15 Times Directors Made Cameo Appearances In Other Directors Movies

These days, it’s pretty commonplace for directors to make cameo appearances in their own movies, but what’s sometimes more interesting is when they opt to show up in other filmmakers’ releases. This represents a level of respect and collaboration between different artists and highlights that even in the cutthroat world of Hollywood filmmaking, plenty of directors are on friendly enough terms with one another to pop up in each other’s films. While these are often brief cameo appearances, directors have occasionally gained more significant secondary roles in their competitors’ films.

Some of the greatest directors of all time have taken a break from their busy schedules on set to portray characters in other auteurs’ works. This can be a thrilling change of pace, as directors normally associated with one genre have a surprise appearance in something that’s the total opposite of the work they’ve become known for. From Tim Burton in a rom-com to Orson Welles hanging out with the Muppets, there’s no shortage of amazing film directors appearing in other directors’ movies.

15 Steven Spielberg As Cook County Assessor’s Office Clerk

John Landis’s The Blues Brothers (1980)

Director John Landis has made a habit of casting his filmmaker friends in minor roles in his movies, which led to a nice surprise when none other than Steven Spielberg showed up as the county office clerk who Jake and Elwood Blues deliver the $5,000 needed to save their childhood orphanage. While Spielberg was in good company as other cameos included Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and John Lee Hooker, the Jaws director opted not to sing the blues in this non-musical guest appearance.

John Landis also cast
The Muppets’
Frank Oz in
The Blues Brothers
,
Star Wars’
George Lucas in
Beverly Hills Cop III
,
Clueless’
Amy Heckerling in
Into the Night
, and
Suspiria’s
Dario Argento in
Innocent Blood
.

14 Peter Jackson As Thief Dressed as Santa

Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz (2007)

Director Edgar Wright and co-writer and star Simon Pegg paid tribute to different genres of filmmaking with their Three Flavors Cornetto trilogy, so it’s no surprise some familiar faces make appearances. One interesting cameo came from The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, who appeared very briefly as the thief dressed as Santa, who stabbed Police Constable Nicholas Angel (Pegg) in the hand. While Jackson has made several cameos in his own work, it was a real surprise to see him show up in the cult classic British comedy.

13 Sam Raimi As Hudsucker Brainstormer

The Coen brothers’ The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

The Evil Dead, Spider-Man, and eventually Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness director Sam Raimi has had a long-standing creative connection with the Coen brothers, best encapsulated by their work together on The Hudsucker Proxy. Not only did Raimi co-write the movie, but he also served as second unit director and had a cameo as a Hudsucker Brainstormer. The Hudsucker Proxy was a screwball comedy that bombed at the box office, yet it has since grown in stature to become an underappreciated cult classic.

12 Tim Burton As Brian

Cameron Crowe’s Singles (1992)

As an icon of Gothic horror and richly imagined fantasy worlds, a Cameron Crowe rom-com would be the last place people expect Tim Burton to show up, yet Burton’s sole acting credit was in 1992’s Singles. Burton appears in one scene where he plays the role of Brian, a smug video dating service director described as “the next Martin Scorsese.” With a casual dissatisfaction, Burton was seen hilariously thumbing through a book as he agreed to shoot a character’s video for $20.

11 David Cronenberg As Dr. Aloysius Wimmer

Jim Isaac’s Jason X (2001)

While director David Cronenberg is known for the shocking body horror of films like The Fly or the intense thrillers of A History of Violence, he’s also a talented actor in his own right. This was seen in his effective role as Dr. Aloysius Wimmer in the futuristic Friday the 13th sci-fi horror sequel Jason X. Cronenberg perfectly encapsulated the smug nature of a doctor who was unconcerned with the lives of innocent people as he sought to revive a cryogenically frozen Jason Voorhees to exploit his regenerative powers. However, in typical horror fashion, Cronenberg met a gruesome end.

10 Gus Van Sant As Dr. Campbell

Paul Schrader’s The Canyons (2013)

The critically derided erotic thriller The Canyons was either a total failure or a hidden gem depending on who’s asked about it, as the combination of director Paul Schrader, writer Bret Easton Ellis, and star Lindsay Lohan was a real whose-who of lightly controversial figures. One notable name who also popped up was Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant as Christian’s (James Deen) psychotherapist, whose sessions the wealthy young man was forced to attend as a condition of his trust fund. A brief but effective appearance, Van Sant’s calm authority was in sharp contrast to the film’s other characters.

9 Wes Craven As Himself

Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)

Director Wes Craven was no stranger to self-referential humor as he played with his own legacy in the A Nightmare on Elm Street sequel New Nightmare and showed up as himself directing a new Scream movie in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. This hilarious sequence saw the latest incarnation of Ghostface being revealed to be a monkey, much to the dissatisfaction of its star, Shannon Doherty. When questioned about this choice’s ridiculousness, Craven simply said, “The market research says people love monkeys.”

8 Werner Herzog As A Face of the Damned

Vincent Ward’s What Dreams May Come (1998)

The fantasy drama What Dreams May Come was one of Robin Williams’s strangest and most underrated film roles. Williams portrayed a man searching for his wife as he traveled through the afterlife. This unique concept saw Williams come face-to-face with those who had been damned to hell, and here among the litany of lost souls was film director Werner Herzog. With a distinctive and, at times, unnerving voice, it was impossible to miss the famed filmmaker and documentarian among the faces of the damned.

7 David Fincher As Christopher Bing

Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich (1999)

In the same year as David Fincher’s Fight Club was released, he also had a much different film project on his slate due to his uncredited cameo appearance in Spike Jonze’s’ Being John Malkovich. Fincher played Christopher Bing in the American Arts & Culture pseudo-documentary on John Malkovich within the movie, who lavished praise over Malkovich’s “god-like ability” to “breathe life into inanimate objects” as the man in his head (John Cusack) had taken over and ironically turned him into a puppeteer.

6 John Waters As Pete Peters

Don Mancini’s Seed of Chucky (2004)

As a transgressive cult filmmaker who never shied away from the more horrific sides of camp, John Waters was perfectly cast in his role as Pete Peters in Seed of Chuck. Waters played a paparazzo who met a gruesome end in his darkroom as Glen/Glenda accidentally caused Peters to fall and be soaked in sulfuric acid, much to the delight of Chucky. As a film conjuring up much of the same over-the-top energy and satirical horrors as Water’s own Serial Mom, Seed of Chucky felt like an outrageous addition to Water’s unique resume.

5 Orson Welles As Lew Lord

James Frawley’s The Muppet Movie (1979)

Part of the appeal of the Muppets was that you never knew what celebrity guests they would run into, and this was especially the case of The Muppet Movie from 1979. With a litany of incredible Muppets‘ guest stars, one of the most surprising was Orson Welles, who, as the director of Citizen Kane, perhaps the most acclaimed film of all time, still took the time to meet with Kermit and the gang. Welles played the Hollywood executive Lew Lord, a character whose name alludes to Sir Lew Grade, head of ATV, the British company that co-produced The Muppet Show.

4 Jim Jarmusch As Car Salesman

Aki Kaurismäki’s Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989)

Jim Jarmusch’s films have always blended pure Americana with a European sensibility, so it’s no surprise he opted to show up in Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s Leningrad Cowboys Go America. As the story of an eccentric band that traveled to the U.S. to show off their unique polka music mixed with American stylings, the idiosyncratic nature of these cowboys felt like it could have come straight out of a Jarmusch film. However, Jarmusch did not direct it and instead played the car salesman who sells the band a luxury car to use as they travel across the states.

3 David Lynch As John Ford

Steven Spielberg’s The Fablemans (2022)

It was only appropriate that a true cinema icon of modern times portrayed a legend of the past, as seen by David Lynch’s role as the Western directing extraordinaire John Ford in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans. This powerful scene comes toward the film’s end as Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle) comes face-to-face with his idol, who has provided him with wisdom about filmmaking. Spielberg explained how Lynch’s cameo happened on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, stating that he had a different actor in mind, but once Lynch was suggested, “a light bulb” went off, and he knew they had to cast him.

2 Quentin Tarantino As Pick-Up Guy

Robert Rodriguez’s Desperado (1995)

Quentin Tarantino has had a long-standing friendship with fellow filmmaker Robert Rodriguez that even led to the duo famously co-releasing the double feature movie Grindhouse in 2007, which combined Rodriguez’s horror comedy Planet Terror and action thriller Tarantino’s Death Proof. But their relationship goes back even further, as Tarantino had a cameo role in Rodriguez’s Desperado as the Pick-Up Guy telling a crude joke in a Mexican bar. Tarantino would later play an even larger role in Rodriquez’s From Dusk ‘Til Dawn the following year, a vampire action movie with a script by Tarantino.

1 Martin Scorsese As Vincent van Gogh

Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990)

Although Martin Scorsese has had several cameos in his own movies, such as the unnerving passenger ranting about his cheating wife in Taxi Driver, he rarely appeared in work he was not directly involved in making. One notable exception to this was his role as Vincent van Gogh in Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams. Scorsese had long been an admirer of Kurosawa’s work, and this collaboration represented one of the most impactful directors of American movies coming together with an icon of Japanese cinema. As a true meeting of masters, it was incredible to witness Scorsese in a Kurosawa movie.

Source: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert