Sometimes, the testament to a true A-lister is to drop the ego and say "yes" to a boat-load of low-paying cameos. In the case of Matt Damon, there are a plethora of instances - like the following ten - where he was not the top-billed, above-marquee star he is accustomed to being.
A fact that would not prevent the actor from stealing the show in the limited screen time he was allotted, though. Considerable honorable mention most definitely given to his "role" in Team America: World Police; technically not a cameo, because he did not provide the voice for his satirically-marionetted counterpart. Matt Damon...
Unsane (2018)
Having fronted pictures for auteur Steven Soderbergh several times before (Ocean's Trilogy, The Informant!, Contagion), it likely did not take much for Damon to agree to a small part in the director's iPhone-shot psychological horror.
Very much a low-budget, fast-paced character study focused primarily on Sawyer Valentini's (Claire Foy, First Man) cat-and-mouse flee from the grasp of her stalker, one might wonder how involved Damon's underdeveloped detective character could have been on a grander scale.
Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind (2002)
If the last entry was any indication, it is not a foreign occurrence for a proverbial leading man to help out a frequent collaborator in a bit capacity.
In his pal George Clooney's directorial debut, Damon proved this when he co-appeared alongside fellow Ocean's Eleven alum Brad Pitt in a brief, uncredited role. The Academy Award winners play a pair of dating contestants in the biographical spy comedy based on game show host Chuck Barris' claims that he was also a CIA assassin.
The Third Wheel (2002)
For most of their first decade of success in the industry, the following rang true for the Oscar-winning co-screenwriters of Good Will Hunting (1997): when Ben Affleck starred in a movie, chances were his childhood friend Matt Damon showed up at some point as well.
Prior to, and especially after the catapulting of their stardom - Damon held a knack for turning guest visits into screen time. Never was this made more certain than in Jay Lacopo's The Third Wheel (2002). In the film, Damon surprisingly arrives in the third act as a high energy ex-boyfriend with more than one bone to pick.
Finding Forrester (2000)
Much like his later role in Interstellar (2014) - disqualified from consideration for the ranking, since his unexpected turn exceeded what constitutes a cameo - Damon's appearance in Gus Van Sant's 2000 coming-of-age drama went intentionally unmarketed.
In perhaps a passing-of-the-torch appearance, Van Sant's former high IQ-kid-from-a-bad-neighborhood protagonist (Damon, Good Will Hunting) appeared late in the final act as Sanderson, an attorney. Sanderson meets with Van Sant's latest bright-beyond-his years lead, Jamal (Rob Brown), to discuss with him the contents of his mentor's will.
Deadpool 2 (2018)
Can someone say, Hillbilly standalone spinoff? Arguably as unrecognizable as Christopher Meloni was as Freakshow in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004), Damon's role as a beer-drinking, big-bellied trucker eluded mostly the entire opening weekend turnout.
While he has passed on several superhero projects before, movie nerds everywhere can only hope the strength of Damon's Deadpool 2 performance leads to more yeses from his camp in the future.
The Majestic (2000)
Notably, Damon turned down starring as Peter Appleton, the lead of Frank Darabont's underrated period drama about an amnesiac, blacklisted screenwriter mistaken by a small town as one of their own - an MIA WWII soldier.
However, scheduling conflicts did not preclude him from providing the voiceover for the actual Luke Trimble when Appleton - eventually played by Jim Carrey - achieves some emotional requiem while reading the former's farewell letter.
Saturday Night Live (2018)
Though not a film, Damon's first turn - and subsequent appearances - as sexual assault-accused, and controversially-anointed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh comically made a well-received mockery of the man in typical SNL-fashion.
By pulling verbatim quotes and anecdotes shared by an emotional Kavanaugh regarding his love for his fellow party-crazed fraternity brothers, Damon did not have to reach to deliver an over-the-top, yet unfortunately authentic impersonation in this cold open for the ages.
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
As the God of Thunder's adopted brother/arch-nemesis, Loki, in a stage play-within-the-movie, Damon helped the Thor franchise earn points with its fan-base still considerably maligned by the Marvel hero's first two solo outings. The content of the play itself, too - Damon-as-Loki commenting on the absurdity of Loki's faked death in Thor: The Dark World - served as an endearing instance of self-awareness on the creative team's part.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) /Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019)
"Lion face, ah! Lemon face, ooh!" In both of the aforementioned meta-extravaganzas put on by View Askewniverse High Chancellor Kevin Smith, Damon played someone we knew prior - and in a single scene. In the original Jay and Silent Bob-led outing, he lampoons himself - a hyper-exaggerated Matt Damon who would have the audacity to make "Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season."
For the sequel, he reprises Loki - not the previously-mentioned Marvel character, but rather the fallen angel-on-a-murdering-spree in Smith's controversial religious satire, Dogma.
EuroTrip (2004)
Scotty didn't know. Until now. As the frontman of the most beloved fake band in teen romp history, Damon stole both fans' hearts and the main character's innocence. In an instant-classic-of-a-song, "Scotty Doesn't Know," Damon - who completely transformed for the film, with a shaved head and piercings applied all over - spells out point-blank the fling he held with Scotty's ex (Kristin Kreuk) while they were still dating. Infidelity has never sounded more punk rock.