Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, sweepstakes, and more!
Jordan Peele's Incredibly Random Us Cameo Appearance Explained - Did You Catch it?
Well, we definitely didn't catch that on the first viewing.
Like many other great directors, Jordan Peele likes to make cameo appearances in his films. Unlike many of those directors, he chooses to make his cameos offscreen only.
**Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers for Us below.**
Us, which is streaming now on Peacock, was Peele's second directorial effort, and it reaffirms his place as one of the most compelling horror filmmakers working right now. It's packed with memorable visuals, from the opening flashback sequence to the terrifying finale. It's also full of recognizable faces, from Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke to Elisabeth Moss and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. None of those faces belong to Peele himself, though.
Alfred Hitchock famously made cameos in his films in a number of ways, appearing as everything from a man sitting next to Cary Grant on a bus to a neon outline of his famous silhouette. Horror legend Dario Argento likes to play the killer in his films by using his own hands for the close-ups in murder sequences. Peter Jackson made himself a part of Middle-earth by appearing as a random extra — including a famous carrot-munching man in Bree — in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Jordan Peele's Us Cameo Explained
Peele has so far chosen a different route for his own cameo appearances. Despite being a recognizable face thanks to years of acting on Key & Peele and in other projects, he makes his cameo appearances audio-only affairs. In a new interview with Fandango, Peele revealed he has voiced two non-human characters in his directorial efforts so far. In Get Out, he voiced the deer that jumps in front of Chris and Rose's car, then dies in the woods. In Us, he voiced a dying rabbit that Adelaide encounters during her journey into the tunnels where the Tethered live.
As helpful annotation, Peele even re-enacts both roles starting at about 3:18 in the video above, so you'll know what to listen for the next time you watch the films. This is both very amusing and creates a new game for viewers the next time we all dig into a Jordan Peele joint: Spot Jordan Peele's weird animal noise cameo.
Originally published Mar 25, 2019.
