12 Great Actors That Went Uncredited In Our Favorite Comedies And Movies

Sometimes an actor isn't important enough to be credited, or sometimes an actor's inclusion in a project may be a big secret to surprise the audience. Whatever the reason, more actors have gone uncredited in projects than you think, including the following 15 heavy hitters who appeared in films for the love of the game.

12 Henry Winkler: Scream

Henry Winkler went uncredited in the slasher film Scream, as the producers didn’t want to draw attention away from the younger unknown actors in the film. Winkler recently said about his role in the film, “This one shot, with the bad guy with the mask coming into my eyeball, it took two hours to shoot. As he was stabbing me, Wes, in his professorial way, came up and he said, 'Do you think it might be more excruciating? Do you think being stabbed you would scream a little louder?' I said I could do that. Then, because I had tubes going up my clothes, coming out my shirt, out of my chest, they filled it back up , and then I screamed much louder."

11 Jamie Kennedy: Dead Poets Society

Dead Poets Society was the first big film set Jamie Kennedy set foot on when his friend’s mom got a job as an extra in the film. Kennedy said about the film, “I was working at Dominos two days before and I turn over and I literally see Robin Williams eating hummus.” He adds you can spot his ear at the left of this photo.

10 Will Ferrell: Wedding Crashers

Will Ferrell's addition to the film Wedding Crashers was pitched late in the game, not being written into the original script. When Ferrell agreed test audiences lost it over his cameo in the theaters and the creators wanted to keep that excitement around for its national release, so they chose to keep his appearance a secret. The director of the film David Dobkins said, "Every first trailer that they cut had him in it, and I was like, 'Guys, you can't do that, you're ruining the joy of a reveal.' Yeah, you need to sell the movie but you've also got to leave an experience for people and something for them to discover. We asked all of the reviewers, 'Please don't ever say that he's in the movie,' and there was so much love for the film that no one leaked it. It was such a lovely thing."

9 Ben Stiller: Happy Gilmore

Ben Stiller’s role as the evil nursing home attendant went uncredited in the film Happy Gilmore, most likely in an effort to surprise theater go-ers.

8 Cate Blanchett: Hot Fuzz

Cate Blanchett appeared in the film Hot Fuzz, although you may not have even noticed it. Blanchett plays Janine, who has her face covered by a mask while on-screen. Director Edgar Wright thought it would be funny to include an Oscar winning actress in a scene where you can’t even tell it’s her, and Cate Blanchett liked the joke too.

7 Jim Parsons: The Muppets

In an effort to keep his cameo a secret in the song “Am I A Man, Or Am I A Muppet” in the film, The Muppets, Jim Parsons went uncredited in the film. Parsons said playing Walter’s human alter-ego was “The role of a lifetime.”

6 Danny Pudi: Captain America Winter Soldier

Danny Pudi is one of many Community cast members to be featured in Marvel movies, appearing as a S.H.E.I.L.D. community officer in Captain America Winter Soldier. Pudi described the backstory as, “I got a text from Joe Russo, who was a director of Community at the time, and said, 'What are you doing on July 4th?' I said, 'I think I'm with my family. We might go to this parade.' And he said, 'Do you have some time in the afternoon?' I said, 'Yeah, well, in the morning we'll go for this parade and we're having some hamburgers, but afterwards I'll stop by.' So I show up at Manhattan Beach, there are no sides, no script. I don't know what I'm doing. He said, 'We'd like you just to pop into this scene with Captain America.' And I said, 'Great.' And then they gave me a sheet of paper, on set, with a couple of lines, and then they made me give them the sheet of paper back. Months later, I saw the film. I'm in it. All my friends were like, 'How did that happen?' I wasn't allowed to tell anybody I was in it, and it was a surprise, and that's pretty much how it came to be."

5 David Bowie: Zoolander

Bowie’s cameo as a judge for the “Walk Off” scene in Zoolander was meant to take audiences completely by surprise, which it, of course, did. Stiller explained the cameo as, "David Bowie, literally, we just came up with the idea of who would be funny to judge this 'walk-off.' Bowie, with his song 'Fashion,' personified that. We put it in the script and sent it to him, and he actually said yes. That was one of those out-of-the-blue things."

4 Dan Aykroyd: Casper

Another surprise cameo came in the form of Dan Aykroyd’s appearance in the 1995 film Casper. Akroyd reprised his role as Ray Stantz from the Ghostbuster’s franchise to make a fun cameo I didn’t understand when I was five.

3 Christian Slater: Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery

Although it was cut from the American release of the film, Christian Slater did make an appearance as an easily hypnotized security guard in Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery. Why would they cut this gem of a scene?

2 Johnny Depp: 21 Jump Street

Johnny Depp was uncredited for his monster cameo in 21 Jump Street, reappearing in the film version of the show he once starred in. Producers approached Depp about the uncredited cameo, and he agreed on one condition, that his co-star from the original show, Peter DeLuise, also be included.

1 Tom Cruise: Tropic Thunder

Tom Cruise’s appearance in Tropic Thunder took the world by storm. The Les Grossman persona Cruise dons was a complete departure from his previous characters and from his teetering public persona. Tom Cruise came up with the character himself, according to the film's director, Ben Stiller. Stiller said, “Tom Cruise had the idea to play Les Grossman in the movie. That part did not exist. He said, 'Well, there's no studio executive and that would be really fun to be that guy. And he had this whole idea of what the guy should look like. It was his idea to dance. And I remember when we did a makeup test, someone handed him a Diet Coke and then he just started moving."

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