It took years of persistence, a full face of alien prosthetics, and a single line of dialogue, but Amazon.com, Inc. founder Jeff Bezos finally made it into the "Star Trek" universe — exactly the way he wanted.
What Happened: In a 2020 fireside chat in Mumbai with actor Shah Rukh Khan and filmmaker Zoya Akhtar, the Amazon founder revealed how his eight-second cameo in the 2016 film Star Trek Beyond came to life.
Bezos, a lifelong Star Trek fan, said he had one mission: land a speaking role that couldn't be cut. "I got that role by literally begging," Bezos admitted.
The billionaire recalled that he approached Paramount Global repeatedly over the years, asking to be part of a Star Trek film. Each time, the studio turned him down. He didn't give up — and he had conditions.
He was totally fine being unrecognizable in makeup, but the part had to include a speaking line and be part of a pivotal scene so that they couldn't cut him from the final version of the movie.
Eventually, director Justin Lin gave him the green light.
At the 13-minute mark of Star Trek Beyond, Bezos appears in full alien makeup, created by Oscar-winning makeup artist Joel Harlow.
He plays a Starfleet officer on the Yorktown starbase who places a universal translator on a rescued alien and tells her, "Speak normally." Then he exits the frame.
"We did the scene 20 times," Bezos recalled, saying he was nervous he'd flub his one line. "It was terrifying… but it all worked out."
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Why It's Important: Bezos currently has a net worth of $256 billion, making him rank fourth on Bloomberg's Billionaire Index.
Apart from Bezos, several other high-profile CEOs have made memorable cameos on the big and small screens. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has turned up in multiple pop culture hits, including appearing as himself in "Iron Man 2" and "The Big Bang Theory."
Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, once appeared on "Frasier," playing himself during a radio interview segment.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin made a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo as himself in "The Internship." Dallas Mavericks owner and entrepreneur Mark Cuban has also popped up as himself in hit shows like "Billions" and "Entourage."
Even investment icon Warren Buffett has joined in, portraying a job applicant on "The Office" and showing up as himself in "Entourage" and "All My Children."
Bezos, meanwhile, has made two appearances in Hollywood — not only in Star Trek Beyond as an unrecognizable alien officer, but also years earlier as a security guard in “The Tooth Fairy.”
Photo Courtesy: Lev Radin on Shutterstock.com
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
