The Celebrity Fanboys You'll See in Fanboys

Star Wars fanboys. They're everywhere -- especially in Hollywood. So when it was announced that someone was making a movie called Fanboys, chronicling five Midwestern geeks' cross-country trip to steal a copy of Star Wars: Episode I for their friend with terminal cancer, there were plenty of famous fanboys ready and willing to be involved. Director Kyle Newman lined up a host of celebu-nerds to make cameos in the film, ranging from geek icons to actual Star Wars film legends. If the killer leads (Sam "Superman Returns" Huntington! Dan "Balls of Fury" Fogler! Jay "Tropic Thunder" Baruchel!) weren't enough to convince you to see it, we thought we'd run down the celebrity eye candy that will teach you the true meaning of the Force. (Note: While we try to avoid giving out any spoiler-ish plot information, we are totally killing any surprise that you may get from these actors showing up. Be warned!)

Kristen Bell (Zoe)
Okay, okay, okay, so it's not exactly a cameo -- she's actually the fifth member of the group for most of the film -- but we just wanted to emphasize that Kristen Bell is in this. She's gonna turn her confident blonde image (as seen on Heroes and in Forgetting Sarah Marshall) on its ear playing a comic shop employee who's comfortable with her body, and she'll keep you hanging around until the last five minutes, when she dons a stainless steel bikini a la Princess Leia. Hotcha!

David Denman (Chaz) and Christopher McDonald (Big Chuck)
You may not recognize the names, but you'll recognize the faces -- Denman is better known as Roy, Pam's jealous ex-fiancé on The Office. As the older, car-salesman brother of Sam Huntington's character Eric, he's constantly harassing Eric's friends by giving them Star Wars-themed (but still insulting) nicknames. And McDonald has been a familiar face around Hollywood for three decades, although his most famous role was arguably golfer Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore. He plays Chaz and Eric's dad, the owner of a chain of car dealerships who wants Eric to take over the business, and at one point is not-so-subtly dressed as Darth Vader.

Seth Rogen (Admiral Seasholtz/Star Trek Alien/Roach the Pimp)
Rogen is the comedic workhorse of the film, appearing in three very different roles, two of which render him nearly unrecognizable. As buck-toothed, Han Solo-hating Trekker Admiral Seasholtz, his crew engages in more than one rumble with the Star Wars-loving protagonists. Rogen returns later as Roach, a Han-Solo-loving pimp with Star Wars tattoos on both arms, and look closely to catch him as a heavily made-up alien security guard at a Star Trek convention. Rogen must have really wanted to be in this movie.

Danny Trejo (The Chief)
To try to describe Trejo's character, who bails out our heroes when they get into a jam, would not be doing him justice. In fact, we're pretty sure they just put Trejo (Once Upon a Time in Mexico) on screen and let him do what came naturally, namely wearing a tracksuit, playing a drum and eating some peyote.

Ethan Suplee (Harry Knowles)
I'm not entirely sure why they didn't get Ain't-It-Cool-News founder Harry Knowles to play himself, but it may be because this is a fictionalized Knowles, who kicks the ass of all of the main characters when he shows up on screen. Something tells us Knowles would need a stunt man for that. Or two stunt men. Suplee (My Name is Earl) does an admirable job, taking out all four guys before quizzing them on Star Wars to prove their geekitude. He's like the Sphinx!

Billy Dee Williams (Judge Reinhold), Carrie Fisher (Doctor) and Ray Park (Security Guard)
These three Star Wars cast members -- better known as Lando Calrissian, Princess Leia and Darth Maul -- appear at different points in the film, in tributes to their sci-fi roles. Fisher plays a doctor who is their cancer-stricken friend's "only hope," while Park is a security guard at Skywalker Ranch who wields twin batons. And Williams... Williams is the coolest judge with the name of a 1980s film actor to ever grace the bench.

Kevin Smith & Jason Mewes (themselves)
If there's a bigger self-avowed Star Wars geek in Hollywood than Smith, we don't know who it is. Originally in the running to play the Knowles role, Smith instead turns up with his partner-in-crime Mewes at a gas station bathroom, where Smith is apparently renting out Mewes to truckers. This may be documentary footage.

William Shatner (himself)
The Star Trek icon makes an appearance as the gang's informant, who is instrumental in their plan to infiltrate Skywalker Ranch. Perhaps it's an attempt to bring down a rival franchise? Although, at this point, I think he sees Star Trek as a rival franchise.

Will Forte and Craig Robinson (Security Guards)
The SNL star and Darryl from The Office make an appearance as security guards caught in a hilarious Mexican standoff in George Lucas' office. You can actually see the entire clip here, in which Forte reveals that he's more of a Star Trek fan, and Kristen Bell threatens to torch an Ewok head. (Note that all of the guards are dressed like policemen from THX-1138.)

Danny McBride (Head of Security)
In the film's only completely uncredited cameo -- which is strange, given how rapid his rise to fame has been, and how sizable his cameo is -- McBride turns up as head of Skywalker Ranch security. We won't get too into what goes on in his scenes, which are fairly close to the end of the movie, but we will say that he seems to be an expert on obscure sexual maneuvers. Yeah, we weren't expecting it either.

7 Comments

February 3, 2009 9:21 AM
Bissrok
Reply

I wasn't planning on watching it before (as it's been a real long time since I've thought of Star Wars in a positive light) but... Kristen Bell's in it, you say?

February 4, 2009 1:55 PM
Grift
Reply

I haven't heard much about this movie... but like Bissrok, Kristen Bell's presence in the movie is pretty much guaranteeing my $10 in that studio's pockets

March 6, 2009 2:42 PM
samantha
Reply

i would love playing a role in a movie its my dream please some one help me become famous help me be able to play in a movie my name is sam costa my phone numbe is 1774-634-9225 please some one famous help me

April 10, 2009 3:21 PM
Amanda
Reply

I wanted to see it but as it is a limited release film my podunk town didn't release it. However, I feel bad for the terminally ill friend who so looks forward to Episode 1 once he finally sees it. Talk about a let down.

December 24, 2009 5:03 AM
Maurice Luben
Reply

Blogging can give me opportunity to speak about anything…I quite like it.

February 20, 2010 9:34 PM
Otto
Reply

I absolutely have to say... this movie is one of the funniest and best movies that I have seen in a long time. If you haven't seen it yet you really should.! Just the cameos in it make it worth it.

December 15, 2011 2:32 PM
Letha Pan
Reply

Physical comedy is my favorite thing in the world to do.

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