When Spider-Man: No Way Home showed three generations of Spider-Man, it was an event that everyone needed to see. It gave people of all ages a Spider-Man adventure that they could all enjoy.
But while this film featured actors from previous entries in a series, Hollywood has, for many years, remade and rebooted films that have referenced their predecessors in many ways. One of these ways is by adding actors from the original films, whether in cameos or supporting roles, into the new version of the film.
Burt Reynolds: The Longest Yard (1974 & 2005)
When the first version of The Longest Yard came out in 1974, Burt Reynolds was at the top of his Hollywood game. Quickly becoming a superstar, the film was hugely successful, leading to an Adam Sandler remake 31 years later. When Sandler, who took on the role Reynolds played in the original, was casting the prison mentor for the film, he knew who he wanted.
Reynolds’s appearance in this film mirrors the actual relationship between the two, as having him there likely helped Sandler understand the character. While this version of the film was much lighter, Reynolds’s appearance helps give the film legitimacy. As a result, The Longest Yard (2005) is a light but very funny Adam Sandler film.
Faye Dunaway: The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 & 1999)
1968’s The Thomas Crown Affair happened to have two of Hollywood’s brightest stars in their prime Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. Naturally, the film was a huge success, and 31 years later, a stylish remake with Pierce Bronson and Rene Russo was also released to critical and commercial acclaim. It featured the original film’s leading lady, Dunaway, in a small role as a therapist.
Dunaway continued to be one of Hollywood’s most popular actresses throughout the 1970s and ’80s, but by the ’90s, had begun taking on more character and supporting roles. Her appearance here helps remind viewers of the quality of the original film, which is one of Dunaway’s best, while also appreciating the more recent film, both of which are stylish and fun.
Rita Moreno: West Side Story (1961 & 2021)
It is not often that an actor will appear in a remake of their own film 60 years after the original, but that is exactly what Rita Moreno did when she appeared as an original character, Valentina, in the 2021 adaptation of West Side Story. In 1961’s version, she portrayed Anita, a role played by Ariana DeBose in the remake.
Moreno got a lot of praise for both films. The original won her an Academy Award for the best-supporting actress, while many considered her appearance in the 2021 version to be a highlight in an already great remake and one of the best performances in the new West Side Story remake. Regardless, both films prove that Moreno is a timeless performer who has entertained audiences for well over half a century.
Gregory Peck/Robert Mitchum: Cape Fear (1962 & 1991)
Peck and Mitchum are bona fide Hollywood legends who teamed up to make a thriller that pushed the boundaries of the time. Cape Fear put Peck’s good lawyer against Mitchum’s evil and sinister criminal, as he psychologically tortures him and his family. 29 years later, both men would appear in Martin Scorsese’s R-rated update as a cop and lawyer, respectively.
Scorsese changed the role originally played by Peck to be far more corrupted, as is tradition with a Martin Scorsese film. Given his affinity for the classic films he watched in his youth, it comes as no surprise that he would bring the original stars of the film back for his remake. Doing so gave audiences a solid late-career appearance of two Hollywood giants.
Sean Connery: Thunderball / Never Say Never Again (1965 & 1983)
No man is as synonymous with James Bond than Sean Connery, the man who originated the character. Despite the fact that he hated the character and vowed to never play him again, Warner Brothers got the rights to make a new adaptation of Thunderball and knew exactly who they wanted to star in the film.
Connery’s Never Say Never Again went head-to-head in 1983 with Roger Moore’s Bond in Octopussy. While Connery’s film was successful, Moore’s film, part of the official Bond cannon, made more. As a result, this was the last film featuring Connery as Bond, although he would voice the character in a video game in 2006.
Charlton Heston / Linda Harrison: Planet Of The Apes (1968 & 2001)
When one looks back at the filmography of Charlton Heston, Planet Of The Apes is always one of the first films brought up. The film which sees Heston star as an astronaut who ends up on a planet where apes are the dominant species started a film franchise that survives to this day. One of those films was a direct remake in 2001, which saw Heston and Linda Harrison, who played his mute love interest in the original film, make uncredited cameos as an ape and a prisoner.
Heston’s appearance as an ape is quite amusing given his role in the original film. In addition, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes features someone watching Heston’s most famous film, Ben-Hur, before shrieking out the famous line “Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape.” Although he’s been dead for over a decade, Heston still is felt in the film series.
Clark Gable: Red Dust / Mogambo (1932 & 1953)
Clark Gable was considered the King of Hollywood and had one of his breakout roles in 1932’s pre-code film, Red Dust. When the film got a tamer remake, Mogambo, 21 years later, rather than getting a younger actor, the studio just brought back Gable.
Gable’s chemistry with Grace Kelly and Ava Gardner was off. He was simply too old for this role at this point, and it comes off as creepy to see him romancing women this young. While Red Dust was remade for being too racy for the time, Mogambo may be a tougher watch. Still, both made a lot of money, as Gable was as popular as they come in Hollywood.
Greta Garbo: Love / Anna Karenina (1927 & 1935)
When sound came to pictures in the late 1920s, MGM was initially reluctant to put one of the best movie stars of all time, Greta Garbo, in a talking picture. However, after her film Anna Christie did well, they began putting a lot of films into production, including a sound version of Anna Karenina. Garbo had previously done a loose, silent version called Love with frequent co-star John Gilbert.
Both versions work well. Anna Karenina in itself is a classic story, although the silent version had a happy ending for American audiences. Garbo requested a more accurate version of the film later on, which led to the remake eight years later. Both showed how much appeal Garbo had during this time in Hollywood.
Ken Foree / Scott Reinger / Tom Savini: Dawn Of The Dead (1978 & 2004)
It is no secret that both James Gunn and Zack Snyder are passionate about the properties that they adapt to films, so when they had three of the stars of George Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead appear in their remake, it made perfect sense.
Foree, Reinger, and Savini all appear in this film in very small cameos, most notably Foree as a televangelist. While an early film in both Gunn and Snyder’s catalog, it was clear that the passion was there and both men and things only ended going upward from there.
Michael Caine: Get Carter (1971 & 2000)
Sylvester Stallone’s remake of the British classic Get Carter was panned as an unnecessary remake when it came out in 2000. Whether that is true or not, it can at least say it got the original film’s star, Michael Caine, to stop by and play a major supporting role in the updated version.
Caine’s role of Cliff Brumby in this film was originally played by Bryan Mosley. When the film came out, he and everyone else was accused of phoning it in. However, there is a charm to seeing Caine interact with a character that he had made famous 29 years prior, which at least makes the film interesting.
