100 Greatest Director Cameos

Cabin Fever (2002)

The Cameo: Eli Roth turns up in his own film as hitchhiking stoner Justin who, along with his dog Dr Mambo, gather around the group to tell a story round the campfire.

Why It’s Cool: The part was originally going to be played by Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville’s Lex Luthor) who had to drop out, leaving the part for Roth to do himself, leading to respectable acting career.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

The Cameo: Tobe Hooper can be seen throwing a beer can at the revellers during the party scene.

Why It’s Cool: It’s a very rare occasion when Hooper decides to step in front of the cameras and, if he couldn’t do it for the first film, then we suppose this is the next best thing.

Transformers (2007)

The Cameo: According to Michael Bay himself, he is the human bystander that Megatron flicks across the road before uttering “Disgusting”.

Why It’s Cool: Obviously we have to take this cameo with a trunkload of salt (do CGI models count as cameos?) but it’s a fun fact all the same.

Hoffa (1992)

The Cameo: Tim Burton appeared in this film, directed by his Batman Returns star Danny DeVito, as a... er... dead body in a coffin.

Why It's Cool: What better role for the gothic auteur than as a lifeless corpse?

The Sixth Sense (1999)

The Cameo: M. Night Shyamalan plays the doctor who examines Cole after the incident at his birthday party and suggests that child abuse may really be at play.

Why It’s Cool: The film is still a marvellous debut from the writer-director so we have to give him his due here for giving himself some screentime. It’s only later on that his cameos started to grate a bit…

Misery (1990)

The Cameo: Rob Reiner plays a helicopter pilot in search of the missing novelist Paul Sheldon.

Why It’s Cool: Reiner is a recognisable face, but he’s practically indistinguishable here hidden beneath hat and glasses so you’d be hard-pressed to spot him.

Jeepers Creepers (2001)

The Cameo: Director Victor Salva appears as one of the dead bodies seen against the wall in the church basement.

Why It’s Cool: It’s a horrifyingly creepy shot for a start. Extra kudos goes to Salva for wanting to strip down for it too.

The Doors (1991)

The Cameo: Oliver Stone makes a brief appearance as Jim Morrison's UCLA film school professor.

Why It's Cool: It's easy to imagine how Stone found a role as a film tutor too delicious to pass up for himself.

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)

The Cameo: Ed Wood appears as a man reading a newspaper warning of flying saucers.

Why It’s Cool: It’s just great to see, in a film that is generally considered to be one of the worst ever made, the man responsible for it all.

The Game (1997)

The Cameo: Spike Jonze appears at the end of the film as a paramedic who shines a light into Van Orton’s eyes after he takes his epic fall.

Why It’s Cool: Spike Jonze just seems to be one of these filmmakers with a range of curious onscreen roles to his name – you basically never know when he’s going to pop up next.