Movies where people (literally) play themselves

I mean are you looking for home videos

No! Just the actual people playing themselves as themselves in a real life situation they previously experienced. like in my opeing examples.

still think United 93 (mentioned upthread) is kinda the best version of this. non-acting people who were actually officials on 9/11 recreating what they did on 9/11 (which had to be an emotional rollercoaster).

xp just realized you mentioned the eastwood movie in the first post, smdh at myself here

Coogan has played about half a dozen fictional characters with his own name, almost all of them exaggerating some of his worst character traits. The Man Who Thinks He's It, Coffee And Cigarettes, Tristram Shandy, "Everyone's a bit of a cunt sometimes," The Trip...

xpost

Very few of the speaking roles in The Player are people playing themselves (though the warm bodies are worth noting) - the Buck Henry improv during the opening tracking shot is a good example though.

Waht role doesn't count as a 'speaking role' in an Altman film, really.

Also perhaps notable is the lead actress in Human Centipede 2 is iirc playing a plausible version of herself (in a story desperately keen to persuade you the premise could totally happen).

hah yeah I read a synopsis for it and thought "that's kind of clever actually", not that I would ever actually see it

Yeah, United 93 is a great example.

Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts in Oceans 12 are a pseudo example, since they are playing probably close versions of themselves, but in a goofy made up situation.

Babe Ruth and a few other Yankees in Pride of the Yankees

the mention of Being John Malkovich reminded me that Malkovich briefly plays himself on the set of Being Malkovich at the start of Adaptation

Malkovich

Dean Martin in Billy Wilder's Kiss Me, Stupid (1964). The first movie to feature an actor 'playing himself,' even if it's a parody of the popular image of Martin.

Al Pacino in Jack & Jill as Al Pacino, Dunkin Donuts spokesman, sadly a very plausible scenario

I'm not sure if this counts or not, but doesn't everybody play themselves in Godard's King Lear? Godard, Mailer, Molly Ringwald, etc.

Al Pacino in Jack & Jill as Al Pacino, Dunkin Donuts spokesman, sadly a very plausible scenario

― Doctor Casino, Monday, October 26, 2020 11:40 AM (forty-seven seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

masterfully meta, Al Pacino playing being a hack by playing himself being a hack

masterfully meta, Al Pacino playing being a hack by playing himself being a hack

correction