Top 10 Ben Stiller Cameos

Known for fronting studio smashes like There’s Something About Mary and Tower Heist, rom-com mainstay Ben Stiller has also thrived in the satiric character-acting department, if Zoolander, Dodgeball, and Tropic Thunder are indication enough.

In lockstep with his understated versatility and unafraid nature, Stiller has not shied away from lending his likeness in temporary outings for the “surprise” value alone, either. Let the following 10 examples serve as ample proof, with honorable mention paid to his turn as Michael Cohen on SNL, and as the Sweet Brothers in The Cable Guy – because some fans are still saddened their harrowing tale did not get their own film treatment.

10 Orange County

In retrospect, the fact that Ben Stiller appeared in a Jack Black movie stuns virtually no one. Yet at the time – and considering his emergence from the background to the foreground – the set was staged for Ben Stiller’s arrival to lift audiences out of their seats. Lift them he did as the firefighter at the scene of Black’s inopportune admissions office blunder.

9 Workaholics

While his role was disclosed in the entertainment media trades well ahead of time, Stiller’s Workaholics cameo still brought yet another welcomed familiar face on-hand to intermingle with the previous unknown-turned-overnight cult celebrity trio of Adam Devine, Blake Anderson, and Anders Holm.

Starring as a dead-serious landlord named Del Jacobson in season 5’s “Front Yard Wrestling,” Stiller’s looming malevolence had fans of both the hot new comedians on the block (Devine, Anderson, and Hom) and the standard of yesteryear (Stiller) invested in the moment whilst getting hooked by the nostalgia overload.

8 School For Scoundrels

School for Scoundrels may be one of the weaker links in Todd Phillips’ filmography and Jon Heder’s post-Napoleon Dynamite string of roles, as far as its box-office performance is concerned, but Stiller’s irreverent arrival in the second half single-handedly pulled the film out of the “unnecessary remake” category.

Fans might wonder if a younger Stiller starred in the original, based on his presence in the film mirrored how Burt Reynolds was used in the then-recently released Longest Yard remake. This is an impossibility, of course – given that it was released in 1960.

7 Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny

“Satanus. That’s Latin for ‘Satan.'” In the quest for the best musical Holy Grail film since Crossroads, Jack Black and Kyle Glass rock and roll their way through this cult classic that’s action is jettisoned upon their interaction, with Stiller’s wild-haired, Guitar Center worker counterpart.

Providing layers upon layers of the backstory behind the titular MacGuffin, the deeply committed Stiller’s only slight in the flick is his lack of a desire to accompany the boys on their journey, as he’s admittedly been down that road one too many times before.

6 Freaks And Geeks

Ironically, in a show about the inner turmoil of 1980s teenage misfits – the fastest to unburden their soul when sitting across from the school guidance counselor was the unnamed secret service agent whom Stiller played late in Freaks and Geeks‘ lone season.

Stiller showed as a personal favor to friend and “Geeks” executive producer Judd Apatow, as the presidential bodyguard who longs to “rip off his vest and jacket, put on a T-shirt and like, make pancakes somewhere or something.”

5 The King Of Queens

In season 4’s “Shrink Wrap,” Arthur Spooner – played by Stiller’s late father, Jerry – conjures up a flashback to his childhood during a therapy session.

Naturally, Arthur’s verbally-accosting father is played by Ben – who channeled the maniac extremes he has sporadically shown on the silver screen to do so. The performance helped viewers and the characters alike better understand why Arthur is as bombastic as he is when at a communicative impasse with Doug and Carrie.

4 Family Guy

Others may have voiced him on Family Guy in the past, but Stiller accepted the invite to poke fun at himself for season 5’s “Meals on Wheels.”

In the Fox show’s most memorable dig at the actor, a cutaway depicts Peter heartbroken over the fact that an abnormally large-eared Ben Stiller is leaving him “just when he (Peter) needs him most.” Stiller proceeds to use his ears that double as wings to fly off into the sunset, at which point Peter grinningly utters in exhale, “… his movies are terrible.”

3 Happy Gilmore

“Good news, everybody, we’re extending arts and crafts time by four hours today,” this was the quote sequel to Stiller’s Heavyweights line – “Attention campers: lunch has been canceled today, due to lack of hustle” that moviegoers never knew they needed.

As the villainous nursing home orderly in Happy Gilmore, Stiller spoiled fans with the false notion he and Adam Sandler would regularly appear in each other’s films. Not until Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories would they share the screen again, young Ben Stiller’s home video footage vocal cameo in the opening scene of Funny People notwithstanding.

2 Anchorman 2

Spanish news team, b*tches! What more can be said that Stiller’s Anchorman 2 character, Arturo Mendez, didn’t say already in this salutation before partaking in an iconic intra-news team battle?

Though fans were saddened Stiller and his painfully obvious long-haired wig did not return for the underrated sequel’s beyond ridiculous battle scene, it was probably for the best. Such technical appropriation would likely not go over as smoothly today – no matter how humorously-intended.

1 Hubie Halloween

Early in 2020, rumors circled that Stiller was in talks to join the Fast and the Furious franchise. Perhaps as mere misdirection, though, as to avoid letting on to the deeper cinematic universe he was returning to after a decades-long hiatus.

Granted, Stiller’s reprisal of his Happy Gilmore character in the first scene of Sandler’s latest Netflix outing shocked no one who read up on Hubie Halloween‘s gossip in the days prior to its release – as Stiller’s name prematurely appeared in the cast list.

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