Although artists feel most comfortable behind the microphone, there are some instances where they make the jump to the big screen and end up adding completely fresh and often hilarious qualities into films. Lonely Island’s upcoming movie Popstar: Never Stop Never Stoppin’ promises to do that and so much more with appearances from Arcade Fire, Nas, RZA, Mariah Carey, A$AP Rocky, Justin Timberlake, Danger Mouse, Ringo Starr, P!nk, and more. In celebration of this, we decided to gather some of our favourite musician movie cameos for your viewing pleasure.
Jack White – Walk Hard
In this 2007 comedy lampooning the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line, protagonist Dewey Cox bumps into the king, Elvis Presley, portrayed by none other than The White Stripes / The Raconteurs / The Dead Weather rock god Jack White. What follows is a hysterical conversation regarding being the king and ka-ra-tey. In an interview with NME, White explained his initial suspicion but overall delight:
“John C Reilly called me up and asked if I would do it. They were filming in a couple of days,” he explained. “Okay, but what year is it supposed to be?’ He said 1957, so that was okay. I thought it was just going to be for cable or something but he said, ‘Oh no, this is one of the biggest films this company is going to to put out this year.’ He sent the script over and it was really funny.”
Flea – The Big Lebowski
Despite watching this cult classic a number of times, until doing some research I had never picked up that one of the nihilists is in fact Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Playing an integral role in the movie and fitting in perfectly with his hilarious German accent, he also gives some of the best lines throughout,”Ve vant ze money Lebowski.”
Warning, major spoilers in this clip below
Keith Richards – Pirates of The Caribbean: At Worlds End
Rolling Stones guitarist and the perpetually haggard Keith Richards was the perfect choice when it came to the casting of the Pirate Lord of Madagascar. He managed to make a lasting impression over two movies with his dramatic role as Jack Sparrow’s father Captain Teague. The scene below gave him the epic and unforgettable entrance his character deserved. You can’t watch it and picture anyone else nailing this part as hard as Keith Richards nailed this part.
In a behind the scenes extra which has surfaced online, Johnny Depp says that “it was a long shot” to get Richards on set, but when it worked “it was a dream come true.” We’ll take a swig of rum to that, Captain Jack.
Dave Grohl – Tenacious D and The Pick Of Destiny
After working with Tenacious D for a similar role in their hilarious music video for their track Tribute, Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl decided to once again join the duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass as the devil in Tenacious D’s big screen debut.
This final showdown sees Jables and Kage fight their way to freedom in a rock off against a superbly demonic Devil Grohl himself, who is compelled by demon law to abide.
David Bowie – Zoolander
Of course we couldn’t forget about the one and only, the legendary David Bowie, who made his surprise cameo during the sidesplitting ‘Walk Off’ scene from the 2001 classic satire of vacuous model culture in Zoolander.
Although he has been in many movies with often lead roles, this cameo gave him an especially hilarious moment as the expert judge (of course) of the increasingly ridiculous catwalk battle between Derek Zoolander and Hansel (so hot right now), Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson.
What follows is a timeless and expertly-executed clinic of a cameo. This is how it’s done:
Image: Lonely Island – YouTube