THE CAMEOS KING.

Matthew Paige Damón, often credited onscreen as ‘Matt Damon’, has appeared in a lot of movies very briefly. Some of these occurrences occurred after he shot to mega-super-stardom with the film “Stuck On You”. So you may be asking yourself - why on Earth would he have such small, almost unnoticeable roles in so many movies? Does he need money? Yes. But I think I’ve discovered a secret second reason. After doing quite a bit of research, I now know that these tiny appearances are what the film industry calls ‘cameos’ or simply ‘a cameos’. One does them for various reasons, it seems. The most obvious, it seems, is that there is an award awarded for ‘Best Cameos’ at the MTV Movie Awards, and apparently every year the biggest names in Hollywood all vie to be considered for this coveted category. So, in celebration of Matthew’s Birthday, I’ve compiled a list highlighting his very best ‘cameos’. Now, some of these moments are blink-and-you’ll-miss-them, so I’ve done my best to make his presence in each screenshot very clear and I’ll be guiding you through them one by one. Ready? Let’s go.

CHASING AMY (1997)

Here Matthew appeared very briefly as one of two important men behind a desk (he’s the one with the arrow pointed towards him), kickstarting his ‘cameos’ career.

FINDING FORRESTER (2000)

Matthew surprised audiences when he showed up during this movie for a short scene… only to never show up in it again. This caused mass confusion.

JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK (2001)

There was already an arrow pointing to Matthew in this scene, but I didn’t like it so I added my own. Here he can be seen standing next to his good friend Ben Affleck, with whom he famously co-starred in “School Ties”.

THE THIRD WHEEL (2002)

Matthew produced this movie and had to step in to play this small role when Kevin Dillon failed to show up for his one and only day of shooting.

CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND (2002)

There is a lot going on in this shot, the least of which is the elaborate, colourful set design and matching wardrobe, but if you follow the arrow you’ll be able to spot Matthew playing a game show contestant.

EUROTRIP (2004)

Matthew underwent such a physical transformation for this role as the lead singer of a punk band that he’s virtually unrecognizable. See if you can pick him out in this shot.

JERSEY GIRL (2004)

Like most of us I often get Matthew and Jason Lee confused, so I’ve used the arrow to differentiate the two here. His third ‘cameos’ in a Kevin Smith movie but certainly not his last. It's his second last.

YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH (2007)

Matthew appeared just briefly here as a Life Magazine reporter who was reporting on Tim Roth’s life for a magazine.

CHE: PART TWO (2008)

Having been left out of “Part One” entirely, Matthew was offered a role in the long awaited sequel. He accepted. The resulting single shot is one of the film’s highlights.

THE ZERO THEOREM (2013)

After a dry spell of hardly any ‘cameos’ in five years, Matthew made one hell of a comeback with perhaps his most talked about one yet. However, he’s so cleverly disguised via camouflage that it’s hard to even see him in his scenes. So follow the arrow and see if you can spot him.

THOR: RAGNAROK (2017)

You may look at the image below and say - but that’s just Tom Hiddleston. That’s what I assumed for the longest time, as well. Turns out for one crucial scene Matthew stepped in and played Loki. Why? No one knows. But his performance (aided by flawless hair and makeup design) was so spot-on that audiences didn’t even notice.

UNSANE (2018)

This whole movie was shot on an iPhone, so I had a hard time making out much of anything while watching it. But I’d know Matthew’s voice anywhere. This was the clearest shot I could find featuring his detective character. It’s a borderline supporting role, but for some reason he’s uncredited in the credits so I guess it’s considered a ‘cameos’.

DEADPOOL 2 (2018)

I felt a little silly putting an arrow pointing Matthew out in this scene, because it’s such a clear shot and so obviously him, but I did anyway just to keep things consistent.

JAY AND SILENT BOB REBOOT (2019)

This movie is packed with so many ‘cameos’ that Matthew reprising his role as Loki from “Thor: Ragnarok” gets entirely lost in the chaos. Even I had a hard time identifying him in this shot, so I apologize in advance if the arrow is pointing to the wrong performer.

That's all for now. We'll be back in one year to point out the other half of his 'cameos' appearances. Until then - Happy Birthday Matthew!