This week sees the release of This Is The End, the not-enormously-high concept comedy in which Seth Rogen, James Franco and their A-list buddies play themselves as prima donna actors sheltering from the apocalypse. It's a prime example of the fun actors can have when they're cast as themselves – it offers them a chance to poke fun at their own public persona, or alternatively, send themselves up with a wink and a smile. Sometimes it's a chance to change their image, but usually it's just a chance to have a laugh. Here are the 10 funniest examples of actors playing themselves...
Neil Patrick Harris in the Harold & Kumar movies
Here's a great example of an actor turning his public image on its head. The real Neil Patrick Harris is a triple-threat: an all-singing, all-dancing, gay actor with a penchant for show tunes. The NPH of the Harold & Kumar movies is about as far removed from Doogie Howser as possible: a pill-popping, hard-drinking, skirt-chasing animal who'll steal your car and leave you for dead if it'll get him to the party quicker. Harris used the momentum of his Harold & Kumar role to land him the part of ladykiller Barney in TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother, where he continues to lead a double life: an expert 'swordsman' on screen, a devoted father and husband off it.
Bill Murray in Zombieland
No stranger to playing himself on film – check out his show-stopping cameo in Space Jam – Bill Murray took it to the next level in Zombieland, where his hangdog routine worked wonders against the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse. Murray's mansion proves to be welcome solace from the onset of the walking dead for our heroes, where Bill spends his days dressed in full zombie make-up ("It suits my lifestyle. I like to get out and do stuff"). Inevitably, zombie Bill is accidentally shot and when given the chance to voice his regrets before he shuffles off this mortal coil, Murray replies: "Garfield, maybe." You know he speaks the truth.
Ben Affleck and
Matt Damon in Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back
Kevin Smith's love letter to the universe of his own creation is packed full of star cameos and celeb spots – given the movie is set in Hollywood, that's not surprising. The highlight is seeing former Smith cohorts Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on the set of Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season (with director Gus Van Sant too busy counting his money to yell 'Action!'). Clearly their love of the art-form has abated ("Think of the paycheque!") which explains why the Ben and Matt of the View Askewniverse have settled for such a sub-par sequel. Although "Applesauce, bitch!" is a pretty amazing one-liner.
John Malkovich in Being John Malkovich
The ultimate movie star cameo. The man known as 'Malkatraz' to none other than Charlie Sheen inflates his id to terrifying new heights in Charlie Kaufman's paean to fame. Malkovich's role has to go down as one of the strangest and most meta roles ever captured on film: the entire plot hinges around a portal into his brain, but when John enters that portal himself, he falls into a kaleidoscopic nightmare in which everyone and everything is Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich. There aren't many actors capable of downplaying such an egocentric role, but Malkovich handles it with with and humour. Thank goodness he got the part.
Joaquin Phoenix in I'm Still Here
I'm Still Here was an attempt on behalf of Joaquin Phoenix – not usually known as the most jovial of fellows, it has to be said – to send up celebrity culture by making himself the joke and the punchline. Phoenix publicly announced he was retiring from acting to concentrate on his rap career, then spent the next year and half self-destructing in order to sell the gag; he put on weight, grew a shaggy beard and almost burned all his bridges. Many suspected Phoenix's career change was a front, and the actor revealed it to be so just after the film's release, but for around 18 months, publicly and privately, Phoenix lived the lie for his art. Now that's dedication to a role – even if that role was himself.
Adam Sandler plays himself in all but name in this Judd Apatow comedy, as a past-his-best comedic actor tired of playing the same old roles – sound familiar? The movie's biggest laugh, however, comes when Sandler's character asks Eminem – playing himself – for some advice. The problem is, Slim Shady can't concentrate because Ray Romano, of TV sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, won't stop staring at him. "Hey Ray!" yells the rapper in the middle of a crowded restaurant. "Would you like to f**k me? Would you like me to bend over for you?" Romano is clearly thrown, muttering "This is why I don't go out the house." Seth Rogen's assistant, however, gets the last word: "I thought everybody loved you?"
Steve Coogan in A Cock & Bull Story
Steve Coogan has done a bang-up job sending himself up over the past few years, usually under the watchful eye of director Michael Winterbottom. Most recently there was BBC comedy The Trip, which saw Coogan and Rob Brydon irritate each other beyond belief while on a restaurant tour, but before that, the pair were taking chunks out of each other in Winterbottom's meta tale of the making of Tristram Shandy. Coogan gamely played himself as a raging egocentric, obsessing over the size of his part and forever putting down the gnome-like Brydon. It's to Coogan's credit that 'screen Steve' is totally – and troublingly – believable.
Bruce Willis in What Just Happened
Let's forget Willis' nauseating cameo in Ocean's Twelve and focus on his brilliant cameo in Art Linson's Hollywood pastiche What Just Happened. Hired by Robert De Niro's movie producer for a role, Willis kicks up a stink when he refuses to shave his big bushy beard for the film, gleefully trashing the set while moaning about his "artistic integrity". It was no sweat off Bruce's back, because it wasn't really him he was parodying – legend has it Alec Baldwin pulled the exact same stunt when he was hired to star in wilderness thriller The Edge. Still, if Kevin Smith's account of the torturous filming of Cop Out is accurate, Bruce is no picnic to work with either.
David Bowie and Billy Zane in Zoolander
If nobody has any objections... I believe ! might be of service?" Suddenly the 'walk-off' between arch rival male models Derek Zoolander and Hansel has a referee, and it's none other than the Thin White Duke. Bowie adjudicates the runway duel with all the panache of one of pop's great pioneers, and it doesn't sound like it's his first walk-off, either: "This'll be a straight walk-off, old school rules. First model walks; second model duplicates, then elaborates. Let's go to work!" Zoolander can't hope to follow Hansel's spectacular de-pantsing, and after wedgieing himself in front of Ziggy Stardust, suffers the ultimate humiliation: Bowie poking his head between his legs, yelling "DISQUALIFIED!"
Lance Armstrong in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
This one's a bit of a cheat as Lance Armstrong isn't technically an actor, although he did a pretty good job of convincing us all he was a good sport. One of Dodgeball's many cameos (sorry Chuck Norris, you didn't make the cut), Armstrong pops up to give a pep talk to Vince Vaughn's dejected orb-tosser: "I was thinking about quitting when I was diagnosed with brain, lung and testicular cancer, all at the same time. But with the love and support of my friends and family, I got back on the bike and I won the Tour de France five times in a row." Lacking the foresight of his eventual comeuppance, Armstrong signs off with a poetic goodbye: "I'm sure this decision won't haunt you forever."
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