Tim Burton's Only Credited Acting Role Explained | Screen Rant
Known for his iconic work behind the camera, Tim Burton is one of the most notable directors of the past 40 years, but the typically quiet and reserved filmmaker shook up his image in 1992 when he appeared in a small, credited acting role. The opposite of legends like Alfred Hitchcock, who famously popped up in their own films, Burton has rarely appeared in his own work, appearing only in uncredited roles in Peewee’s Big Adventure and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Beyond his own movies, he showed up as a corpse in Hoffa and as an alien on a TV monitor in Men in Black 3.
That said, the famed director did have one credited acting role. Fast Times at Ridgemont High screenwriter Cameron Crowe wrote and directed Singles, a loose and down-to-earth romantic comedy about twentysomethings living in Seattle during the heyday of grunge music. Starring Bridget Fonda, Kyra Sedgewick, and Matt Dillon, the film was a minor success that has been viewed as a precursor to the hit NBC sitcom Friends. In the movie, Burton appears in one scene where he plays the role of Brian, a smug video dating service director. He thumbs through a magazine in the background for most of his screen time before agreeing to film a character’s video for 20 dollars.
Crowe noted that Burton was working on another project near Seattle and the Singles production at the same time. Despite not having a previous relationship, he invited Burton to come to the set for one day and be in the movie. Tim Burton, busy developing superhero comic book adaptations like his much-talked-about Superman project at that time, appears alongside actress Joan Giammarco in the scene, who also appeared in Batman Returns that same year in a small role as a victim saved by Catwoman. It's possible the two already had an established friendship or working relationship, prompting Burton to accept the role. He also gets to briefly poke fun at himself by acting overly pretentious and Giammarco referring to him as “the next Martin Scorsese,” which critics had called him in real life. Playing up the role of an uncultured wannabe cinephile, she mispronounces Scorsese's name in a hilariously incorrect way.
The Addams Family reboot director was in good company when it came to cameo roles in Singles. Pearl Jam appeared as a backing band while Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell and other popular Seattle-area musicians like Tad Doyle popped up. Paul Giamatti, Jeremy Piven, and Eric Stoltz, even the director himself, have small supporting roles. Burton was likely intrigued by the idea of having so many supporting roles in Singles and agreed to play one of them for some fun.
Though Singles has faded into somewhat of an obscure existence, reserved for cult-classic fandom, it serves as a great time capsule for what life was like in the Pacific Northwest during the early 1990s. Tim Burton's movies in the past decade have floundered, but his filmography as a producer and director is extensive, though never as a credited actor beyond this film. It was a one-off lark that he never repeated after, perhaps proving that Tim Burton is better suited behind the camera. Audiences may never know the full story of why he took the role of Brian and never appeared in anything since, but it's worth watching Singles just to witness his unprecedented one minute of screen time.