Sometimes, reality and Hollywood collide. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the best and most hard-hitting biographical movies where the subjects of the real-life story were given cameos.
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00:00 "She will have a cup of chicken broth and a few crackers please."
00:03 "One for you?"
00:05 "Just a cup of coffee."
00:06 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the best and most hard-hitting
00:13 biographical movies where the subjects of the real-life story were given cameos. We're not
00:18 including appearances in archival footage or heavily fictionalized movies on our list.
00:23 "So I want you right now to give a warm Auckland, New Zealand welcome for my good friend..."
00:30 Number 10. The Basketball Diaries.
00:34 Based on the memoirs of author Jim Carroll, who was a teenager when he began using substances,
00:40 The Basketball Diaries is a story of substance use disorder, sex work, and wasted promise.
00:46 "All I've been doing is reading these diaries and wondering how the hell I'm still alive,
00:50 and even if I care."
00:53 In one key scene, Carroll himself shows up as another drug user who rambles on to his
00:59 fictional self about his experiences. Carroll, of course, is being played by a young Leonardo
01:05 DiCaprio, who is just on the verge of becoming a huge star.
01:09 "The first thing I see on the right, the side altar, are those little candles and the glass,
01:14 and the red glass that we used to use when it was windy up in the park."
01:18 It's a bizarre clashing of reality and fiction. His ragged voice and intensely visual way of
01:24 telling a story lends a whole new air of authenticity to what critics otherwise thought
01:28 was a muddled melodrama.
01:30 "You know, it starts wafting out, I'm in the back, it finally hits me.
01:34 Where do I know this smell from, man? Am I wrong, man?"
01:39 Number 9. The Pursuit of Happiness.
01:42 "What's that?"
01:44 "Just filling out a check, paying some bills, got a parking ticket."
01:50 "We don't have a car anymore."
01:54 "Yep, I know."
01:56 Will Smith plays Chris Gardner, a salesman struggling under the weight of bills,
02:01 eviction notices, and barriers to entry into his chosen field.
02:06 Eventually left with his young son to take care of, his situation becomes more and more
02:11 desperate as the stakes of his finding permanent employment become higher and higher.
02:16 "I'm the type of person, if you ask me a question and I don't know the answer,
02:21 I'm gonna tell you that I don't know. But I bet you what,
02:25 I know how to find the answer, and I will find the answer."
02:30 After his greatest triumph, the fictional Gardner and his son, played by real-life son Jaden,
02:36 pass the real Chris Gardner at a crosswalk. Smith looks over his shoulder at the real Gardner,
02:42 whose presence is unexplained. But once you know the real story,
02:46 it's a haunting and meta reminder of how far a person can go in one lifetime.
02:51 "You got a dream, you gotta protect it.
02:55 People can't do something themselves, they want to tell you you can't do it.
03:06 You want something, go get it. Period."
03:09 Number 8. The Disaster Artist.
03:11 "You think you have long hair, you own the world, that's the idea? I'll stop you,
03:15 I'll stop you right there. What is this accent? It sounds familiar."
03:18 Anyone who loves bad movies knows about The Room. The 2003 melodrama written by,
03:24 directed by, and starring Tommy Wiseau is a legendary flop. However, its making provides
03:30 the backdrop for director James Franco's look at what happens when artistic ambition outweighs
03:36 skill. "I need help, I see it. It's not pity party, it's just party."
03:40 Eccentric to a fault, Wiseau may not have had the Hollywood career he dreamed of,
03:45 but he gets a chance to showcase his skills in a small role opposite Franco's fictionalized
03:50 version of him. The scene where they meet is as hilariously awkward and weirdly endearing
03:56 as anything else in the movie. "What's your name? Tommy, right?"
03:59 "Yeah, my name's Tommy with the capital of Galway."
04:02 "It's okay." "Have a nice one, okay?"
04:06 Number 7. The People vs. Larry Flint.
04:09 Woody Harrelson plays the embattled publisher of Hustler Magazine,
04:13 which made him the subject of several charges of indecency and smut peddling.
04:18 "I turned the whole world into a damn line!"
04:26 Much of this biopic is made up of court scenes, which find Flint, his lawyer, and his wife
04:32 facing down judges and juries over First Amendment rights. In a deliriously ironic turn,
04:38 the real-life Larry Flint appears as one of the judges.
04:42 "Ejection!" "Sustained."
04:45 "Sustained?"
04:47 Appearing as Judge William J. Morrissey Jr., Flint gets to watch over the reenactment of his
04:53 own trial for obscenity. Harrelson was widely praised for his performance, and it couldn't
04:58 have been all that easy to play someone right in front of them.
05:02 "Do you have anything to say before I sentence you?"
05:04 "Your Honor, you have not made one intelligent decision during the course of this trial,
05:16 and I don't expect one now. Knock yourself out."
05:19 Number 6. Apollo 13.
05:22 "This is Houston. Say again, please."
05:25 "Houston, we have a problem."
05:26 The narrow miss that was the Apollo 13 lunar mission gave Tom Hanks one of his most memorable
05:32 roles as astronaut Jim Lovell. It was Lovell's book, Lost Moon, that inspired the 1995 movie
05:38 based on that mission. The true story involves three space crew whose aircraft malfunctions
05:44 during an attempted moon landing. They must race against time and dwindling power and oxygen to
05:50 get back to Earth. "You've got to get the guidance program transferred, and you've got to do it
05:54 before you're out of power in the command module, or you're not going to be able to navigate up
05:58 there." "How much time? Can you give me a number?"
06:01 "Well, we're looking at less than 15 minutes of life support in the Odyssey."
06:05 Lovell's cameo occurs near the end after the astronauts are safely returned to Earth.
06:13 In the scene, Hanks and his co-stars are received on the USS Iwo Jima,
06:18 where the uniformed Jim Lovell salutes him and shakes his hand.
06:23 "The seven extraordinary days of Apollo 13 were my last in space.
06:27 I watched other men walk on the moon and return safely."
06:32 Number 5. The Right Stuff
06:34 This 1983 biopic tells the story of the military pilots who became America's first astronauts.
06:41 "We're placed here with certain talents and capabilities, and it's up to each one of us to
06:46 use those talents and capabilities as best you can." Sam Shepard plays Chuck Yeager,
06:52 the Air Force officer who became the first pilot to break the sound barrier.
06:56 Yeager himself has a very small but incredibly memorable appearance at the ranch and restaurant
07:02 frequented by his screen counterpart and his fellow pilots. "Hey, y'all want a drink of whiskey?"
07:08 "No, thanks for that. Just a little coffee. I'd like a Coca-Cola."
07:14 "Coke?" "Mm-hmm. And a clean glass."
07:16 His brief role as a whiskey-pushing bartender is hilarious given the context of the scene,
07:21 with NASA higher-ups declaring that Yeager and his cohorts aren't polished enough for their program.
07:27 Clearly, if the movie is any indication, history proved them wrong.
07:31 "Sir, over there. Is that a man?"
07:36 "Yeah, you're damn right it is."
07:42 Number 4. Milk
07:44 "I want to recruit you for the fight to preserve your democracy. Brothers and sisters,
07:51 you must come out!"
07:53 When Gus Van Sant made a biopic of gay activist and politician Harvey Milk's life in 2008,
08:00 many of his associates were still alive. Van Sant included many of them in cameo roles,
08:06 sometimes even playing themselves.
08:08 "Don wanted me to congratulate you on what he said. Looks like a big win for us tonight."
08:13 Cleve Jones, a protege of Harvey Milk's, was played by Emil Hirsch in the film. On top of
08:19 being credited as a historical consultant on the film, he appears as an actor in the role of Don
08:24 Amador, another activist from the period. Since his days as an activist alongside Harvey Milk,
08:30 Jones has carried on his legacy of disruption and community organizing.
08:35 "Today, hundreds upon hundreds of openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people
08:41 are winning public office and bringing real leadership, not just for gay people,
08:46 but for entire communities. And I think that's an extraordinary thing."
08:49 Number 3. The Wolf of Wall Street
08:52 "Hey fellas, look what I found in my pocket! Look! A year's salary right here!
08:57 What I call them? Fun coupons!"
09:00 Martin Scorsese's epic chronicles the highs and lows of the real-life stockbroker who was
09:06 imprisoned for securities fraud and money laundering. Given the subject's boundless
09:11 charisma and skills in front of a crowd, it's only fitting that the Wolf of Wall Street should
09:15 include the real Jordan Belfort. He has a cameo as the speaker who introduces his on-screen
09:21 counterpart at the end of the movie. "This guy, my good friend Mr. Jordan Belfort,
09:26 is the single baddest a**hole I have ever met."
09:31 Just from this taste of his way with a crowd, it's clear how he became the success he was,
09:36 and it's also clear why he went into motivational speaking afterward. DiCaprio has plenty of
09:42 bravado and stage presence himself, but it's amazing to see the real man in action.
09:47 "The show goes on! This is my home!"
09:52 Number 2. Erin Brockovich
09:55 "I'm smart, I'm hardworking, and I'll do anything, and I'm not leaving here without a job."
09:59 The life story of this environmental activist became a star vehicle for Julia Roberts,
10:05 but clearly it was close enough to the truth for her to make an appearance.
10:09 Roberts won an Oscar for her role as a sassy and relentless paralegal,
10:13 with no formal law training, who holds a multi-million dollar conglomerate to the fire.
10:18 Erin Brockovich herself has a short but sweet cameo,
10:21 with the actors playing her and her three children.
10:24 "Mommy, can I have a cheeseburger deluxe with no cheese and no bread?"
10:29 "Did you get that?"
10:31 She appears as a waitress in the diner, while her real-life former boss, Ed Massry,
10:37 played in the movie by Albert Finney, appears in a booth behind the Brockovich family.
10:42 "My lawyer took me out to a fancy lunch to celebrate, and I'm still stuffed. How about that?"
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11:03 Number 1. Schindler's List
11:07 "It's Hebrew from the Talmud. It says, 'Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.'"
11:13 Steven Spielberg's intense and profoundly disturbing chronicle of life before and
11:19 during the Holocaust was a landmark moment in cinema. Liam Neeson stars as Oscar Schindler,
11:25 an industrialist who was able to save over a thousand Jewish people from concentration camps
11:31 by employing them in his factory.
11:33 "Thank yourselves. Thank your Fela Stern,
11:38 and others among you who, worried about you, have faced death at every moment."
11:43 Many of the people he saved appear in a procession at the end of the film,
11:48 visiting Schindler's grave alongside the actors who portrayed them in the film.
11:53 It drives home the point that the Holocaust is not some
11:56 vague historical moment so far away that its wounds are gone. It's a living, breathing legacy.
12:02 "There will be generations because of what you did. I didn't do enough. You did so much."
12:12 Which of these appearances made the biggest impact? Let us know in the comments.
12:17 "What are you saying against the wall?"
12:19 "Look, I'm just a guy leaning on a wall. No big deal."
12:22 "Why are you so lonely? Tell me."
12:23 "What? I'm just standing here alone. Don't mean I'm lonely."
12:25 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo,
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12:34 [Music]