There’s a lot to love about Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Aside from being superbly written and gloriously directed, it also happens to be impeccably cast.
Hugh Grant thrives as the devious backstabber Forge. Justice Smith shines as the self-conscious sorcerer Simon. Regé-Jean Page prevails as the stony paladin Xenk. Michelle Rodriguez dominates as the kind-hearted barbarian Holga. Sophia Lillis wins us over as the good-natured druid Doric. And Chris Pine embodies all the best qualities of a flawed main character in the cunning thief Edgin.
Each character feels like a snug glove slipped seamlessly over the strengths of every actor’s respective talents. Yet, when all was said and done, the surprise A-List cameo in the middle of act two is what’s lingered in our minds the longest, for no other reason than it was simply and utterly — and hysterically — nonsensical. And somehow, made perfect sense.
Is Bradley Cooper in Honor Among Thieves? That hysterical cameo, explained
We’re informed early on in the movie that Holga (Rodriquez) has an ex-husband. She makes it pretty clear she’s still pining over him (Chris Pine pun, intended). As she and Edgin (Pine) giddy up on their quest to uncover the lost Helmet of Disjunction (not dysfunction) and break into the heavily guarded walled city of Neverwinter to save Edgin’s daughter Kira (Chloe Coleman) from Forge (Grant) and his dominion, they make one little stop along the way at a quaint village resting near the foot of an even more quaint mountainside. (Think The Shire from The Lord of The Rings.)
There, Holga’s comes face to face with her ex-husband, and lo and behold, it’s non-other than Bradley Cooper, a tiny, two-foot-tall human with a personality as soft as the smile on his face.
His character is never given a name but through his conversation with Holga, we learn that their marriage dissolved because of Holga’s drinking problem and her overall devotion to thievery, all of which were a result of her abandoning her tribe to live with Cooper and missing them terribly.
Halfway through their conversation, Cooper’s new woman walks in the door, as large and mighty as Holga. Her hands are bloodied from hunting. She is clearly meant to represent the breadwinner of the household. She introduces herself to Holga, kisses Cooper on the head, and then carries on with her day. As the reunion comes to an end, Cooper reaches his tiny hand out for Holga’s, bridging the gap between resentment and resolution, and share a parting smile. They leave happy and satisfied, and we’re left clutching the stitches in our side that are on the brink of bursting.
The utterly jarring nature of seeing Bradley Cooper (of all people) as a gentle, tiny, two-foot-sized human was about the last thing anyone could’ve expected going into Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. In a movie filled with sorcerers, druids, and dragons, it broke the film’s suspension of belief, and brought us back to reality: wait, is that Bradley Cooper.” The whole ordeal could’ve easily backfired, but thanks to the actors’ comedic timing, the editors’ smart editing, and the director’s pitch-perfect tone, it wound up being one of the best moments of the film, if not the stand-out.
And to think, Cooper wasn’t even the actor Rodriguez acted opposite when she was filming the scene. In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, she shared that Cooper was brought in after the fact.
“It was originally another actor [in that scene]. They added [Bradley] after the fact and then told me about it. I was like, ‘What?’ I like him in real life: I think he’s a cool dude.”
“It was really great to see because it’s a spoof within the movie. It has this suspension of disbelief throughout and it’s broken in that moment, because you don’t expect it and you get caught off guard when you see the celebrity and not the character for a second there. I thought that was great — a good comic relief moment.”
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is currently playing in theaters.