Thursday Movie Picks - Actors/Actresses Playing Themselves

 

Wandering Through the Shelves hosts Thursday Movie Picks. It's a weekly series where bloggers post and share various movie picks every Thursday. 

The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

This week's theme is Actors or Actresses Playing Themselves.

The Poker Players in Ocean’s Eleven

Usually surprise cameos in movies come from established stars instead of up-and-coming talent. But Topher Grace, Joshua Jackson, Shane West, Barry Watson, and Holly Marie Combs got the chance to steal the show from Brad Pitt in Oceans Eleven. Even though it's difficult to remember the tv series that made them popular in 2001, it's fun to see them play clueless versions of themselves.

Emma Watson - This Is The End

Emma's taken on a few different roles to break out of the Harry Potter stigma. But I still feel like most of her characters try to fit her off-screen brand. She hasn't found a way to lose herself in a performance yet. But her brief performance in This Is The End almost gets her there. I still want that spin-off with her surviving in the sewers as the apocalypse hits. (Technically, we could count the whole cast in this theme too.)

Keanu Reeves - Always Be My Maybe

I wanted to like this rom-com more, but I was just not vibing with the script or story. Keanu was easily the best part - playing a heightened version of himself. I think it's one of many roles that shows he's got a specific acting style/character only he can pull off, but his range is still underrated.