIES Tom Hanks CRACKED.COM Не has a 3-episode drunk uncle arc in which he ultimately horks down enough vanilla extract to slap Michael J. Fox in his Michael J. Face.

Cate Blanchett

HOT FUZZ Cate Blanchett CRACKED.COM Edgar Wright thought it would be funny to get an Oscar winner in there but not see her face. And it was!

Carrie Fisher

THE BIG BANG THEORY Carrie Fisher CRACKED.COM This appearance was, bizarrely, the first time she ever met Star Wars co-star James Earl Jones.

Amy Adams

SMALLVILLE Amy Adams CRACKED.COM If you look closely, you can see Adams hiding behind a fat suit, CGI, and a bonkers storyline about binge-eating kryptonite and humans.

Robin Williams

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT Robin Williams CRACKED.COM Williams plays an audio engineer who does voices to scam people over the phone, and later give himself an alibi.

Quentin Tarantino

GOLDEN GIRLS Quentin Tarantino CRACKED.COM Tarantino says the residuals from his role as an Elvis impersonator helped him make Reservoir Dogs.

Glenn Close

HOOK Glenn 2 Close CRACKED.COM She plays the nervous pirate who was forced into the Boo Box and introduced a generation to claustrophobia.

Prince

NEW GIRL Prince CRACKED.COM Prince agreed to the part under the condition that the Kardashians not make an appearance. A PA had to burn all evidence that they had been invited.

Jennifer Lawrence

MONK Jennifer Lawrence OCGA 2001 2000 MENS WRESTLING 2002 BOWENS VOLLEYBALL GOVERS VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONS R CHAMPIONS R CHAMPIONS SH GIRL'S HOOPS HE CRACKED.COM This overeager mascot would go on to win an Academy Award (several years later, for something completely different).

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson MEN IN BLACK II CRACKED.COM Не makes a quick appearance as Agent М, delivering some vital information to MIB HQ and begging to become a Man In Black himself. This was 3 years before his child sexual abuse trial, but... come on, the rumors were already flying.

Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong DODGEBALL LOS LAS UT CRACKED.COM Armstrong gave the (also bad, in retrospect!) Vince Vaughn a pep talk about not giving up, but later admitted to having aided his own underdog story with an illegal doping scheme.

Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby JACK CRACKED.COM In retrospect, his bit part as Jack's tutor-mentor was probably close to the height of his popularity. This was in 1996, when he was still known more for his sweaters than for how good he got at slipping drugs into women's drinks.

Kevin Spacey

Kevin Spacey GOLDMEMBER CRACKED.COM Before his career-ending penchant for sexually assaulting minors in the entertainment industry came to light, he (very appropriately) cameo'd as the Hollywood version of Doctor Evil.

Chris Brown

Chris Brown THE О.С. CRACKED.COM Before his parallel careers in music and domestic battery, he had a three-episode stint on The О.С. as Will Tutt, Kaitlin's good guy boyfriend.

Jared Fogle

Jared Fogle SUPER SIZE ME CRACKED.COM In a segment where he speaks to high school kids, the future child pornography arestee claims my big thing was never smoking, it was never drinking... my big vice was food.

Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock MARNIE CRACKED.COM Hitchcock is known for cameos in his creepy films, but this one is IRL creepy. Не briefly follows actress Tippi Hedren out of a room, then gives a stern, fourth-wall-breaking look down the barrel of the camera. We now know that, at the time, he was in the midst of a campaign of sexual harassment and assault against Hedren.

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