The Most Surprising TV Show Cameos: ‘That ’90s Show’, ‘She-Hulk’ and More
While many TV shows have made household names out of their star performers, showrunners have occasionally managed to snag some of Hollywood’s biggest names to drop by for a surprise cameo during a full episode or single scene.
Perhaps one of the most polarizing cameos Ed Sheeran on HBOs Game of Thrones in July 2017. The singer appeared in a short scene during the season 7 premiere titled “Dragonstone”. In the episode, the “Bad Habits” singer plays a Lannister soldier sitting next to a campfire as Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) rode by on horseback. He sang a quick tune to his fellow soldiers, and Arya replied, “It’s a beautiful song. I’ve never heard it before.”
While some fans were excited to see the “Thinking out Loud” crooner popping up in Westeros, others were very annoyed. Twitter users reacted to everything from “Ed Sheeran is really looking for that castle on the hill, isn’t he”, to “I don’t even watch Game of Thrones, yet Ed Sheeran screwed it up” and “This is a show with dragons and I still have I can’t believe Ed Sheeran is currently on screen.”
The creators of the HBO show David Benioff and DB Weiss previously announced his cameo appearance in South by Southwest in March. “We knew Maisie was a big fan of Ed Sheeran and we’ve been trying to get him on the show for years so we can surprise Maisie,” Benioff said at the time. “This year we finally did it.”
After criticism for his brief role, Sheeran recounted MTV news in September that he was fine with it being a one-time gig. “No one wants to see me come back,” he said. “I wanted to be a cameo in it, and I did the cameo. I’m cool with it though. I liked it.”
Another unforgettable cameo belonged Taylor Swift when she appeared in one scene in the season 2 finale of New girl in May 2013. While Cece (Hannah Simone) would marry Shivrang (Satya Bhabha) in the episode, the duo both had cold feet about their upcoming nuptials.
While Shivrang called off the marriage in the middle of the ceremony, he remarked that he was in love with his ex-girlfriend Elaine, who got up from her chair at the time. There, Elaine was revealed to be the “Cardigan” singer in a scene seemingly replicating her song “Speak Now” from her third studio album..
“she’s great,” Zooey Deschanel previously told Us weekly at an episode screening and panel in April. “She’s super funny and really smart. Very professional and we loved working with her.”
More recently, supermodel Gigi Hadid made a voiceover cameo on Netflix’s Never have I ever when Season 2 premiered in July 2021. During the third episode, Hadid plays herself and tells Paxton Hall-Yoshida’s inner monologue (Darren Barnet). She then took over the role Chrissy Teigen quit amid a controversy over bullying Courtney Stoden.
“You may wonder why Gig-ers takes time out of her busy schedule to tell the story of a 16-year-old boy,” the model says at the beginning of the episode. “Believe it or not, I relate to this kid. We are both constantly underestimated because people only see us as sex symbols.”
At the time, Hadid shared a trailer of her voiceover role via Instagram with the caption, “Had the BEST time to watch a new episode of @never have I ever – I’m with you, Pax! Barnet commented “Thank you so much Gigi! you killed it! 🙌.” Show creator Mindy Kalining also replied “I passed out” and “You did such a good job! We loved having you! ❤️❤️❤️🙌🏾.”
Scroll through to revisit the most surprising celebrity cameos from TV shows: