Updated October 13, 2020 443 votes 104 voters 54.2k views
Every once in a while, an actor’s career will lead them to look deep inside themselves in order to bring something unique to their role – especially if that role is based on the actor themselves. On this list we’re looking at actors who played themselves either in a film or on television. Some of these actors portrayed themselves in a fairly accurate light, but most of the folks on this list chose to go over the top, either to make themselves seem like crazy people or like someone who knows their way around a fireman’s axe. If you have a hard time deciphering reality from fantasy, just take a look at this list of actors starring as themselves.
Sometimes it’s nice to kick back and goof around at work, which is exactly what a lot of the actors who played themselves are doing in the films on this list. For the most part everyone seems to be hamming it up, but there are a few actors who tried their best to bring all the gravitas they could muster to the role of themselves (there really should be a better way to say that). Whether they’re playing themselves as pilots, or ecstasy swallowing crazy people, these actors really got into character when they portrayed themselves.
Check out these actors who tackled the hardest role of their lives: themselves, and leave a comment about who you think is most like themselves on the screen or who didn’t even realize that the cameras were rolling.
Bill Murray's cameo in this zombie comedy (zomedy?) was the worst kept secret in film history. His five or six minutes on screen actually serves to make Jesse Eisenberg palatable.
John Malkovich definitely used BeingJohn Malkovich to play a heightened version of himself (i.e. he seems like a total dick), but his character still feels very real. The most interesting part of his portrayal is when he has a conversation with about 50 versions of himself only using one word "Malkovich."
In what is probably the biggest "against type" casting ever, Neil Patrick Harris began his comeback from obscurity with a role in this stoner classic as an ecstasy gobbling car thief. At the very least it's safe to say that NPH isn't a car thief.
The only difference between the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of Airplane! and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of real life is that he's never co-piloted a plane (that anyone knows of). This might be the most true to life characterization on this list.
Patrick Stewart is basically the perfect human being. He's a sweet, affable man who uses his gravitas to shine a light on a ton of humanitarian efforts. But on Extras, he plays a man who's obsessed with making women's clothes fall off with his mind. That's right, he's seen everything.
Keanu Reeves plays of version of himself that director Nahnatchka Khan and writer/star Ali Wong described as, "in extreme quotation marks." When he meets Ali Wong, Randall Park, and Vivian Bang at a restaurant in one scene, time appears to stop as all diners go silent, watching him in awe.
