10 Action Movie Cameos We Never Saw Coming

A surprise cameo can quickly stand out in a movie, and many action movies use them to change the pace or draw attention to certain things. While cameos are most often associated with comedies, any genre can use them to inject some humor, with a subtle fourth-wall break that draws attention to the actor.

Action movies have to be careful with their use of cameos, because they can be distracting if they’re used too often or in a way that doesn’t suit the tone of the movie. When they’re made with thought, however, they can be a highlight of any action movie, and something that fans look forward to on a rewatch.

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Cate Blanchett In Hot Fuzz (2007)

Blanchett’s Cameo Is Intentionally Hard To Spot

Cate Blanchett's character in Hot Fuzz

Edgar Wright’s Cornetto trilogy is packed with so many jokes that it can be easy to miss some of the quips, sight gags and pop culture references. One joke that’s intentionally hard to pick up on is Cate Blanchett’s brief cameo, since her character’s face is almost entirely obscured by a surgical mask.

Blanchett’s cameo is a fun Easter egg for fans of Wright’s work.

Blanchett’s cameo is a fun Easter egg for fans of Wright’s work, but most people wouldn’t even recognize the actor in her single scene. Hot Fuzz also has a hilarious cameo from Wright’s friend Peter Jackson, with the director playing a man dressed as Santa Claus who stabs Sergeant Angel in the hand.

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David Beckham In The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Beckham’s Friendship With Guy Ritchie Led To A Surprise Cameo

David Beckham in The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

David Beckham and Guy Ritchie have been friends for years, with the two Londoners even owning a pub together. Still, not many people expected to see Beckham making a brief cameo as a Soviet projectionist in Ritchie’s comedic Cold War thriller The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Beckham’s cameo is easy to miss, since he’s obscured in shadow and his character doesn’t draw attention to himself. The only moment when fans might recognize the soccer legend is when the projectionist inserts a slide upside-down, and he apologizes to his comrades in Russian. Beckham later appeared in Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.

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Tom Cruise In Tropic Thunder (2008)

Tropic Thunder Hired A Legendary Action Star To Sit In An Office

Tom Cruise and Matthew McConaughey in Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder may be a comedy movie first and foremost, but it’s also a surprisingly effective action movie when it chooses to be. Tom Cruise’s appearance could have been used to add some action pedigree, but it’s a great meta joke that Tropic Thunder confines the world’s biggest action star to an office for his scenes.

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While comedians like Jack Black and Ben Stiller are tasked with the action side of Tropic Thunder, Cruise’s role is purely comedic. He’s often the funniest part of the movie, reminding audiences that he had plenty of comedic roles earlier in his career. His foul-mouthed studio executive character subverts his image brilliantly.

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Madonna In Die Another Day (2002)

Madonna’s Cameo Is An Oddity In The James Bond Franchise

Madonna James Bond Die Another Da

The James Bond franchise has never been overly keen on cameos, despite leading the action genre since the 1960s. Most of the memorable cameos are Easter eggs for fans in the know, which is what makes Madonna’s appearance in Die Another Day so unique.

Madonna added her name to the illustrious list of musicians who created a James Bond theme song with Die Another Day, but this doesn’t mean fans were expecting to see her on screen as a fencing instructor. It’s as strange as it would be to see Adele in Skyfall or Paul McCartney in Live and Let Die.

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Channing Tatum In Bullet Train (2022)

Tatum’s Cameo Was A Favor To Brad Pitt

Channing Tatum sitting in Bullet Train

Channing Tatum’s Bullet Train cameo delivers one of the biggest laughs of the movie, and his character wouldn’t be nearly as memorable if he was played by somebody else. Tatum plays a train passenger reading a romance novel when Ladybug gives him a hat and glasses to wear as a decoy.

After Brad Pitt made a great cameo in The Lost City, Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock both returned the favor by playing minor roles in Bullet Train. They contribute to a fun ensemble cast, with Tatum in particular getting a laugh from each one of his lines.

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Post Malone In Road House (2024)

The Musician Plays A Street Fighter

Post Malone with a cut over his eye in Road House

Road House is one of many recent ’80s action movie reboots, although Doug Liman’s version tries to separate itself from the original. Patrick Swayze’s Road House seems to take place in a world where bouncers enjoy the status of minor celebrities. The reboot makes Dalton a former UFC fighter, and it fleshes out this idea with an early fight scene featuring Post Malone in a surprise cameo.

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Road House gives Conor McGregor his acting debut, and it also features cameos from some UFC personalities, but Post Malone’s appearance is the most surprising of all. He plays an underground fighter who laps up the adulation of the crowd until his next opponent is revealed to be a notorious UFC champion who famously killed an opponent in the ring. With Road House 2 seemingly going ahead, it will be interesting to see whether the sequel adds some more unexpected cameos.

4

Elton John In Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

Elton John Suits The Kingsman Sequel’s Over-The-Top Tone

Elton John Kingsman

The Kingsman sequel is noticeably more colorful, more stylistic and generally louder than the original. In line with this aesthetic, Elton John’s cameo makes perfect sense. The legendary musician plays himself, although he’s been kidnapped by a megalomaniacal drug lord and taken to a heavily-guarded compound in the jungles of Cambodia.

The difference between The Golden Circle and its predecessor reflects Matthew Vaughn’s trajectory as a director, as he doubles down on his idiosyncratic style. While the image of Elton John winking to camera as he delivers a flying karate kick would probably have been too bizarre for the first Kingsman movie, it somehow fits into The Golden Circle naturally.

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Wolf Blitzer In Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

The News Anchor Adds Some Relatability And Realism

Mission Impossible Benji Posing as Wolf Blitzer

Wolf Blitzer isn’t someone who Mission: Impossible fans expected to turn up in Fallout, but this works in the movie’s favor. The news anchor makes a cameo as himself, although this is soon revealed to be part of an elaborate scheme by Ethan and his IMF team.

Real-life news anchors and journalists can often provide some worldbuilding flavor in movies, injecting some everyday noise that can ground a wild action movie. With Anderson Cooper in Batman v Superman and Huw Edwards in Shaun of the Dead, this has become a fun action movie trope that adds some realism.

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Ronda Rousey In Furious 7 (2015)

The UFC Star Puts Her Skills To Use

Kara (Ronda Rousey) aims a punch at Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) in Furious 7

The Fast and Furious franchise is packed with great cameos, starting with Ja Rule’s memorable performance as a street racer in the first movie. There are so many actors and musicians in the franchise that it’s hard for any one cameo to standout, but Ronda Rousey’s brief appearance in Furious 7 delivers something different.

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More than just appearing for the sake of it, like so many other cameos, Rousey takes part in a hard-hitting fight scene, indicative of the way that the franchise has tried to diversify its action sequences beyond street racing. The UFC fighter proves to be a formidable foe for Letty.

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Seth MacFarlane In Logan Lucky (2017)

MacFarlane Makes A Rare Live-Action Cameo

Seth MacFarlane in Logan Lucky

Seth MacFarlane is most famous for creating Family Guy, as well as voicing Peter Griffin and many other characters in the show. He’s made sporadic live-action movie appearances over the years, so it’s always a surprise to see him on-screen. He fits in neatly with Logan Lucky‘s stellar comedic cast.

His British accent is also a sly meta joke about Daniel Craig’s affected southern accent in Logan Lucky.

MacFarlane seems to be playing a cartoon character in live-action in Logan Lucky, with a brash persona and a ludicrous cockney accent. There are shades of Mike Myers in his performance, but his British accent is also a sly meta joke about Daniel Craig’s affected southern accent in Logan Lucky.

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