Go outside and pick up a rock.  Heft it in your hands a few times to make sure that it has a good weight.  Then, as hard as you can, chunk that rock at your nearest powered on internet-enabled electronic device.  Chances are pretty high that you just smacked a picture of, an article about, or news of a celebrity of some sort.

Go ahead… I’ll wait.

….

I really hope you didn’t do that.

Anyway.  *ahem*

Celebrities are everywhere.  Some have even infiltrated our video games.  WHICH WE LOVE.

I have listed here 10 examples of celebrities showing up in our games.  You will note that none are listed because they showed up in their own games.  That’s cheating.  No.  Bad dog.

These celebrities have graced us in games that have nothing to do with their own egos.  Or, maybe everything to do with their egos.  Who am I to say?

1. Kevin Spacey – Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Look at any list that involves celebrities in games and you will see Kevin Spacey listed.  Because it’s Kevin-fucking-Spacey.  The man who ruled House of Cards on Netflix.  And that guy who is constantly trying to get us to invest our money.

His appearance was as Jonathan Irons, the game’s antagonist.  Most celebrities play themselves, even if it isn’t in their own game.  Spacey played a character.  You know… like an actor would.

2. Bruce Lee – EA Sports UFC

Giving respect to Bruce Lee, you couldn’t just play the game as Bruce Lee.  You had to earn Bruce Lee.  You had to play and BEAT the game on Pro difficulty or higher.  You had to earn him by winning.  Or, as tends to happen in games of late, you could earn him by buying the access to him.  Because why not?

3.  Drew Carey – The Sims:  House Party

It’s an old game.  But he was popular back when.  Remember the Drew Carey Show?  Ok… maybe not.  What about Whose Line Is It Anyway?   I hope so, because that show was THE BEST.  Anyway.  Back in the day he was popular.  So was this game.  All you had to do was have a house party for more than 135 minutes and make a score of 55 or higher, and BAM!  There he was.  In all his NPC glory.

Nifty.

4.  Ricky Gervais – Grand Theft Auto IV

He isn’t an active character in the game.  By he is still in there.  Ricky Gervais can be seen performing a stand-up act when you have your character sit down and take a break from stealing and killing for a little while.

Wanna see?  You can view it here.  You’re welcome.

5. Tina Fey – Medieval Madness Pinball Game

Ok, so this one is a little more obscure.  It’s not a video game.  It’s an actual pinball table, called Medieval Madness.

Before Tina Fey became a household name, she was voicing strange sounding princesses on a pinball game machine, among other things.

Weird.

6. Hayden Panettiere – Kingdom Hearts

Panettiere voiced the character of Kairi in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II.  Of course, then she took off as the cheerleader in Heroes, so skipped out on a couple of the spin offs.

But when Heroes thankfully bit the dust after horrifically burning and crashing after a few years, she came back to voice her again in some other spin offs.

So that means, we very well could likely have her back voicing her in Kingdom Hearts III.  Whenever they decide to bring that out.  Eventually.  Sometime.

7. Martin Sheen – Mass Effect 2 & 3

Martin Sheen is another who portrayed a character rather than themselves in a game.  Sheen voiced the Illusive Man character in the Mass Effect franchise.  The Illusive Man is the leader of Cerberus and is an ally of Shepard at one point then the antagonist in another.

8. Kiefer Sutherland – Metal Gear Solid V

IT’S JACK BAUER!!  I know, right?  But he is also Snake from Metal Gear Solid 5.  SNAKE!  I don’t know if I could do with having all those dots on my face for motion capture, but the end result is flippin’ cool.  People didn’t exactly like that he took over for David Hayter, but I think he did a fine job.

9. Mark Hamill – Batman: Arkham Knight

Sure, most would know him as Luke Skywalker in that movie show about space… and it like, has a princess… and a cocky guy with a gun.. and the Schwartz.  Or something.

But many more die hard fans know that he is also the Joker.  Not that he has played/voiced the Joker for 20 something years.  No.  Mark Hamill is the Joker.  Including in last years Batman: Arkham Knight.

10. Charles Dance – The Witcher III

You know him as Tywin Lannister, most likely.  The bastardly father of the Lannister clan, till he died.  the character, not the actor.  Oops.  Spoiler alert.

Anywhoo, Dance voices the character of Emhyr var Emreis, the powerful emperor of Nilfgaard.  It’s the first video game to which he has lent his voice or performed in.  But with the gravitas that he has, I hope we can enjoy his performance in other games soon!

 

Obviously, there are so many more that could have made this list.  And sure, most of this list is of older games, but hey.  What celebrities are in your favorite video games?

Let’s discuss!