random thought: musicians in movies

One of my little quirks is that I really dislike knowing who a movie star is. If I recognise someone from a past movie, that pretty much ruins my suspension of disbelief. So I try really hard to not find out anything about movie stars. Luckily a little makeup and some good acting can fool me often, or I'd enjoy a lot fewer mainstream movies.

(Data point: I recognisd only two of the stars in Oceans Eleven, and I cannot recall their names.)

OTOH, there's something I really like about seeing non-actors who I know cameo in a movie. Mostly musicians, but also authors, directors, scientists, athletes, etc. Even better is when I know them only in passing and don't know who that was until the credits. There's often more depth, hints of a more real personality, and I just focus on these people and start trying to figure out what's up with that character.

Notable examples are Blues Brothers, many Jackie Chan movies, and Because of Winn-Dixie.