Of all the celebrities that make personalities of themselves outside of the films they play, sometimes the most challenging role would be to play themselves, but make it interesting.
Enterainment Weekly has their list of the top 23 celebs to play themselves on the big or little screen. My favs on the list:
23. NPH – Harold And Kumar movies
22. Patrick Stewart – Extras
17. Pamela Anderson – Borat
15. John Malkovich – Being John Malkovich
12. Stan Lee – Mallrats
6. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon – Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
1. Marisa Tomei – Seinfeld
Some of these are cheating since they show up in shows where the celeb is SUPPOSED to be himself. But keep in mind that these are the best of them and Patrick Stewart was likely the BEST routine on Extras.Not on the list, but worthy of mentioning would have been Julia Roberts playing herself in a movie where she WASNT herself. Bit of a spoiler, but in Oceans 12, the gang notices that Tess looks a lot like Julia Roberts and she poses as her in the movie. Classy.
It takes a class act to make fun of yourself on screen so the hyper-real versions of themselves that these actors portray are often showcasing their (fictional?) less appealing qualities but clearly drawn from some shred of truth.
Pamela Anderson is one of those people who I am convinced that the “ditzy” thing IS her act. I would wager that she is off the charts smart and just doesn’t want anyone to know about it. Set the bar low and you will never disappoint!
But the best on that list has to be Ben Affleck and Matt Damon cameo in Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back. They cameo as themselves on set filming a rediculous sequel to one of their films. Its deep commentary and serious laughs all at the same time.
And NPH makes the Harold and Kumar films worthwhile. Certainly outgrowing his Doogie Howser origins, Neil Patrick Harris goes above and beyond to make a character out of himself!
After you go read the full list at Enterainment Weekly, who would you put on there?
Don’t forget Bowie in his Extras-episode. That was just epic.
But Masheen (Charlie Sheen) and Malcatraz (Malkovich) from BEING JOHN MALKOVICH deserve the top spot.
Billy Zane in Zoolander
Lemon Face .. OOOHHH … Lime Face .. AAAHHHHH .. Lemon Face .. OOOHHH … Lime Face .. AAAHHHHH
Affleck & Damon. Fuckin Hilarious.
Jennifer Grey as herself as a series regular on the short-lived tv show “It’s like, you know…”
Elizabeth Shue in “Hamlet 2”
William Shatner in “Free Enterprise”
Neil Diamond in “Saving Silverman”
Mick Jagger et. al. in “Knights of Prosperity” (TV) (a.k.a. “Let’s Rob Mick Jagger”)
Screw EW. Here’s my list in random order:
1. Charlie Sheen in Being John Malkovich
2. Jean Claude Van Damme in “Las Vegas” (okay, not a movie but a TV ep of the James Caan show where Van Damme “dies”—)
3. Jennifer Tilly Seed Of Chucky
4. Steven Seagal in My Giant
5. David Bowie in Zoolander
6. Burt Reynolds and scores of others in “The Player”. I single the Bandit only because I remember his line “Who’s that?”
7. Bruce Willis in “Ocean’s 12” (Sorry, Jules)
8. Ben & Matt in Jay & Silent Bob
9. Reserved for Bruce Campbell
10. Drew Barrymore My Date With Drew
my favourite is john malkovich in colour me kubrick when he points out that some amateur called john malkovich is starring in “his” next movie.
Everything in Ocean’s 12 was absurd.
I love NPH.
And every guest star playing themselves on Extras has been fantastic. I don’t know what it is, but that show brings out the best of all their guest stars. They even managed to get Orlando Bloom to actually do more than one facial expression! My favs are(in no order), David Bowie, Ian Mckellan, Kate Winslet, and Daniel Radcliffe.
That whole “Tess pretending to be Julia” bit in Ocean’s 12 was absurd. It wasn’t, by any stretch, the ONLY bad thing in that film, but that is definitely what pushed the film into the “Thumbs down” category for me.