John Fardy on the best cameos in film
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk with Aviva Insurance.
What inspired John Fardy to explore film cameos?
Well, the new Devil Wears Prada film has some great cameos. People like Lady Gaga and Heidi Klum pop up in it and it has inspired Screen Time's John Fardy to explore some of the best cameos in film. And John is with me now, having done all of his research under his arm. What? Oh, wait. Yeah, OK. Yeah, that's what you're supposed to do, John. What qualifies as a cameo?
Like, what is it? Define. And like, were they on screen long enough? So really, it's certainly no longer than five minutes, but often it's 30 seconds or something like that. It's just a flash of a face. But I guess it can't be a main character or even a supporting character. And they work best when it's like, oh my God, was that just, you know? So Exhibit A, this one every time gets me. Tom Cruise, who's, you know, a great actor, great movie maker, but quite controlling of his image, it's fair to say. I think that's fair. and all that goes with it. I still can't get over the fact that he played a character called Les Grossman, who is this movie executive who is horrible, overweight, bald. It was really hard to find a clip without profanities and I struggled.
But he's the executive on a movie called Tropic Thunder, which is meant to be this movie set in Vietnam where all these... egomaniacal actors go away and they're going to make this Vietnam movie and it all falls apart. And in the background from the States is this character, Les Grossman, basically cursing at everyone. Have a little flavor.
That's me, sir. It's good to finally meet you at last. Get some face time.
What qualifies as a cameo in film?
And who here is a key grip? You. Hit that director in the face. Really thin hard. Ow, ow, ow. This is your fault. F*** the money bed, my friend.
Tom Cruise. Is this not Tom Cruise telling us that he's fun and he's nice and he's a bit of a cracker? Absolutely.
And most of these cameos are because you're kind of endeared towards people when they do this. I can't help but thinking. So it's often a win-win for them because they seem kind of cool. And sometimes... they're completely sending their public image up, which is quite clever. Now, the master of this, to my mind, to turn to TV, was what Ricky Gervais was able to get out of people in extras. You know, you had Kate Winslet going, oh, I'm only doing this so I can win an Oscar. Ben Stiller going, well, Starsky and Hutch made 47 million, what do you know, like an endless supply. But the daddy of them all was the late, great David Bowie sitting in a club with his character in Extras, Ricky Gervais' Andy Millmount, who's having a lot of commercial success for this new sitcom he's in, but critically it's being lambasted.
He meets David Bowie in this nightclub and thinks, you know, artist to artist, I'll share my pain with him. It doesn't quite go that way.
Not going down too well, huh? It's getting six million viewers. I mean, it's not exactly how I meant it to be, because the BBC have interfered and sort of chased ratings and made it the lowest common denominator sort of comedy, catchphrases and wigs. I think I've sold out, to be honest. Yeah. It's difficult, isn't it, to keep your integrity when you're going for that first little... Little fat man who sold his soul.
The little... Little fat man who sold his dream. Chubby little loser. Chubby little loser. National joke. No, not chubby little loser. No. Pathetic little fat man. No one's bloody laughing. The clown that no one laughs at. They all just wish he'd die. He's so depressed at being useless, the fat man takes his own life.
How did Tom Cruise's cameo in Tropic Thunder stand out?
No, no. He's so depressed at being hated, Fatty takes his own life. Fatty? Fatso? Fatso. I like Fatso. Yeah, let's go with Fatso. Fatso takes his own life, he blows his bloated face off. No. He blows his stupid brains out. But that's what I'd probably miss. Yes, Linda, I like that.
Yeah, so do I. It's brilliant, Linda.
He sold his soul for a shot at fame. Yeah, he wins. I think he does, doesn't he? And the funny thing is Gervais said, you know, when they talked David Bowie into him and they agreed what the setup was going to be, he said to, Gervais said to Bowie, so, you know, play a song on the piano about me and kind of in the vein of Life on Mars.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:10
2
What inspired John Fardy to explore film cameos?
0:10–1:59
3
What qualifies as a cameo in film?
1:59–4:25
4
How did Tom Cruise's cameo in Tropic Thunder stand out?
4:25–8:29
5
What unique aspects did Ricky Gervais bring to cameos in Extras?
8:29–12:32