20 Brilliant Sci-Fi & Fantasy Films Where Actors Play Opposite Themselves

Cheech and Chong have long since transcended their roots in stoner comedy to become a permanent part of the culture, and part of this process was getting parts in mainstream films and shows. And Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez reckoned Cheech Marin was just what their 1996 vampire crime movie needed.

From Dusk till Dawn puts George Clooney and Tarantino in the desert and on the lam from the law as Gecko brothers Seth and Richie. But a stopover just across the US-Mexican border at the all-night bar and strip club, The Titty Twister, proves to be the very last refuge for even the most villainous of rogues as the patrons and staff turn out to be vampires.

But one face just keeps showing up wherever they go. Cheech plays an unnamed border guard at the start, a patron of the bar called Chet Pussy in the middle, and the gangster Carlos, who features at the end. And if you’re looking for a deeper meaning as to why, there might be one, if Rodriguez can be believed. The director claims Cheech is a manifestation of the devil who shows up throughout this ride that the Geckos are on in their own version of hell… or so he says.