Self-deprecation is arguably the best way to win over an audience in the aftermath of a controversial situation or as a vehicle for career resurgence. That's to say, the Hollywood elite have a reputation for taking themselves way too seriously, so it's actually nice when you realise that literally anybody who has become so used to being told how good they are is willing to poke fun at either themselves, their careers, or questionable incidents that brought them attention. Actors have been spoofing themselves for as long as the movies have been around, of course, though there are some, like Russell Crowe, for example, who don't seem capable of dropping the illusion that they're doing "important work." The fact that he - amongst others - seems to insist we take him seriously all the time, though, only makes him more ripe for ridicule. It's those actors who are self-aware enough to take take a good, hard look at their shortcomings - in order to let an audience know that they're in on the joke - who emerge as the most likeable... So let's turn our attention back across the year 2013, and cast an eye on those actors who used their filmmaking ventures to parody themselves (though not always to successful results...)
Honourable Mention: Elon Musk Sends Machete Into Space - Machete Kills
Not included on the main list because, hey, Elon Musk isn't an actor. Still, the American inventor, businessman, and SpaceX CEO (he's worth around $8.8 billion, don't you know?) somehow found time out of his busy schedule to make a brief appearance in Robert Rodriguez's Mexploitation sequel Machete Kills, in which he's given the honourable task of bidding Machete farewell in the moments before our hero is launched into space on a dangerous mission to find Mel Gibson's zany bag guy, Voz. "Good luck, Machete," he says. "Get the b*stard." Pretty awesome, really.