If you haven’t watched Casper in a while, Halloween is a pretty good excuse to revisit the 1995 movie. And when you get to the part where Clint Eastwood suddenly appears, you might wonder if you’re remembering the movie correctly.
The family-friendly ghost comedy really does feature Eastwood, Mel Gibson, Rodney Dangerfield, and the Crypt Keeper in one of the strangest celebrity cameo sequences of the ’90s. And there’s an even better story behind how it happened.
The scene comes when the Ghostly Trio — Stretch, Stinkie, and Fatso — are terrorizing Bill Pullman’s Dr. James Harvey.
At one point, they take over Harvey’s body and his face begins transforming in a mirror. First, he’s suddenly got the unmistakable face of Clint Eastwood. Then he turns into Rodney Dangerfield. Then Mel Gibson.
And finally, things take a turn for the appropriately creepy as Harvey becomes the Crypt Keeper, complete with the character’s familiar voice.
It’s the kind of joke that makes Casper feel much more like a ’90s Hollywood time capsule than a typical children’s movie.
And those weren’t actors impersonating the stars, either. Eastwood, Gibson, and Dangerfield actually filmed their brief appearances. John Kassir, the voice of the Crypt Keeper, also participated.
Clint Eastwood Had One Very Specific Condition
The story behind Eastwood’s cameo might actually be funnier than the scene itself.
Director Brad Silberling recently recalled that executive producer Steven Spielberg helped make the celebrity cameos happen. Spielberg told Silberling he would make some calls, eventually returning with an impressive list: Mel Gibson, Clint Eastwood, Rodney Dangerfield, and the Crypt Keeper.
But Eastwood apparently had a condition. He would do it if Spielberg did one, too.
So Spielberg agreed to film a cameo of his own. There was just one catch: Spielberg’s appearance was never supposed to make it into the movie.
Silberling said Eastwood, Gibson, Dangerfield, and Spielberg all came to the set and put on matching Dr. Harvey sweaters for their tiny scenes. Spielberg went last, and the director filmed a series of deliberately ridiculous takes.
Then Spielberg and Silberling simply left his footage on the cutting-room floor. As far as the movie is concerned, Spielberg was never there.
And Casper Had Even More Famous Faces
The Eastwood sequence isn’t even the only bit of celebrity stunt casting hidden inside Casper.
Earlier in the movie, Dan Aykroyd briefly reprises his Ghostbusters character, Dr. Raymond Stantz, when the mansion’s owners bring in paranormal experts to deal with the ghosts. There’s also Don Novello, appearing as his Saturday Night Live character Father Guido Sarducci.
Then there’s Devon Sawa, who shows up as the human version of Casper in the movie’s famous final sequence with Christina Ricci. Sawa was just 16 at the time, and the role became one of his earliest major film appearances.
