by David Christopher Bell
While some actors can’t even get their mail without being spotted, there are others with the exact opposite problem: costume actors. It’s strange that someone can play such iconic characters as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man or Michael Myers and then completely go under our radar.
For example, the following actors, mostly known for their costumed characters, have also appeared unmasked in other roles you might not have even noticed…
7. The Pale Man is in John Dies At The End
Doug Jones’s primary trade is having a bunch of crazy prosthetic bullshit all over his face. In Pan’s Labyrinth he was not only the Pale Man, but that goat thing as well. In Hellboy he was Abe Sapien, and he even had a role as a clown in Batman Returns.
In fact, other than John Dies At The End – a film where he plays a leech-wielding dimension hopper – I can’t recall a film where he actually showed his face before. It’s not a terrible face either, and an extremely fitting addition to the cast of this extremely surreal supernatural spectacle.
6. Kano From Mortal Kombat is in Pirates Of The Caribbean
It’s extremely possible that the Mortal Kombat movie character Kano is one of those things that only I find iconic from my childhood. And even though his only shroud is a single mask piece, I found it fascinating to learn that he had a speaking line in the first Pirates Of The Caribbean film, which also happens to be his last film ever. Did you know that Kano is dead? Also his real name is Trevor Goddard, which I should have mentioned before.
Anyway, he’s the pirate at the beginning who is all like “Say goodbye” and then gets wacked through a window to Legolas’s delight. It’s a fitting sign off, I guess. Oh also, he was in that X-File episode where Mulder fights the Nazis on the Bermuda Triangle – so that’s something.
5. Lurtz of the Uruk-hai is a Henchman in Die Another Day
Classic Bond, with your stupid understanding of laser technology. Honestly I don’t remember this scene in context, but I can’t think of a single scenario where a factory of robotic lasers comes in handy for anything but a dramatic action fight scene. That henchmen he fights there is “Mr. Kil” played by Lawrence Makoare – who not only played the lead Uruk-hai in Lord Of The Rings, but also the Witch-King in Return Of The King.
While it would have been cool to see him in the new Hobbit films, it appears that Peter Jackson has pretty much settled into terrible looking CGI orcs at this point.
4. Darth Maul is in Fanboys
Darth Maul was arguably the best thing to come out of The Phantom Menace, and of course the first villain of the prequels to be immediately killed off. Honestly I think that was a really easy problem they could have solved – in the original series, we had the same villain throughout. In the prequels they just kept changing it up, killing every new villain before we were able to care about them.
Ray Park is his name, and he’s also Toad in X-Men and Snake Eyes in that GI Joe abomination. He’s also front and center in the above clip from Fanboys, a movie hell bent on getting any and all nerd cameos they could finagle.
3. 1976’s King Kong is in 2005’s King Kong
Honestly, summing up makeup artist Rick Baker as “the dude in the King Kong suit” is probably the least exciting way to describe him. Heck – the fact that he was also a member of the Mos Eisley Cantina Band in the original Star Wars isn’t even the most impressive thing about him. After all, he’s the dude behind the transformation scene in An American Werewolf In London, plus like, a few hundred other things you love.
Videodrome, The Frighteners, freaking Thriller – this is all Rick Baker’s work. Plus, he’s been in two King Kong films – albeit the two that don’t really count. Still, Thriller.
2. The Predator is in Big Top Pee-Wee
Kevin Peter Hall, the dude that took on both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Glover in hulking Predator form, was also known for being a big softie sweetheart. He was also the dude in the suit for Harry And The Hendersons, as well as a few bit roles that required a dude that’s like – really goddamn tall.
One such giant role was “Big John” in the ridiculous Big Top Pee-Wee, a film that most notably gave Benicio Del Toro his start into film while simultaneously ensuring the peak of his career’s weirdness.
1. Darth Vader is in A Clockwork Orange
Yeah, that guy in the red short shorts lifting weights? That’s David Prowse, aka the guy who wore Darth Vader’s suit in all three Star Wars films. How freaking weird is that?
And it’s not like Prowse, a former bodybuilder, hasn’t had his fair share of bit roles in films and TV here and there – but holy smokes, that’s A Clockwork Orange. What are the odds of being in both A Clockwork Orange and Star Wars? Oh, and Jabberwocky as well. That’s A Clockwork Orange, Star Wars, and Jabberwocky. What the hell?
I guess Malcolm McDowell appeared in a Robot Chicken Star Wars spoof, so that’s kind of close – right? Oh, and also Star Trek. So close!
