Quentin Tarantino is a wildly inventive and accomplished filmmaker whose style as a director has spanned over three decades. He has cast actors in some career-defining roles, helped others return to the spotlight after spending time in obscurity, and crafted some of the best characters in movie history. He also has a penchant for including incredibly entertaining cameos in his films by some of the biggest names in Hollywood past and present. These are the 10 best cameos in Quentin Tarantino’s movies.
10 Harvey Keitel – Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Towards the climactic end of one of the best movies about movies, Inglourious Basterds, while negotiating his surrender, Hans Landa played by Christoph Waltz, is seen and heard communicating over a radio to allied forces. The voice on the other end just so happens to be that of Tarantino movie alum and actor Harvey Keitel. It is an Easter egg cameo that only the most diehard Tarantino fans might catch or learn abut later.
9 Franco Nero – Django Unchained (2012)
Django Unchained was Tarantino’s first directorial dive into a spaghetti western honoring those movies from a bygone era. Starring Jamie Foxx in the titular role of Django, he runs across the path of a man named Amerigo Vessepi, played by legendary western actor, Franco Nero. It was Nero who featured in the role of Django in the 1966 movie about the legendary fictional character. Making the cameo all the more special.
8 Samuel L. Jackson – Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)
Samuel L. Jackson has been a fixture in Tarantino’s films. Starring in four and making cameos in two others of the directors 10 films, thus far. His cameo in Kill Bill Vol. 2 stands out as one of the best. He can be spotted as the smoke-covered mysterious piano player at the Bride’s wedding on the day she was left for dead.
7 Bruce Dern – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
Bruce Dern took on the cameo role of real life ranch owner, George Spahn, in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. This was after the original choice of Burt Reynolds tragically passed away before filming the necessary scenes. Dern’s cameo as the Spahn Ranch owner who saw his property taken over by Charles Manson and his “family” is hauntingly tragic and adds more to the film than just a famous face.
6 Zoë Bell – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
Famed New Zealand stunt woman, Zoë Bell, finds herself making a cameo appearance as a fictional stunt woman in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. Playing opposite Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth and Mike Moh’s Bruce Lee. Having made previous appearances in other Tarantino films in both a featured role or as a stunt stand-in. Bell’s appearance was a delightful surprise for all Tarantino fans.
5 Quentin Tarantino – Reservoir Dogs (1992)
The director has made numerous cameos in his own films; one of the best was in his role as Mr. Brown in Tarantino’s breakout directorial debut, Reservoir Dogs. The film begins with his character going on a vintage Tarantino dialogue rant regarding Madonna’s song, “Like a Virgin”. Mr. Brown goes on to promptly die during the film’s diamond heist.
4 Channing Tatum – The Hateful Eight (2015)
The often overlooked, but underrated gem that is Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight features Channing Tatum as the ruthless outlaw, Jody Domergue as he attempts to free his sister from the captive hands of a bounty hunter set to take her to the hangman in Red Rock, Wyoming. The cameo ranks as one of the best because of the change of pace in which the audience gets to see Channing Tatum in the film. As a rough and tumble outlaw out on the wild frontiers of the old west.
3 Steve Buscemi – Pulp Fiction (1994)
Take a bathroom break, and you are sure to miss Steve Buscemi‘s cameo in the Tarantino classic, Pulp Fiction. Full of symbolism, nihilism, action, and mystery. The film also features some timeless characters and cameos. Famous for his roles in the films of the Coen Brothers, the Reservoir Dogs star makes another Tarantino appearance, this time as the Buddy Holly-stylized waiter to Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace. A waiter who clearly is not enjoying his current employment situation.
2 Quentin Tarantino – Pulp Fiction (1994)
Tarantino’s second cameo appearance on the list comes as Jimmie in Pulp Fiction. A close friend to gangster, Jules Winnfield, he finds himself in the middle of a mess when Jules and his partner Vincent show up at his home to stash a blood and brain-matter-filled car. Concerned that the two men won’t have their work done by the time his wife Bonnie gets home, Tarantino plays the frantic friend to perfection, often delighting in his friend’s misfortune. He also makes some serious gourmet coffee.
1 Jonah Hill – Django Unchained (2012)
Every great cameo in a movie has an air of surprise to it; it’s what makes them so enjoyable. Jonah Hill‘s appearance in Django Unchained falls into that category as the cameo is an unexpected as it is entertaining. As a member of Spencer “Big Daddy” Bennett’s posse, the morally and intellectually ignorant character that Hill plays makes for a classic Quentin Tarantino cameo.
