10 Movie Cameos That Were Total Accidents

When it comes to the understated geniuses, Terrence Malik’s work in film is right up there. His 1973 debut Badlands is an incredible piece of storytelling and visual art that Malik directed, produced and wrote. He also starred in the picture too, although this part was far from planned.

In a short scene, John Carter’s "Rich Man" character answers the door of his very fancy home to be greeted by a messenger looking for Mr Scarborough. This original casting for this role is unknown but the important fact of the matter is that he didn’t turn up when he was supposed to.

Malik himself said it when discussing the film that shooting was due to start at 9:30am that morning and that the crew waited several hours to shoot this tiny sequence but the actor never showed. Rather than lose more daylight waiting on him, Malik put on the character’s wardrobe of jacket and Stetson and played the part himself.

Malik’s portrayal of the character is fine enough and in fact his perhaps lack of experience on camera actually assists making this messenger feel a little intimidated and unsure. It works surprisingly well. You know what they say, “sometimes if you want something done, you’ve got to do it yourself”.