Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife leans into its relationship with Ivan Reitman’s original film. On top of featuring cameos from the OG busters, Afterlife sees Gozer the Gozerian return as the main villain. In the 1984 film, Gozer is played by Slavitza Jovan. In Afterlife, the baddie is embodied by none other than Olivia Wilde.
If you didn’t notice that cameo, neither did we…At first. It was the perfect Easter Egg because it was easy to miss but awesome to behold. Every once in a while, filmmakers will throw a “Where’s Waldo?” moment into a movie, hiding an A-lister in plain sight. Think Brad Pitt in Deadpool 2 or Bill Murray in Zombieland. In honor of Wilde’s pitch-perfect work as Gozer, we’ve ranked the best surprise celebrity cameos in (recent) movie history.
Disclaimer: Matt Damon is on this list more than you’d think.
Cover Photo: Arjen Tuiten/Instagram
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Surprise Movie Cameos
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Mike Tyson, 'The Hangover'
"He's still got it."
And who doesn't love that part of Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight"?
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Channing Tatum, 'This Is The End'
This Is The End is filled with celebrity cameos—from Emma Watson and Kevin Hart to Paul Rudd and the Backstreet Boys. However, Tatum’s takes the cake as Danny McBride’s sex slave.
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Matt Damon, 'Deadpool 2'
Deadpool 2’s most-talked-about cameo was Pitt as the X-Force’s Vanisher. However, another member of Ocean’s crew has a cameo you may have missed. That’s right, Damon himself plays one of the two hillbillies Cable encounters after traveling back in time.
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Matt Damon, 'Thor: Ragnarok'
Damon’s long list of cameos includes Eurotrip, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, and, of course, 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok. No one expected to see him playing Loki alongside Luke Hemsworth’s Thor in Loki's dramatization of Thor: The Dark World.
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Cate Blanchett, 'Hot Fuzz'
You may not have recognized her behind the mask and goggles, but Blanchett plays Nick Angel's ex-girlfriend, Janine, at a crime scene. Director/writer Edgar Wright thought it’d be funny to hide the Oscar-winner in plain sight.
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Mike Myers, 'Bohemian Rhapsody'
Decades after he headbanged to "Bohemian Rhapsody" in Wayne’s World, Myers showed up in Bohemian Rhapsody the executive who tells Queen the titular track will never be the kind of song that "teenagers can crank up the volume in their car and bang their heads to."
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Bob Barker, 'Happy Gilmore'
A fight to remember.
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Johnny Depp, '21 Jump Street'
Depp's reprisal of his 21 Jump Street role in the remake paid homage to the source material and made it all the more hilarious. R.I.P. Tom Hanson.
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Chris Evans, 'Free Guy'
Ryan Reynolds took full advantage of the Disney-Fox merger and called up his friend Evans just in time to react to Guy wielding Captain America’s shield.
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Hugh Jackman, 'X-Men: First Class'
When Professor X and Magneto try to recruit Wolverine, he swiftly sends them away with an effective (and characteristic) “go fuck yourself.” It doesn't get better than that.
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Bill Murray, 'Zombieland'
The man, the myth, the Murray shows up in Zombieland as himself, living in his home, playing an undead version of himself. Then Jesse Eisenberg kills him.
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Brad Pitt. 'Deadpool 2'
Deadpool recruits Vanisher for X-Force and the audience just assumes the Merc with the Mouth is pretending this person is real. However, when Vanisher’s parachute crashes into electric cables, for a brief second, you see Pitt. Ironic, random, and hilarious—which pretty much sums up the film.
