‘The Naked Gun’s best cameo is so quick you might miss it
In addition to gut-busting performances from stars Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, The Naked Gun reboot features more than a few cameos from the original film including “Weird Al” Yankovic, as well as appearances from Busta Rhymes, Dave Bautista, and more.
But there’s one cameo that you won’t want to miss: the co-star of the original film trilogy, Priscilla Presley.
Starring alongside Leslie Nielsen in 1988’s The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, 1991’s The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear, and 1994’s Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult, Presley played gloriously uncoordinated femme fatale Jane Spencer. She’s introduced as an assistant to the film’s antagonist Vincent Ludwig (Ricardo Montalbán) before becoming the love interest of Nielsen’s bumbling protagonist Lt. Frank Drebin.
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Priscilla Presley in “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!”
Credit: Moviestore / Shutterstock
In the reboot, you’ll spy Presley as Jane sitting at home watching the broadcast of the film’s major fight event, in which Neeson’s character, Detective Frank Drebin Jr. (who is the son of Nielsen’s character) finds himself rather exposed. Like the rest of the audience, Jane looks shocked at the dangling disco balls on screen.
It’s not clear in the scene whether Jane recognises Neeson’s Frank Jr. or whether she’s looking at her son. Jane and Frank are married in The Naked Gun 33⅓ and the final scene shows Jane giving birth to a son. Regardless, it’s great to see Presley included in The Naked Gun reboot, even if for the shortest cameo of the entire film.
As Anderson told Mashable, Presley herself gave The Naked Gun star a note before filming the reboot. “Priscilla left me a message,” Anderson told Entertainment Reporter Belen Edwards. “She just said, ‘Have a good time. Embrace the silliness. You’re going to do great.'”
The film also pays tribute to Nielsen, who died in 2010 at the age of 84, through several scenes involving Frank Jr. gazing at his father’s portrait within the Police Squad building and later believing his spirit being channelled through a particularly well-timed owl. It’s perfect.
