10 Actors Who Hid That They Were In Famous Movies

7. Tom Cruise - Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder boasts Robert Downey Jr. as an Australian actor so method he changes the pigment of his skin to play a black army sergeant. And yet he wasn't the most memorable role from Ben Stiller's Vietnam-homage/Hollywood-pastiche.

Tom Cruise's Les Grossman, the over-the-top, attention-jumping studio executive, was a real surprise, seeing the famously-particular leading man go full character actor. It was made all the more surprising as Cruise's involvement in the movie had been played down from the off, with the studio refusing to release any pictures of the actor. His name wasn't even featured until the closing credits, where those duped by the simple-but-deceptive make-up finally got let in on the joke.

This was all done in the name of comedy, with Stiller realising the joke character would be much funnier if it came out of nowhere. There was a disturbing leak in the months before the release, but Cruise's lawyers stepped in, managing to keep the mystery just about in tact.

Interestingly Nick Nolte, who plays faker veteran Four Leaf Tayback, was likewise absent from the cast list, despite being a much less surprising role.