The Ghostbusters Star Who Had a Cameo In Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom

Despite improving its reputation over time, “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” remains infamous in its own way. The run-up to 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” saw Indy team up with a new sidekick, Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) and Kate Capshaw’s nightclub singer Willie Scott for a decidedly darker tale than its predecessor. Although it has since been reassessed, “Temple of Doom” was met with a mixture of confusion and consternation upon its release in 1984, even while becoming a box office success. None of this should have been all that surprising to director Steven Spielberg, however, as the original “Temple of Doom” writer was scared off by the story he and George Lucas had in mind.

Now, some 40 years after its first debut, “Temple of Doom” occupies an odd place in the “Indiana Jones” lineage, simultaneously overcoming its initial reaction while still following some controversy, particularly over its infamous banquet scene, and you know, child murder thing. That’s why sometimes it’s nice to forget all the controversy and just geek out over some of the movie’s easter eggs and hidden details. One such example, which may have escaped even die-hard fans of the franchise, is a brief “Temple of Doom” cameo by a “Ghostbusters” star that lasts a whopping 18 seconds.

Before Indy and his cohorts descend into the depths of the Thuggee cultists’ lair, “Temple of Doom” opens with a now-classic sequence that sees Henry Jones Jr. escape from a Shanghai nightclub called Club Obi Wan – itself one of the first easter eggs in the film – after crime boss Lao Che tries to kill him. The ensuing car chase ends with Indy, Short Round and Willie pulling up to the airport and being led to a cargo plane by a British military officer named Art Weber. “Ah, Dr. Jones,” Weber calls in a hearty British accent as the trio move up, “I’m Art Weber, I spoke with your assistant, we’ve managed to secure a free seat.” Weber then informs the group that they will be riding a cargo plane filled with live poultry, and that’s the last we see of the character, who, it turns out, is played by none other than “Saturday Night Live” alum and “Ghostbusters “. “starring Dan Aykroyd.

Even those who were paying close attention to this moment may have missed Aykroyd, the star of some of the best ’80s comedies. The actor stays pretty far from the camera throughout his brief cameo, his face obscured by a mustache — not to mention his accent, which is somehow both a decent and terrible interpretation of a classic RP intonation.

As it turns out, Aykroyd and Steven Spielberg had remained friends since working on the WWII comedy “1941” — one of Spielberg’s lowest-rated films on Rotten Tomatoes — and all it took was a quick phone call to Aykroyd to get his cameo.

asked by The AV club how he ended up in “Temple of Doom,” Dan Aykroyd revealed that he actually called Steven Spielberg personally and explained:

“I said, ‘I’d love to work in this movie. Anything I can do’. Just because I love those guys and I love the franchise. And they brought me on, good sports that they were, I just said , ‘May I please join this film?’ (laughs) I asked for it!”

If you’re one of those viewers who managed to catch Aykroyd’s quick cameo in “Temple of Doom,” you may have missed some even harder-to-spot cameos in the same scene. Creator George Lucas, executive producer Frank Marshall, producer Kathleen Kennedy and Spielberg himself appear as missionaries in the background of the Shanghai airport where Weber meets Indy, Short Round and Willie.

“Temple of Doom” is far from the only Spielberg film to feature abundant cameos. “ET The Extra-Terrestrial” was originally supposed to feature cameos from Indy himself, Harrison Ford and Spielberg himself had a secret cameo in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.