Every time a Bollywood actor makes it to Hollywood, we end up writing puff pieces about them. But it might surprise you just how many Hollywood celebs have been part of Bollywood films.
1. Toby Stephens- Mangal Pandey: The Rising
Known to Bond fans as Gustav Graves, and to the followers of Black Sails as the fearsome Captain Flint, Stephens had a prominent role in Aamir Khan’s Mangal Pandey. Stephen plays the role of Captain John William Gordon, a British officer who is also a friend of Mangal Pandey.
2. Sylvester Stallone- Kambakkht Ishq
The star of legendary films like Rocky, Creed, Rambo, Rocky Balboa, The Expendables, also had a cameo in this Akshay Kumar-Kareena Kapoor film. It’s okay if you missed it though. A lot of people missed the whole movie. That said, Stallone does make a cameo in a small action scene.
3. Snoop Dogg – Singh Is King
This was actually a really funny film. Or at least it was at the time. Will have to watch it again to see it has aged well. That said, if you can’t remember seeing Snoop in the film, that’s because he was at the end, in a post-credit song and dance sequence. And he looks hilarious through the whole sequence.
4. Ben Kingsley- Teen Patti
The Gandhi and Schindler’s List actor has quite a role in Teen Patti, alongside Amitabh Bachchan, R Madhavan and Shraddha Kapoor. He plays the role of a British mathematician, who invites Amitabh Bachchan to a high rolling casino in London.
4. Daniel Gillies- Bride & Prejudice
The Bollywood style adaptation of Pride and Prejudice starring Aishwarya Rai also featured Daniel Gillies of The Vampire Diaries, Spider-Man 2 and The Originals fame. He plays George Wickham in the film.
5. Rebecca Breeds- Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Rebecca has been a part of TV shows like Pretty Little Liars, The Originals, Molly and Blue Water High to name a few. She played the role of Stella in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, alongside Farhan Akhtar.
6. Lester Speight – International Khiladi
No, of course, he didn’t play the Undertaker. He’s an African American man and whitewashing doesn’t really work that way since reverse racism doesn’t exist. Speight is known for his performance in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, The Meteor Man, and Norbit. In International Khiladi, Speight just beats the crap out of Akshay Kumar‘s character.
7. Will Smith- Student of The Year 2
Since turning 50, Smith has been doing a lot of weird shit. I wish I had another explanation for why he chose this but I can’t come up with anything. It’s probably good that he can’t understand the language because that script was migraine-inducing.
8. Clive Standen- Namastey London
Standen, who is most famous for his role as Rollo on History Channel’s Vikings, is unrecognisable as Katrina Kaif’s British fiance in Namastey London. So much so, that if you watched Vikings without knowing who he was, it would take you a while to even make the connection.
9. Annabelle Wallis- Dil Jo Bhi Kahey…
You remember her from Peaky Blinders. Naah, don’t lie, You know her from that cheesy Instagram reel, “Happy or sad? It’ll break your heart. Already broken” LMAO! But before she was making movies with Tom Cruise, she was part of a Bollywood film, Dil Jo Bhi Kahey… starring Amitabh Bachchan.
10. Marko Zaror- Sultan
You have seen him somewhere but you can’t really place him? He’s the guy, whose leg Yuri Boyka smashed in Undisputed III. That’s right. He also plays a mixed martial artist in Salman Khan’s Sultan.
Hopefully, we get more foreign actors in Indian films and offer them more meaningful roles.