21 Directors Who Made Sneaky, Hilarious, Or Clever Cameos In Their Own Movies

    Jon Favreau makes two separate cameos in Elf!

    1. Taika Waititi is the actor underneath the CGI as Korg in Thor: Ragnarok.

    A CGI alien in "Thor: Ragnarok" played by Taika Waititi

    2. Zack Snyder shows up in a coffee shop in his Justice League cut.

    Zach Snyder in the background of an Amy Adams scene in "Justice League"

    3. Emerald Fennell plays a beauty vlogger giving a makeup tutorial for "blowjob lips" in Promising Young Woman.

    A makeup vlogger played by Emerald Fennell in "Promising Young Woman"

    4. M. Night Shyamalan often appears in his movies, playing Dr. Hill in The Sixth Sense and Ray Reddy in Signs.

    M. Night Shyamalan in "The Sixth Sense" and "Signs"

    5. George Lucas is standing outside the opera dressed as a Pantoran man named Baron Notluwiski Papanoida in Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith.

    George Lucas dressed as a blue alien

    6. Peter Jackson appears as a man eating a carrot in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, a Rohan soldier in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and one of the Corsairs of Umbar in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

    Peter Jackson in each "Lord of the Rings" movie

    7. Jon Favreau voices Mr. Narwhal in addition to playing the doctor who gave Buddy a paternity test in Elf.

    Mr. Narwhal and Buddy seeing his doctor

    8. Richard Curtis plays one of the trombone players in the opening wedding scene of Love Actually.

    Trombone players at the wedding

    9. Quentin Tarantino plays Mr. Brown in Reservoir Dogs, Jimmie in Pulp Fiction, and a LeQuint Dickey Mining Co. employee in Django Unchained.

    Quentin Tarantino in "Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction," and "Django Unchained"

    10. Chris Columbus is shopping with a young girl during the toy store scene in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

    Chris Columbus and his daughter

    11. David Lynch plays a spice worker in Dune.

    David Lynch covered in dirt with goggles on operating a plane

    12. Tim Burton plays one of the thugs who approaches Pee-wee in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.

    A group approaching Pee-Wee in a dark alley

    13. Jennifer Lee voices Queen Iduna in Frozen.

    The queen and king holding baby Anna in "Frozen"

    14. Francis Ford Coppola makes a meta cameo as a TV crew director in his film Apocalypse Now.

    Francis Ford Coppola directing a small crew in "Apocalypse Now"

    15. Martin Scorsese plays a passenger who pays to watch his cheating wife in Taxi Driver.

    Martin Scorsese sitting in the back of a taxi

    16. John Hughes plays Brian's dad and picks him up from detention in The Breakfast Club.

    John Hughes driving a car and picking his son up from school

    17. Alfred Hitchcock regularly made cameos in his films, but his humorous role as the man who misses the bus in the opening of North By Northwest is one of the most notable.

    Alfred Hitchcock missing the bus

    18. Steven Spielberg voices the Amity Island dispatcher who calls Quint's boat in Jaws.

    Quint on the radio of his boat listening to the dispatcher played by Spielberg

    19. Michael Bay plays a civilian who is thrown into a taxi by Megatron in Transformers.

    Michael Bay laying on the ground among other civilians

    20. Julie Taymor is one of the bus passengers heading to the Woman's March in The Glorias.

    Julie Taymor sitting on the bus

    21. And Christopher Guest plays Harlan Pepper in his dog-owner mockumentary, Best in Show.

    Christopher Guest with text on the screen reading "Harlan Pepper"

    If you've spotted a TV or film director in their own project, let us know in the comment section below!