This year has had its fair share of surprises, that’s for sure. In and out of the media, we have found ourselves looking at our phones, computers, friends, and family and loudly proclaiming “What?! Did you see this?!” It’s exhausting, we know.
While many of us turn to our TVs or sit down in a dimly lit theater to escape it all, we were often caught off guard in 2024 by movies and shows giving us some shocking moments — the good kinds, though. We’d look up from our bucket of popcorn or our phone and see eye-to-eye with someone we were not expecting, often delivering a line or an expression that just added to the mystique and the general “what the f**k-ery.”
For some, it was Joel Edgerton’s voice popping up randomly in a new episode of Bluey (a.k.a the TV show that everyone loves). For the more indie-film lovers, it may have been Miley Cyrus materializing during a trippy, drug-induced hallucination as Tiffany Plastercaster in Drive-Away Dolls. And don’t even get us started on the scores of cameos that powered Deadpool & Wolverine to the #2 spot in worldwide box office in 2024.
No matter what age you are, what genre you fancy, or which streaming service you occupy your time with more than others, 2024 featured a guest star or cameo that probably had you in a moment of disbelief. And that deserves a celebration of its own.
In honor of 2024 coming to an end (finally!), we’ve highlighted some of the best cameos, guest stars, and jaw-dropping appearances of the year. Let this also serve as a message to 2025: you’ve got big boots to fill.
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Bradley Cooper (Abbott Elementary – Season 3, Episode 6)
Photo: Disney/Gilles Mingasson Has there been a more “What the f**?!” moment on television this year than Bradley Cooper showing up in the Super Bowl episode of Abbott Elementary? We think not. In Season 3, Episode 6, “Willard R. Abbott,” Cooper appears as himself, visiting the titular school as a show-and-tell guest in Ms. Schemmenti’s (Lisa Ann Walter) classroom. The Philadelphia native gets chummy with the teachers — who, of course, subject him to a hilarious line of questioning and grill him on why he wasn’t in Oppenheimer — and breaks out his Rocket the Racoon voice in one of the best and most surprising cameos of 2024. — Hope Sloop
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Cobie Smulders (Shrinking – Season 2, Episode 10)
Photo: Apple TV+ Season 2 of Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein, and Jason Segel’s beloved Apple TV+ series Shrinking leveled up in all the best ways, including the guest star department. On top of Goldstein joining the cast in a role unlike any he’s had before, big names like Kelly Bishop and Damon Wayans Jr. appeared, and Shrinking even featured nostalgic nods to former series. The sophomore season not only gave Cougar Town fans a Christa Miller and Josh Hopkins reunion, but in its most jaw-dropping guest spot to date, it reunited Jason Segel and Cobie Smulders 10 years after How I Met Your Mother ended. As Smulders told Decider in an interview, the former co-stars of nine seasons took their “[Robin and Marshall] hats off for a couple scenes” to play — wait for it — love interests! Jimmy (Segel) went to Sofi’s (Smulders) home in hopes of buying her car as a birthday present for his daughter. With a little help from Jimmy’s wingman, Derek (Ted McGinley), the two really hit it off. “It was just like the good old times,” Smulders told Decider. “Jason and I grew up together. We worked together for nine years. We know each other so well. We have so many shared experiences. We already have such a history. So to play another type of dynamic and to play other people doesn’t feel weird to us.” You can read our full chat with the HIMYM star here. — Nicole Gallucci
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Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth (Wicked: Part 1)
@IdinaMenzel The OGs walked so Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande could run. Broadway fans were overjoyed to see the original Elphaba and Glinda — Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth –make a cameo in the new Wicked movie during “One Short Day.” In the scene, Menzel and Chenoweth play two mages from Oz who explain the history of the Grimmerie through a brand new song and dance. Menzel even reprises her iconic riff from the end of “Defying Gravity.” Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz — who also makes a brief appearance in the Emerald City scene — created the roles specifically for Menzel and Chenoweth, who first stepped into their roles when the show debuted on Broadway in 2003. — Carrie Berk
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Photo: Warner Bros. Discovery As a preborn abomination with the ability to channel the memories of all of her ancestors before her, the character of young Alia Atreides is something of a challenge to translate to live-action adaptations of Frank Herbert’s Dune. David Lynch had the preternaturally creepy talents of then-child actress Alicia Witt to bring Alia to life. Denis Villeneuve went in an even less conventional direction for Dune: Part Two. After taking the Water of Life, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) hangs in the balance between life and death before pulling himself out of this abyss. The last face he sees before claiming his fate as the Kwisatz Haderach? His future sister, Alia (Anya Taylor-Joy). In just one moment of screen time, Taylor-Joy conveys the character’s import to what comes next. However, it’s in her voiceover work as the conscious fetus in mother Jessica’s (Rebecca Ferguson) womb that Anya Taylor-Joy really lets the character’s freak flag fly. — Meghan O’Keefe
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Photo: FX What We Do In The Shadows Season 6 included a wonderful homage to the 1979 New York City thriller The Warriors, which would have been delightful on its own but they upped the ante with a surprise cameo from former True Blood star Alexander Skarsgård. The whirlwind episode shows the Staten Island vampires running for their lives as they narrowly escape a vampire meeting in Brooklyn where Laszlo Cravensworth’s monster killed Jerry in front of seemingly every single vampire in the tri-state area. But when the vampires reconvene in Brooklyn and Baron Afanas reasserts his power over the vampires, it’s Skarsgard’s Eric Northman who surprisingly cowards before his power. What is Eric Northmn doing so far from Bon Temps, Louisiana? This brief but hilarious cameo is a testament to Skarsgard’s impeccable comedic timing, which offsets his sometimes chilling disposition. It also hints that there is much more to Northman’s journey after True Blood ended in 2014. As someone who still thinks about True Blood at least once a day 10 years later, this was a welcome surprise. — Angela Tricario
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Marvel/Disney Many rumors about cameos in this film had leaked long before butts were in seats at the theater. Hell, Marvel outed X-23 (Dafne Keen) as being in the movie by including her in a promo in the days leading up to the movie’s release. Honorable mentions here go to Wesley Snipes as Blade, Channing Tatum as Gambit, and Jennifer Garner as Elektra, but Chris Evans showing up as the FOX universe version of Johnny Storm from the Fantastic Four films of the early aughts is the one who shook me to my core. I am certainly biased — those movies were personal favorites of mine — but it was his post-credit scene that sealed the deal here. There was something about Evans’ Boston accent seeping through while shit-talking Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) that really set this cameo over the edge. Plus, Ryan Reynolds’ hilarious one-liners like “holy shit girl, you crazy” in response to Johnny Storm’s verbal rampage that made this one feel special. — Hope Sloop
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Photo: Max Author John Green shot to popularity in the 2000s, thanks to his buzzy first novel, Looking for Alaska, as well as the cult-hit YouTube channel he runs with his brother, Hank Green, known as “The Vlogbrothers.” For those who’ve been following Green’s career for well over a decade, it was an absolute treat to get to finally see him on the big screen in the Turtles All the Way Down movie, which released on Max in May. He even gets a few lines, as the long-suffering gym teacher of the film’s anxious protagonist, played by Isabela Merced. Congratulations to Green for successfully pulling off his first movie cameo. Now all that’s left to do is make An Abundance of Katherines movie, and get Hank a cameo, too. –Anna Menta
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Hulu Truth be told, every single cameo and guest star in Only Murders in the Building Season 4 should be on this list. This was a truly wild season of television but no episode better encapsulates the insanity than Season 4, Episode 7, where Melissa McCarthy plays Doreen, the sister of Charles Haden-Savage (Steve Martin). Doreen is as Long Island as they come and when the main trio — i.e. Mabel (Selena Gomez), Charles, and Oliver (Martin Short) — arrive at her house to hide out, they are shocked to discover Doreen’s doll fixation. As her own daughters have flown the nest, it’s the dolls that keep her company now. And things quickly go off the rails because Doreen ends up in a massive physical altercation with Oliver’s girlfriend, Loretta (Meryl Streep), in what can only be described as one of the best television moments of the year. Just engrave her Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy Award now. — Hope Sloop
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Jonathan Bailey (Heartstopper – Season 3, Episode 6)
Unlike most guest spots where an actor is cast to fit a role, the Heartstopper team had the rare opportunity to find a role to fit an actor who was very eager to be part of the series. Creator Alice Oseman told Decider that Jonathan Bailey (of Bridgerton and Wicked fame) had expressed interest in appearing in the show ahead of Season 2, but there just wasn’t a role for him. “You can’t have Jonathan Bailey just randomly appear and give one line and then disappear,” they explained. When Season 3 rolled around, the team thought carefully and landed on Charlie’s (Joe Locke) celebrity crush from the comics: a young, hot classics scholar they renamed Jack Maddox for the series. And just to be clear: Bailey is perfect for the role. A totally believable celebrity crush, indeed. — Angela Tricario
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Netflix watch a man on the inside on netflix
As one of the foremost experts and lovers of The Good Place, my heart let out a little shriek upon seeing D’Arcy Carden and Ted Danson reunite in A Man on the Inside. A cameo in the truest sense of the word — Carden has all of two lines and appears on screen for less than 30 seconds — her impact was felt by all the fans who wish they could get one more scene with Janet and Michael from the four season NBC comedy. Honorable mention here to Kristen Bell who also cameos in the episode mere seconds before Carden pops on screen. Bell — who played Elanor Shellstop in The Good Place — only is featured from the back in a subtle nod to one of the final scenes of the ethics-driven comedy. TGP forever! — Hope Sloop
