Cameo yes, Mr. Lebowski

We were watching Nightline’s far out feature on the Lebowski cult today (thanks to Will and Scott from Lebowskifest for giving Dudeism a shout out) and noticed something about the film that we’d never noticed before. Yeah, you know. Again.

As we all know, Lebowski is one of those films in which you never stop seeing new shit coming to light. As the recent book The Year’s Work in Lebowski Studies (also featured in the piece) proves, there is no bottom. Even if we don’t always understand it correctly, or at all. It don’t matter to the Dudeist – Lebowski is life. You’re never going to figure it all out and even if you do, well, that’s, just, like your opinion, man.

Anyhow, we were shocked to notice a brief cameo (Latin for “Hey, I know that guy!”) which had totally slipped us by on the last hundred or so watchings of the film. Of course we’re sure that some folks at Lebowskifest have noticed this and we’re late to the game, but we can’t find a mention on the Internet any where. And if it’s not on the Internet, then it didn’t happen, right? Or are we just having an acid flashback? You can decide for yourself.

So what is this new shit that came to light? Jeff Dowd is actually in the movie! In a movie with its fair share of cameo appearances, the man after whom the character of The Dude was based makes a brief appearance in the film.

It’s a cameo within a cameo! Just as country musician Jimmie Dale Gilmore pops up on the screen to give life (and a near-death experience) to Smokey, Dowd sneakily slips by in the background without so much as a Port Huron Statement.

That really blew our minds, man. Amazing that we did not notice this until now. Our thinking about the movie has been very uptight. Mind if we burn a jay?

There are lots of cameo appearances in Lebowski. Here are some:

Aimee Mann – Musician and temporarily 9-toed woman.

Flea – Bass player for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, sometime actor and most diminutive Nihilist in the movie.

Asia Carrera – Porn star and Logjammin roomie. Some kind of an Eastern schwing.

Dom Irrera (no relation to Asia Carrera) – Tony the  Limo driver is also an accomplished actor and comedian.

James Hoosier – Now that he’s become famous through Lebowksifest, watching this non-actor who happened into the movie by luck (and bowling skill) to snag the plum role of Liam (the Jesus’ bowling partner) is eerily akin to watching a famous star make a bit appearance in a great movie.

There must be more, but we’ve lost our train of thought here. Make us privy via the comment box below!

Here’s the Nightline segment if you want to enjoy it with your coffee: