DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES Filmmakers on That Surprise Cameo in the Film

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves opened up this past weekend, and fans and moviegoers are having a blast in the theatres watching this hilarious adventure unfold! If you haven’t seen the movie yet, there is one super fun surprise cameo included that we will be discussing, so don’t read on if you don’t want it spoiled.

Throughout the film, the roguish bard, Edgin (Chris Pine), talks with the gruff warrior, Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), about Holga’s ex, Mariamin, for whom she’s still harboring feelings. At one point in the characters’ journey, Holga decides to stop by the village where she and Mariamin used to live to see him again. When he comes to the door, the audience realizes two things: One, he’s a halfling, a D&D race that look like full-grown humans but stand roughly three feet tall; and two, he’s played by Bradley Cooper.

What follows is a tender scene between Holga and Mariamin in which they sit inside Mariamin’s cottage and discuss their failed relationship, and it’s a total blast. Cooper is such a fantastic actor, and he brings such a charm to any part he plays, so it’s fun to hear how he got signed on for this role.

In a recent interview with the movie’s filmmakers, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, Variety asked them how it played out nabbing Cooper for the role, and Daley explained:

I did a show [in 2005] called Kitchen Confidential with Bradley that only lasted 13 episodes. We had so much fun on that show because the stakes were so low. We all kind of assumed that we were going to be canceled. And, you know, he became a massive, prolific, incredible movie star-slash-filmmaker. 

We had thought about a really fun cameo for this part. It was sent to his agent, but I sent him a letter saying like, “It’d be fun to play again.” I got a text from him from a number I didn’t recognize saying, “Yo, is this still John?” And I said, “Who’s this?” Because I’ve gotten weird texts before from strangers. He said, “BC from KC.” I’m like, “What?” “‘Kitchen Confidential!'” I’m like, “Oh, shit!” I immediately called him. He had just seen the film. He called it a triumph, which almost made me cry, because it had been a real long process working on this thing. And he was like, “I’m on board. Sign me up.”

Daley said they’d already shot the scene with Michelle Rodriguez, and Goldstein explained that because they’d be shrinking Cooper down to be a halfling, three-foot tall man, it was easy enough to recreate, and do the blue screens behind him. Daley added:

So we rebuilt the chair, which was massive. Then I acclimated myself to Holga’s performance. We didn’t want to change too many takes on her side, because we’re really happy with how she played it. But we also wanted there to be some chemistry and rapport between them. And so it was Bradley’s idea that I’d read with him for old times sake. So that’s what I did.

Daley went on to say that they’d had someone else in the part before, as kind of a placeholder, as it was tricky to get any huge stars to commit to flying out to film a scene for just one day amid the strict Covid protocols. Cooper was the dream casting choice from day one, and eventually it all just fell into place. And it’s so awesome that it did!

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is currently showing in theaters nationwide.