9 Extremely Subtle Movie Cameos That Went Straight Over Your Head

Eye-spy never got so serious.

Hot Fuzz Cate Blanchett Peter Jackson
Universal

With token movie appearances cropping up left, right, and center in contemporary films, we surely only have the master of cameos himself, Alfred Hitchcock, to blame. Plopping himself into all his films as an Easter egg hunt for fans was not a trend that he made up, but boy, is it one that people clung to in years to come.

Back in the day, it might have been fun to spot your mother's brother's sister-in-law's dog have their ten seconds of fame if you could catch them on pause in the background at precisely the right point - but with such big names as Stan Lee and M. Night Shyamalan crafting their way into their movies at any given moment, there's much bigger stakes at play. Sorry Bongo, you're still a good boy, but extras are much more fun when we know who they are.

Famous directors come with famous friends, and there's secret appearances from all of the corners of the world making their way onto our screens to be found out and fangirled over if only we're looking hard enough. From pop stars, to footballers, to eccentric business moguls, films are jam packed with faces you'll soon recognize if you slap your glasses on and squint a bit at the screen. Promise.

9. Cate Blanchett And Peter Jackson - Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz Cate Blanchett Peter Jackson
Universal

Taking on much smaller parts than the duo would be used to, Cate Blanchett, best known as the elven queen Galadriel, and director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy Peter Jackson, appear in Hot Fuzz for collectively less than a minute - and you’d have to have a sharp eye to spot them. Cameoing in the opening sequences, the pair were snuck in by Edgar Wright as they are known fans of Shaun of the Dead and pals with the director himself.

Blanchett appears in the CSI scene as Nicholas’s soon to be ex-girlfriend, covered up by a protective outfit that muffles her voice and leaves only her eyes visible, leaving it almost impossible to tell who the oscar-winning actress really is unless you’ve spent a lot of time staring longingly into pictures of her eyeballs. But hey, what you do with your free time isn’t any of my business.

Jackson has an even smaller part - appearing for all of two seconds to stab the detective in the hand as a flashback, dressed as Father Christmas, because of course he is.

In this post: 
Hot-Fuzz
 
First Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Horror film junkie, burrito connoisseur, and serial cat stroker. WhatCulture's least favourite ginger.