Hollywood talent has long been known as diverse. Actors don many different hats, trying more than just acting, but also singing, dancing and even directing. Sometimes they pull it off with aplomb, sometimes not.
Directors try to pull the same trick, and many have succeeded. Renowned artists such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Clint Eastwood and Woody Allen are well known as directors and actors, and have often directed themselves in starring – or at least major – roles.
Other directors don’t pull off this feat quite so well. This may be due to a lack of interest in acting; or it's just that they’re really bad actors.
It doesn’t stop them from having fun while filming and deciding to make a cameo, so M-Net Movies is taking a look at ten directors who regularly cameo in their own movies.
- Alfred Hitchcock
Perhaps the most famous example is that of the Master of Suspense. Hitchcock cameod in 39 of his surviving movies in blink-and-you’ll-miss-him parts that makes the act of trying to spot him part of the entertainment of watching his movies.
- Quentin Tarantino
Tarantino is well-known for appearing in his movies; however, his roles have been more prominent than those of Hitchcock. He says the opening lines in Reservoir Dogs and played a dubiously-accented Aussie in Django Unchained, amongst many others. He is also often spotted in his friend and fellow director, Robert Rodriguez’s movies.
- M Night Shyamalan
The director behind movies such as The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable is heavily influenced by Hitchcock; so it’s only apt that he copies the cameo gimmick.
- John Carpenter
Horror maestro John Carpenter makes many cameos in his work, although he is often quite difficult to spot. In his horror classic, Halloween, he can be heard over the phone.
- Wes Craven
Still on the horror front is Wes Craven who has appeared in many of his movies, including Scream. In the teen slasher he plays a janitor whose outfit closely resembles a character from another of Craven’s creations.
- Peter Jackson
The Lord of the Rings' trilogy is big, busy and full of extras, so you’d be forgiven for not spotting Peter Jackson’s cameos in all three movies. Unlike Tarantino he keeps his parts small, and Middle Earth was not his first foray into cameos, since he appeared in several of his earlier films as well.
- Spike Lee
He’s had a prolific career as a director, yet still finds time to pop up in several of his movies including She’s Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X.
- Roman Polanski
Polanski appeared in many of his movies in roles both big and small, but is more famous as a director and infamous for his disturbing dalliance with a teenager.
- Eli Roth
Topping even Hitchcock is Eli Roth who has had a part in every movie he’s directed. With Roth it’s clearly a matter of quantity not quality.
- Martin Scorsese
Not only does Scorsese himself cameo in plenty of his work, but he has made quite an art of the cameo. He continually casts great actors in short but memorable moments such as Matthew McConaughey in The Wolf of Wall Street, Samuel L. Jackson in Goodfellas and Jude Law in The Aviator.
Which director cameo is your favourite?
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