An acting playing himself in a film is usually one of two things; either a woefully vain attempt at self-promotion that back-fires, or a self-aware piss-take of oneself. As the upcoming Seth Rogen-starring (and co-directed) comedy This Is the End proves, there is plenty of humour to mine out of scenarios like this, and save for two entries onto this list, it's safe to say that the results are uproariously funny. As for the others? They're cleverly subversive, and help paint the focal figure in an entirely different light. Though there are hundreds of scenes to choose from, I've whittled it down to the 10 that I best feel encompass what an actor should be doing when they make an appearance as themselves; mocking themselves or confounding expectations in some manner. Here are 10 awesome scenes of actors playing themselves...
10. Chuck Norris - Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Roughly a year before Chuck Norris became a wildly popular Internet meme - and perhaps that status was a result of this scene - the man made an unforgettable cameo appearance in the tail-end of Vince Vaughn's uproariously funny Dodgeball, playing a judge in the Grand Final who shows up to usher Vaughn and his team of miscreants to victory. Much like the meme, it is at the same time a celebration and mockery of the man, cementing his awesomeness as well as the fact that he really has done very little of true merit throughout his career (hence the thumbs up being the entirety of his contribution). It's the simplest of cameos; it's just Chuck appearing and disappearing, which adds to the hilarity, helping paint him as a literally God-like deus ex machina-type device. Of course, it leads to an overweight Ben Stiller's immortal line as well - "F***in' Chuck Norris".