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- From Megan Thee Stallion's cameo in 'She-Hulk' to Michelle Obama's guest appearance in 'Blackish,' here are 10 celebrity cameos that made you do a double take this year
From Megan Thee Stallion's cameo in 'She-Hulk' to Michelle Obama's guest appearance in 'Blackish,' here are 10 celebrity cameos that made you do a double take this year
Pauline Villegas
- In 2022, rapper Megan Thee Stallion and politician Stacey Abrams tried their hand at acting.
- The final seasons of "Derry Girls" and "Black-ish" included star-studded appearances.
1. Michelle Obama in "Black-ish."
Former first lady Michelle Obama found herself in the first episode of the final season of "Black-ish" which aired in January. In the episode, "That's What Friends Are For," Dre (Anthony Anderson) complains to his wife Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross) that he hates having to talk to her colleagues' "dud" husbands at dinner parties.
Rainbow convinces him to try one more time at the When We All Vote fundraiser, where the invite teased a special guest.
The special guest, naturally, is Michelle Obama. After the first lady hit it off with the Johnsons, the couple invites her to dinner at their Los Angeles home. The chaotic, though heartwarming dinner goes well and when Rainbow and Dre reach out to set a date for the next dinner, Michelle quickly responds that former President Barack Obama is "busy." Dre concludes the episode by realizing that in this case, he's the "dud" husband.
2. Stacey Abrams in "Star Trek: Discovery."
Former Georgia representative Stacey Abrams entered a whole new world of politics when she appeared in the season four finale for the Paramount Plus sci-fi series "Star Trek: Discovery" in March.
In the finale, titled "Coming Home," Abrams plays the president of United Earth. In a behind-the-scenes video Abram's shared on Twitter, she discussed her time on set and how "Star Trek: Discovery" reminded her why she began her work in politics.
"It's about giving people hope and giving them a better life and creating this vision of what is possible," Abrams said in the behind-the-scenes video.
3. Liam Neeson in "Atlanta."
"Taken" star Liam Neeson joined the "Atlanta" cast in the third season of Donald Glover's hit FX series in May. Neeson's cameo, where the actor plays himself, doesn't shy away from his controversial past.
During a 2019 interview with The Independent, the actor shared that he once went looking for a "Black bastard" to "kill" after a friend told him she was sexually assaulted by a Black man.
In the "Atlanta" episode, "New Jazz," star Brian Tyree Henry's character Paper Boi takes drugs and hallucinates an encounter with Neeson. The two share a drink at a bar called "Cancel Club," and Neeson explains that his previous comments came from a place of "shame."
Though this imagined Neeson apologized for the "hurt" he may have caused, he admitted to having complicated feelings about members of the Black community who he felt tried to ruin his career. The hallucination ends with Neeson concluding, "But I also learned the best and worst part about being white is you don't have to learn anything if you don't want to."
4. Charlize Theron and Seth Rogan in "The Boys."
"The Boys" kicked off the third season in June with a glamorous cameo from Marvel alum Charlize Theron. In episode one, Theron plays herself (sort of). Theron is hired to recast the hero Stormfront (Ava Cash) in the "Dawn of the 7" movie within the show. Last season, Stormfront was revealed to have strong Nazi ties after her public relationship with Homelander (Antony Starr) went south.
In the show, Theron recasts the original Stormfront, and "Dawn of the 7" makes Stormfront the villain.
Showrunner Eric Kripke told Entertainment Weekly that they were able to bring Theron on board because of her friendship with "The Boys" executive producer Seth Rogan. "The Charlize cameo came about by following our usual pattern of cameos, which is it's the rigorous screening process of whoever returns Seth Rogan's calls," Kripke told the outlet.
Rogan also makes his own cameo in season three when he's seen on an adult website, receiving explicit content from the fallen hero Crimson Countess (Laurie Holden) via video chat. This cameo was Rogan's third appearance within "The Boys" universe, each time playing himself.
5. Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and more, in "The Boys."
Longtime couple Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher joined other familiar faces in "The Boys" season three while parodying Gal Gadot's infamous "Imagine" pandemic video.
The June-released episode "Herogasm" opens with "The Boys"' take on the celebrity-packed video. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gal Gadot posted a star-studded "Imagine" by John Lennon cover on Instagram. The post was immediately given the meme treatment, and NBC News cultural critic Brian Moylan called the moment "peak cringe."
In "The Boys," hero The Deep (Chace Crawford) begins singing "Imagine," as celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Kumail Nanjiani, Rose Byrne, Elizabeth Banks, and more join in on the fun.
6. Channing Tatum in "Bullet Train."
Brad Pitt's latest action comedy "Bullet Train," where he stars as ex-assassin Ladybug, has a star-filled roster. Cast members of the Netflix film which premiered in August include Sandra Bullock as Maria, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Tangerine, Bad Bunny as Wolf, and many more.
One special performance that may have flown under the radar was Channing Tatum's. The "Magic Mike" star was snuck into the film as a train passenger who finds himself in the middle of the ultimate assassin showdown. Tatum's character is hilariously unassuming throughout the train ride. While Ladybug and the others battle it out on their different missions, Tatum can be seen obliviously reading.
7. Megan Thee Stallion in "She-Hulk."
Rapper Megan Thee Stallion traded in her mic for a blazer on season one of "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" on Disney Plus. In episode three, Megan joined star Tatiana Maslany's character Jennifer Walters in the courtroom.
In the episode which aired in September, an Asgardian shapeshifter takes the form of Megan Thee Stallion and scams rival lawyer Dennis Bukowski (Drew Matthews) out of thousands of dollars. When the real Megan Thee Stallion appears in court for trial, she's impressed by She-Hulk's skill and hires Walters as her personal lawyer.
In a post-credit scene, the two twerk together in celebration. "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" costar Jameela Jamil told The Hollywood Reporter that she suggested Megan for the role when writer and executive producer Jessica Gao said they needed a "famous, successful, and beautiful woman."
8. Bella Hadid in "Ramy."
Supermodel Bella Hadid made her acting debut in season 3 of the Hulu show "Ramy" in September. Hadid, who is a good friend of "Ramy" creator Ramy Youssef, portrays Steve's (Steve Way) new girlfriend Lena.
Lena and Steve met on MuslimMatch, a fictional Muslim dating site, despite the fact that Steve isn't Muslim. When Ramy meets the new couple for dinner one night, he learns that Lena is obsessed with the comedy "The Office." Throughout the dinner, everything Lena talks about pertains to the hit NBC sitcom.
Hadid, who is half-Palestinian and vocal about her support for Muslim causes, spoke to GQ about how much the role meant to her. She told the outlet that she cried on the first day of shooting because she was gifted a "Free Palestine" shirt by the crew.
9. Chelsea Clinton in "Derry Girls."
The last season of Netflix's sleeper hit "Derry Girls" had quite an American ending in October. The daughter of former President Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, made an appearance in the final moments of the series as herself.
"Derry Girls" tells the endearing, funny tale of four teenage girls and one boy who live in Londonderry, Ireland during the Troubles of Derry in the 1990s. The Troubles were a civil conflict between Catholic nationalists and Protestant loyalists that began in the late 1960s and lasted until 1998, according to the History channel.
The final shot of "Derry Girls" takes place in the United States in the present day. A mailman delivers a lost letter to Clinton's doorstep from the main cast of the show. The gang, Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), Orla (Louisa Harland), Michelle (Jamie-Lee O'Donnell), Clare (Nicola Coughlan), and James (Dylan Llewellyn), sent this letter during the season two finale.
Series creator Lisa McGee told the Belfast Telegraph that the scene was originally written in the script as a joke because she never thought Clinton would agree to it. In May, Clinton told NME she is a big fan of the series and thanked McGee for the opportunity.
10. Michelle Trachtenberg in "Gossip Girl."
The 2007 six-season series "Gossip Girl" got the reboot treatment when HBO Max's "Gossip Girl" began streaming in July 2021. The reboot stars Whitney Peak and Jordan Alexander as estranged half-sisters Zoya and Julien. With an all-new cast, "Gossip Girl" brings the topic of cyberbullying in New York's Upper East Side to a new generation.
However, an original "Gossip Girl" villain will be revisiting her old stomping grounds in the reboot's second season. Michelle Trachtenberg, who played mean girl Georgina Sparks in the original "Gossip Girl," was spotted at the tail end of the season two trailer.
It's unclear what Georgina's intentions are with the new "Gossip Girl" crew, but it is sure to be dramatic. The second season, which she is set to appear in, premiered on December 1.
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