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#10
TOPHER GRACE (OCEAN ELEVEN / OCEAN’S TWELVE, 2001/2004)
Ocean's Twelve poster

Amongst its star studded heist hijinks, Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s movies always had time to take the piss out of its star players. Key among them was Topher Grace, who superbly played a pathetic version of himself as a tragically uncool actor researching a poker movie in Ocean’s Eleven. He appears again in Ocean’s Twelve, this time trashing a hotel room. Brad Pitt’s cool as ice Rusty is not pleased.

 


#9
BRUCE WILLIS (WHAT JUST HAPPENED, 2008)
What Just Happened poster

Bruce Willis has a knack for making fun of himself, doing so in Robert Altman’s Hollywood satire The Player and Oceans Twelve. Yet it is his self-portrayal in another Hollywood satire What Just Happened which saw Willis strike comedy gold, playing a self-absorbed method actor whose refusal to shave his beard puts Robert De Niro’s super producer in a bind.

 

 

#8
PAUL GIAMATTI (COLD SOULS, 2009)
Cold Souls poster

Meshing comedy, drama and science fiction, Cold Souls starred Paul Giamatti as a depressed version of himself trying to find meaning in his life while knee deep in the soul extraction business. Superbly taking the mickey out of the “haunted actor” shtick, Giamatti delivers just the right amount of self-mockery and autobiographical angst in this existential dramedy.

 

 

#7
AL PACINO (JACK & JILL, 2011)
Jack & Jill poster

Single handily saving Adam Sandler’s “comedy” Jack & Jill from being a total turkey, Al Pacino delivers a truly funny turn as himself, hitting all of the eccentricities and comedic energy which is Pacino, creating one of the more memorable examples of great performance/bad movie. Now if only Pacino can channel that energy in a good movie.

 

 

 

#6
CATE BLANCHETT (COFFEE & CIGARETTES, 2003)
Cofee & Cigarettes poster

Also high on the list as one of the great dual performances, Cate Blanchett’s turn as herself and her jealous cousin Shelly was one of the few bright spots in Jim Jarmusch’s patchy black and white ensemble Coffee & Cigarettes. Blanchett plays herself with the right amount of subtle parody, slowly revealing the pretentious side to her personality while squirming from her cousin’s prying questions.

 

 

 

#5
NEIL PATRICK HARRIS (HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE, 2004)
Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle poster

Former Doogie Howser M.D. star Neil Patrick Harris re-invented himself with his portrayal as a drugged up, horn-bag version of himself in the stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, winning a new generation of fans and scoring a major role as a laded man in TV show How I Met Your Mother. Who would think that humping a car seat would set the path for a major comeback?

 

 

 

#4
MATT DAMON & BEN AFFLECK (JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, 2001)
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back poster

As there infamous comedy skits on Jimmy Kimmel Live! has proven, Boston BFF’s Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are not above a little self-parody. That was first proven in Jay & Silent Bob Strikes Back, “reprising” their roles from Good Will Hunting for good friend and director Kevin Smith in a skit which surprised and made people laugh with equal measure.

 

 


#3
STEVE COOGAN & ROB BRYDON (THE TRIP, 2011)
The Trip poster

While British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon have played themselves before in A Cock & Bull Story and Coffee & Cigarettes, it is The Trip which saw the pair hit highs in self-referential dramedy, presenting their personal insecurities (especially Coogan) while making is laugh silly with their varied improvisations (especially Brydon’s takes on Michael Caine and Anthony Hopkins).

 

 

 

#2
JOHN MALKOVICH (BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, 1998)
Being Jack Malkovich psoter

The film which made existential celebrity dramedy fashionable, Being John Malkovich combined Charlie Kauffman’s creative eccentricity, Spike Jonze’s innovative filmmaking and John Malkovich’s willingness to literally let the duo go inside his head. Malkovich delivered one of a kind performance, playing a version of himself where a portal that leads into his head creates havoc in his life, which Malkovich portrays brilliantly with his patented intensity and key comic timing.

 

 

 

#1
JEAN CLAUDE VAN DAMME (JCVD, 2009)
JCVD poster

The “Muscles from Brussels” can act. Who would have thought it? Yet this isn’t some mere dramatic performance which Jean Claude Van Damme delivers in JCVD. This is catharsis on film with Van Damme pulling no punches by trashing is personal life, his career and his failure to live up to the expectations placed on him.

A 6 minute, breaking the fourth wall monologue is both confronting and sad. That Van-Damme will perhaps never repeat this artistic achievement is sadder.

 

 

 

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