1 John Candy’s Low-Paid Cameo
Actor John Candy received $414 for his cameo in Home Alone, which was lower than what was paid to the pizza delivery guy. He agreed to the role as a favor to the director and improvised all of his dialogue.
2. Actor James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars, and Carrie Fisher, who portrayed Princess Leia in the same franchise, had never met until they made cameo appearances in Season 7, Episode 14 of The Big Bang Theory, which aired in 2014.
3. Entertainment Tonight critic Leonard Maltin gave Gremlins a negative review after its release. Although the director was initially hurt, he later invited Maltin to film a cameo in the sequel, Gremlins 2, where the Gremlins attack Maltin for his bad review.
4. Avi Arad suggested making Stan Lee cameos a tradition, but Sam Raimi initially resisted having Lee cameo in Spider-Man. Raimi explained, “Imagine you’re a minor director in England doing Macbeth, and you’re told, ‘Put the writer in the play.’ It sounds absurd.”
5. Despite making a cameo in the film, Maria Von Trapp, whose memoir inspired the movie “The Sound of Music,” did not receive an invitation to the premiere. When she inquired why, producers told her, “There were no seats left,” offering no apology.
6 Rick James’ Chappelle Show Success
Singer Rick James’ cameo on Chappelle’s Show was so successful that it led to his return to touring and performing. Sadly, he passed away a few months into the tour.
7. Rapper Coolio’s appearance in Batman & Robin served as a prelude to the fifth installment of the series. Coolio, uncredited as Dr. Jonathan Crane (aka The Scarecrow), would have been the main villain in Batman Unchained.
8. Brad Pitt agreed to a brief cameo in Deadpool 2 for the daily minimum rate, which was less than $1,000 per day, and a cup of coffee hand-delivered by Ryan Reynolds.
9. The 2011 Muppets film initially included an Elmo cameo, but Children’s Television Workshop lawyers stopped it. Ironically, the scene featured the Muppets trying to recruit Elmo, only to be blocked by his lawyers.
10. Hugh Jackman agreed to cameo in X-Men: First Class on two conditions: FOX had to make a charitable donation to his children’s school, and he wanted to be the only character to curse. The studio agreed to both terms.
11 ‘N SYNC’s Star Wars Removal
George Lucas allowed the members of ‘N SYNC to make a cameo in Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones to please his daughters. However, the final version of the film removed the footage.
12. Vin Diesel negotiated with Universal Studios to trade his cameo in Tokyo Drift for the full rights to the Riddick franchise. While Riddick 2 had flopped, Diesel saw its potential and later produced Riddick 3 on a more sensible budget, making it a success.
13. Lieutenant Uhura from Star Trek inspired Mae Jemison, the first female African-American astronaut, to apply to NASA. Jemison later made a cameo appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
14. Billy Crystal and Robin Williams made an impromptu cameo on Friends. They wandered in from a nearby set and improvised the opening scene for the episode “The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion.”
15. In The Dark Knight, the man who shouted, “We are not intimidated by thugs,” at the Joker was actually Patrick Leahy, the senior senator from Vermont and a Batman fan. Leahy has had a cameo role in every Batman film since Batman Forever.
16 Wayne Gretzky’s Soap Opera Cameo
Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky made a cameo on the soap opera The Young and the Restless in 1981. As a huge fan of the show, Gretzky played a mafia boss with the line, “I’m Wayne from the Edmonton operation.”
17. Stephen Baldwin got a tattoo of the initials “HM” for Hannah Montana after making a pact with Miley Cyrus. Miley Cyrus promised him a cameo on the show if he got the tattoo. However, the cameo never happened, and Baldwin has since expressed regret over the tattoo.
18. Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell made a cameo in the movie Apollo 13. He requested to play the captain of the ship that rescues him, as that was the same rank he held when he retired from the Navy.
19. Seinfeld paid actor Larry Thomas $2,610 for his role as the “Soup Nazi”. Since then, he has made a living through autograph shows, personal appearances, and Cameo.
20. Conan O’Brien won a charity auction for a walk-on cameo role in How I Met Your Mother. He appeared as a random guy in the background at the bar.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 Carrie Fisher and George Lucas’ Hook Cameo
A scene from Hook (1991) features a couple kissing on a bridge while Tinkerbell soars overhead, scattering fairy dust that propels them skyward. The couple was actually George Lucas and Carrie Fisher in an uncredited cameo.
22. Saddam Hussein was forced to repeatedly watch his cameo in South Park while in prison. Afterward, the show’s creators received a signed photo of him.
23. Warner Bros. kept George Clooney’s return to ER in the episode “Such Sweet Sorrow” a secret by submitting a version of the episode without him to NBC. At the last minute, they submitted an “edited” version that included his cameo, leaving NBC no time to screen it before it aired.
24. Wolverine almost had a cameo in Spider-Man (2002). Hugh Jackman traveled to New York to film a scene, but the idea was scrapped when the production team realized they had lost Wolverine’s suit.
25. Radiohead’s lead guitarist, Johnny Greenwood, made a cameo as a guitarist in the wizard rock band in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
RE: Fact #22 (Saddam Hussein’s South Park Cameo) – I’m not sure I’m okay with that. Forcing prisoners to be humiliated just seems wrong.
Yeah, that’s not exactly a good look.
RE: Fact #16 (Wayne Gretzky’s Soap Opera Cameo) – You’re gonna be in trouble if you don’t pay up.
That’s straight out of Batman and Robin, Mr. Freeze style.
RE: Fact #6 (Rick James’ Chappelle Show Success) – CHARLIE MURPHY!!!
I had no idea who he was until that sketch.
“… Pancakes.” *nods*
RE: Fact #13 (Mae Jemison’s Star Trek Cameo) – Dr. Martin Luther King convinced Nichelle Nichols to stay on Star Trek.
I didn’t believe you at first, but hey, you learn something new every day.
The ST fandom knows all about that. He said his kids loved the show and he was happy to see a woman of color in a big role.
RE: Fact #3 (Gremlins Attack Leonard Maltin) – They’ve been friends for ages, so it really hurt when it happened. It put a big strain on their friendship, but it looks like they’re good now.
RE: Fact #8 (Brad Pitt’s Deadpool 2 Cameo) – Poor Ryan’s everyone’s gofer! He’s always running around, getting coffee and stuff, and Wolverine and Jake Gyllenhaal are convincing people it’s a sweater party when it’s not.
Poor guy, having to marry Blake Lively and be considered one of the hottest men alive. I feel for him, really.
RE: Fact #13 (Mae Jemison’s Star Trek Cameo) – Whoopi Goldberg saw Michelle Nichols and thought, “Hey, I can do that!”
RE: Fact #18 (Apollo 13 Astronaut’s Movie Cameo) – Lovell actually played the captain of the ship that picked up the Apollo 13 crew after they landed in the ocean. He’s the guy shaking Hanks’ hand in the scene where the astronauts come aboard. They wanted him to be a high-ranking admiral, but he said, “I retired as a captain and a captain I’ll stay,” so they made him the ship’s captain instead.
RE: Fact #11 (‘N SYNC’s Star Wars Removal) – Whew, glad they didn’t keep that ‘N SYNC clip in there, the movie would have been awful.
I mean, if you’re gonna put a boy band member in, you gotta go with Justin Timberlake as Anakin, right?
RE: Fact #4 (Stan Lee’s Cameo Tradition) – It’s true, Shakespeare wasn’t much of an actor. He couldn’t reach the people in the back of the theater.
Shakespeare wasn’t just a writer, he was a performer too! He even played the Ghost in Hamlet, since they didn’t have enough actors.
You mean like “Shakespeare in Love”?
RE: Fact #26 (Joe Frazier Inspired Rocky Scenes) – Frazier hopped on a Greyhound, you know, the “dog,” and headed north from the South to Harlem. He wound up working in a slaughterhouse in Philly. He said, “I was the drain man. My job was to make sure the blood went down the drain. But sometimes, early in the morning, I’d go down that long rail of meat and work on my punching. That’s how Stallone got the same idea for Rocky, just like he used the story about me training by running up the steps of the museum in Philly. But he never paid me for any of my ideas. I only got paid for a walk-on part. Rocky is a sad story for me.”
RE: Fact #9 (Elmo’s Muppets Cameo Blocked) – Why’s Kermit in both worlds but not Elmo?
Kermit was on both shows before Disney took over the Muppets in 2004. Sesame Street is owned by a different company, so Disney can’t use Elmo or Big Bird. Kermit hasn’t been on Sesame Street since 2004, except for a couple of quick appearances.
That’s kinda sad, right? I grew up watching Sesame Street and Kermit was in almost every episode. I definitely knew him more as a Sesame Street character than a Muppet.
So, Disney doesn’t own Elmo, Big Bird, and all those Sesame Street guys… not yet, anyway.
RE: Fact #38 (Jeff Bezos in Star Trek Beyond) – Jeff Bezos takes a break from being the richest guy in the world.
RE: Fact #14 (Billy Crystal and Robin Williams’ Friends Cameo) – Friends had a lot of famous faces dropping by during its run. It was pretty common for big stars to pop in for a quick role. You had Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Bruce Willis, and Christina Applegate, just to name a few. Williams and Crystal’s cameo was short, happening before the credits even rolled, but it had a pretty cool story behind it. They were just hanging out on another set nearby when they got asked to do it.
They were shooting the season 3 episode when Williams and Crystal just happened to be working next door. The Friends writers saw them and asked if they’d be up for a little cameo. They said yes, so they got thrown right into the opening scene, on the fly. It’s not often you get a part and shoot it all in the same day, but Williams and Crystal were totally cool with it. They made up the whole thing about Tomas and his wife on the spot. The improv must have been contagious because Matt LeBlanc even improvised his interruption of their conversation and Courteney Cox threw in a line about forgetting her original story.
Chandler looked really cool, like a heroin chic model.
RE: Fact #12 (Vin Diesel’s Riddick Franchise Deal) – I’m totally digging the prison planet escape part in Chronicles of Riddick.
That run was just awesome, like totally glorious.
Escape from Butcher Bay is an awesome Riddick game, you should check it out!
That comment totally reminded me of this game – I loved it!
RE: Fact #21 (Carrie Fisher and George Lucas’ Hook Cameo) – It’s so frustrating! Everyone’s saying it’s them, but no one can actually prove it with an interview or anything.
RE: Fact #28 (Thin Red Line Cut Cameos) – I’d pay a fortune to see the full version. It’s my all-time favorite movie.
RE: Fact #1 (John Candy’s Low-Paid Cameo) – Catherine O’Hara looks like she’s barely holding it together in those scenes, especially in the van.
They’ve been buddies since their SCTV days.
He was gone too soon.
Turns out he was just making up all that polka stuff as he went along. Makes sense now, though.
Polka polka polka!
He totally pulled that off, man. “He was fine, he was fine…” Like, after a couple of weeks of therapy he was finally talking again. That line kills me every time. So cool that he could think of that on the spot.
We hung out at the funeral home all day. Like, the whole day.
Kids bounce back pretty easily.
That line just cracks me up every time.
RE: Fact #24 (Wolverine’s Scrapped Spider-Man Cameo) – With all the hype around MCU connections, I wonder what people would have thought about a huge cameo back then.
RE: Fact #3 (Gremlins Attack Leonard Maltin) – Gremlins 2 is just amazing, like nothing else we’ll ever see. It’s a huge middle finger to the studio and the whole idea of making sequels just for money.
RE: Fact #41 (Kurt Vonnegut’s Back to School Cameo) – The teacher gives him a C, saying he doesn’t know anything about Kurt.
I love this movie. I also love watching young RDJ.
I was a little confused about the “J” and why you think Rodney Dangerfield is young in that movie.
RE: Fact #7 (Coolio’s Batman & Robin Cameo) – He totally could have been a villain. Even his mom thinks he’s a little crazy.
RE: Fact #19 (Soup Nazi’s Lasting Fame) – He was the Saddam Hussein guy on Arrested Development.
RE: Fact #7 (Coolio’s Batman & Robin Cameo) – Billy Dee Williams was in the first Batman movie as Harvey Dent, too!
I saw on factrepublic that they were supposed to keep him in Batman Returns, have him get zapped with electricity, and turn him into Two-Face. But they dropped him from the sequel and someone else ended up playing Two-Face in Batman Forever.
His contract had a pay-or-play clause, so he got paid no matter what.
He finally got to play Two Face in The Lego Batman Movie, which was a pretty cool shout-out.
RE: Fact #24 (Wolverine’s Scrapped Spider-Man Cameo) – Couldn’t they find some jeans and a tank top?
RE: Fact #11 (‘N SYNC’s Star Wars Removal) – Imagine all the money spent on a fake story just to stop his daughter from crying, when he could’ve just said “No, honey, you can’t have everything.”
Actually, the headline is wrong. Lucas wasn’t involved, it wasn’t for his daughter, and NSYNC reached out to the producer first.
The daughter would still be super bummed even if the movie came out and there was no NSync.
RE: Fact #18 (Apollo 13 Astronaut’s Movie Cameo) – Met him once at a business dinner, he was giving a talk. Didn’t recognize him at first, had no clue who he was. Thought he was with another part of the company until we said our names. I was like, “You’re THAT Jim Lovell?!” He just grinned and said, “Yeah, THAT Jim Lovell.” I almost lost it, he’s been a hero of mine forever. Dude was the coolest, totally would chat with him again.
I’d really love to meet this astronaut. The Apollo 8 mission is so amazing and historic, I bet it took a ton of courage.
RE: Fact #2 (James Earl Jones Meets Leia) – A lot of people were surprised, but I think it’s cool that they met. *Star Wars* came out way back in ’77 and blew up. You’d think they’d have met at some event or something in all those years before *The Big Bang Theory* started.
RE: Fact #4 (Stan Lee’s Cameo Tradition) – Lee wanted to be JJJ, who was based on him, so the cameos were a way to make it work.
RE: Fact #50 (Jimmy Fallon’s Nervous Band of Brothers Cameo) – I don’t like Fallon’s stuff at all. It’s crazy how popular he is.
RE: Fact #31 (Samuel L. Jackson’s Breaking Bad Cameo Wish) – Huh, wouldn’t he have had time to film a quick appearance during the day if The Avengers was shot at night?
RE: Fact #45 (Emma Watson Leaves Due to Channing Tatum) – The “First hand account” didn’t mention her talking to Seth and Evan, so I think it’s missing a lot. That’s the only account that made her look bad, and even then, she just decided she couldn’t do the scene. They tried to get her to stay, but she said no.
Quitting isn’t unprofessional, but quitting like a jerk is. Since the first account left out such a big part of the story, we don’t know if she was being a jerk about it.
I’m just saying.
RE: Fact #5 (Maria Von Trapp Snubbed Premiere) – PL Travers had a similar experience with the Mary Poppins premiere – she had to fight to get an invite.
Why on earth would they do that? Did the producers have a problem with the writers?
I mean, it’s kind of a new thing, right? Authors having a say in how their books are made into movies. Stephen King really didn’t like what Kubrick did with The Shining. He even said he’d only let other books be turned into movies if he could approve them. Now it’s just the norm for authors to be part of the process.
RE: Fact #1 (John Candy’s Low-Paid Cameo) – 20th Century Fox gave Candy a check for $500, with a note saying “keep the change you filthy animal.” That’s totally awesome!
How cool would it be to have that check framed and on the wall? ❤️
I bet he did! The story behind it was probably worth way more than $500.
Our old band got played on the radio once, and we actually got a royalty check! It was for 18 cents – we split it between the five of us, and then we framed it.
RE: Fact #6 (Rick James’ Chappelle Show Success) – That’s a lot of medications, man.
Oakwood apartments? That’s not really where I’d picture him, you know? It’s like the typical place everyone who wants to be in LA ends up – all those aspiring actors and stuff. They even used it in that Judd Apatow show “Love” and called it “Springwoods.”
RE: Fact #9 (Elmo’s Muppets Cameo Blocked) – I totally thought it said “El Camino” at first and was super confused for a sec.
Breaking Kermit
RE: Fact #15 (Patrick Leahy’s Batman Cameos) – Senator Leahy is a big Batman fan – he even wrote the introduction for a Batman comic book collection! He’s been in a few Batman movies and shows too. He was in *Batman Forever* (you probably wouldn’t recognize him, he was just in the background), and he even voiced a character in the *Batman: The Animated Series*. He was in a couple of the *Dark Knight* movies, and *Batman v Superman* too. All the money he makes from his acting roles goes to charities, mostly to the library he used to go to as a kid.
So, yeah, not all senators wear capes, but some of them do love Batman.
RE: Fact #23 (George Clooney’s Secret ER Return) – Why would NBC say no? Clooney was awesome in ER.
RE: Fact #39 (Marlon Brando’s Superman Cameo Paycheck) – Reeve was just starting out in theater while Brando and Hackman were already big names. They were both more famous than him.
RE: Fact #12 (Vin Diesel’s Riddick Franchise Deal) – It’s totally cheesy, but I can’t help but love Chronicles of Riddick.
I actually don’t think it’s a bad movie at all. That Helion Prime attack with the Necromongers? Epic! One of the coolest sci-fi scenes ever. But they just didn’t do anything with it, you know? So much potential for really cool backstory stuff and they just kind of dropped it.
And the tech they use, those dark matter anti-gravity drives? And the whole Underverse crusade? And the Furyans? They make a big deal about Vaako thinking Riddick might have Furyan blood.
Then there’s the Elementals, the character Judi Dench plays. She just pops in and out of reality like some kind of elder spirit watching everything.
It’s all really cool and full of possibilities.
It could’ve been a cool space opera, but Riddick works better in the smaller-scale stories, you know, the action and horror stuff. He’s just a badass who doesn’t say much. I liked the young girl from the first movie, she kind of turned into a mini-Riddick.
Chronicles of Riddick was awesome!
I gotta say, Pitch Black was the best of the bunch, but Chronicles of Riddick and Riddick are fun enough to watch when I’m bored.
RE: Fact #7 (Coolio’s Batman & Robin Cameo) – Three whole minutes of Dutch angles? That’s so 90s.
RE: Fact #27 (Wayne’s World T-1000 Cameo Change) – That line was awesome, totally out of nowhere! I almost choked on my drink when I saw it in the theater.
RE: Fact #20 (Conan O’Brien’s How I Met Cameo) – He’s been in a bunch of foreign soap operas too. Mexican, Korean, Armenian… I think he’s done some others. He usually tries to squeeze one in whenever he’s doing his travel show.
His eyebrows in the Armenian one, haha!
RE: Fact #17 (Stephen Baldwin’s Hannah Montana Tattoo) – He seems like a really smart guy.
Come on, seriously? You think a Trump supporter like Baldwin would fall for that? Getting a tattoo from a 14-year-old and then acting like he’s a victim because it didn’t get him on Disney Channel?
RE: Fact #10 (Hugh Jackman’s X-Men Cameo Conditions) – It’s kinda weird, right? It’s his kids’ school now.
RE: Fact #10 (Hugh Jackman’s X-Men Cameo Conditions) – This cameo is awesome.
Yeah, it totally is! Not only is it hilarious and exactly what Wolverine would do at that point in his life, it also shows how arrogant and self-important Xavier and Magneto are. After getting all the attention and praise from the kids they, well, let’s say saved, they run into someone who doesn’t buy their whole hero act. They’re caught off guard and have no answer, so they just walk away.
That whole thing actually ties into The Dark Phoenix. It wasn’t planned, but think about it, wouldn’t it have been awesome if someone was guiding the whole story through all the movies?
That cameo was awesome! It fit right in.
And I can’t decide between First Class and X2, they’re both my favorites.
Days of Future Past was awesome.
Apocalypse was a total flop.
I didn’t even bother watching the latest one.
Logan was incredible.
RE: Fact #8 (Brad Pitt’s Deadpool 2 Cameo) – Reese said Pitt only needed about half an hour to film his cameo. He said it was a big deal though, like a full crew for just half an hour. Brad agreed to do it for a small fee and a cup of coffee. But, he was really picky about the coffee. He said, “I want this specific Starbucks coffee, and Ryan, I want you to bring it to me.”
Reese continued, “So we got the coffee, and Ryan brought it in. It was funny because Brad had kinda forgotten he asked for it. It was really funny. Then we filmed it in about half an hour.”
Wow, 30 minutes? He’s barely in it, just a few frames! They could have just used a picture!
He did the motion capture for the floating goggles/parachute.
RE: Fact #4 (Stan Lee’s Cameo Tradition) – Sam Raimi pops up in Miller’s Crossing, but I guess only Spiderman is like Macbeth, haha.
RE: Fact #5 (Maria Von Trapp Snubbed Premiere) – So, that’s how you deal with a tricky situation like Maria.
Can someone explain this?
It’s from a song in the movie
Best comment, for sure.
Sweet, my random trivia actually helped! Woohoo!
RE: Fact #1 (John Candy’s Low-Paid Cameo) – That pizza guy really went all out, though.
Yeah, that scene is definitely one of the best in the movie.