10 Huge Actors You Didn't Notice As Extras In Movies

Undeniably one of the finest actors of his generation, Willem Dafoe's first on-screen appearance in Michael Cimino's epic western Heaven's Gate wasn't originally a bit-part, but a substantial role with both dialogue and character development.

Unfortunately, Dafoe never got a chance to explore the role as initially intended, because he was fired early into the film's production.

The story goes that in order to get the role in the first place, he lied and told Cimino he could speak fluent Dutch. When Cimino found out this wasn't the case, he let the actor off, but after Dafoe laughed at a joke on-set, Cimino - an infamously strict filmmaker - decided to cut him from the film.

Dafoe can be seen in the film's infamous cockfight scene, where his character was meant to be introduced, but otherwise he's never seen again. Though this failed to ruin his career and makes for a great little story, it still sucks Dafoe wasn't able to make the most of his big screen debut.