Like seeing a teacher outside of school, TV cameos can be an amusing and slightly disconcerting jolt from the norm.
Here's some of the most memorable.
1. Stephen Hawking in Star Trek: The Next Generation
This one was as much of a surprise to the guest as it was to the audience – Stephen Hawking was visiting the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation when the writers decided he'd be the perfect person to cameo in an upcoming sequence, featuring Data playing poker with holographic versions of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and, after a quick rewrite, Hawking. He was filmed for the episode ('Descent') a few days later. Hawking is still the only person to appear as himself in any Star Trek show.
2. Stan Lee in Heroes
Stan Lee is the cameo king, appearing in every single MCU film to date, in a wide variety of weird surprise roles. But what made his turn as a bus driver in Heroes so surprising is that the show has absolutely nothing to do with Marvel, outside of a few nods and references, which means that Lee did it for the fun of it, as opposed to any promotional obligation.
3. Jack Kirby in The Incredible Hulk
Long before Stan made cameos cool, Jack Kirby, the artist who co-created so many of Lee's most famous characters (including Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man and Hulk), popped on on an episode of The Incredible Hulk.
Unlike Lee, who's played everything from a Watcher to Hugh Hefner in the Marvel movies, Kirby stuck to what he knew – playing a police sketch artist. 'Nuff said.
4. Stephen King in Rose Red
Considering he's arguably the most recognisable figure in horror since Alfred Hitchcock, you'd expect Stephen King to appear in more adaptations of his work, but the number of cameos is surprisingly small.
Weirdly, one of them includes a turn as a pizza delivery boy (man?) in the TV miniseries version of one of his more obscure works – haunted house book Rose Red. As for the cameo itself, it's completely unexpected and inevitably creepy.
5. Sam Raimi in M.A.N.T.I.S.
The first TV show to feature a black superhero as its lead, M.A.N.T.I.S. has sadly been pretty much forgotten for telly fans, despite an incredible pilot that came from the minds of Evil Dead director Sam Raimi and Batman writer Sam Hamm.
One of those Sams, Raimi, even showed up in a bizarre cameo in that feature-length pilot. Not exactly a household face, there's a chance that half of the audience didn't even realise the supporting actor waffling on about going to university on the planet Venus was actually the man behind some of the most iconic horror movies of all time.
6. George Clooney in ER
Oh, George. When it was announced that Julianna Margulies would be leaving ER, George Clooney went on the record to state he wouldn't be showing up for a cameo in the finale, and what he said was true – from a certain point of view.
Instead, he surprised fans by appearing in the penultimate episode of season six, 'Such Sweet Sorrow,' giving the romantic subplot between his character Dr Doug Ross and Margulies' Nurse Carol Hathaway the happy ending she deserved.
Clooney did it as a favour to his friend Margulies, and donated his fee to charity. What a guy.
Freelancer writer
Sam is an entertainment writer with NCTJ accreditation and a twenty-year career as a film journalist.
Starting out as a staff writer at Total Film, moving up to Deputy Online Editor, Sam was responsible for Total Film’s YouTube channel, where he revolutionised the magazine’s approach to video junkets, creating influential formats that spread to other outlets.
He’s interviewed a wide range of film icons, including directors such as David Lynch, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Sofia Coppola, Ridley Scott, Michael Bay and Sam Raimi, as well as actors such as Meryl Streep, Nic Cage, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Anne Hathaway, Margot Robbie, Natalie Portman, Kermit the Frog, all of the Avengers and many more.
Sam has also interviewed several comic creators, including Stan Lee, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, and he has a zombie cameo in The Walking Dead comic.
In 2014, Sam went freelance, working directly for film studios including Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox and Disney, as well as covering red carpet events for film marketing company PMA Productions.
Sam is the co-host, producer and editor of the Arrow Video podcast, which has seen year-on-year growth since its creation in 2017, gaining over half a million listens in that time.
His byline has appeared in outlets such as Yahoo, MTV, Dazed, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Good Housekeeping among others.
In 2012, Sam made it to the final of the Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian of the Year competition, and went on to become a filmmaker himself, directing three features that have all played major festivals, and secured distribution – starring in two of them.
Jim Carrey once mistook Sam for Johnny Cash, and John Carpenter told him to ‘Keep up the good work.’ He promises to try his best.
