Bruce Willis Has A Secret Cameo In The Star Trek Parody The Orville

Seth MacFarlane is now (and perhaps always will be) best known as the man behind his massive animated hit shows "Family Guy" and "American Dad." MacFarlane's creations now rival the likes of "The Simpsons" and "South Park" in terms of longevity and staying power in pop culture. But MacFarlane is more than that, as evidenced by his live-action love letter to "Star Trek" aka "The Orville."

The series, which as of this writing has run for a total of three seasons, premiered on Fox in 2017. "The Orville" later moved to Hulu for its third season, which arguably changed the show for the better but that's another issue entirely. During the show's second season when it was still on Fox, it actually featured a cameo from none other than action maestro Bruce Willis. That said, viewers would be forgiven for not noticing him.

Willis lent his talents to the episode entitled "Deflectors," which was the seventh episode of season 2, airing on Valentine's Day of 2019. That feels appropriate given what happens in said episode. It sees a famous engineer from Moclus come aboard the Orville to upgrade the ship's deflectors. Hence, the title. He tells Talla (Jessica Szohr) that he is attracted to her. However, being attracted to females is frowned upon on Moclus, resulting in a prison sentence.

As part of a B-plot in the episode, Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) had broken up with Cassius (Chris Johnson). An old friend of Cassius' named Groogan, who is essentially a big alien flower of the alien race known as a Katrudian, sneaks aboard the Orville to try and convince Kelly to give him another chance. That alien flower is voiced by none other than the star of "Die Hard" and "Armageddon" himself, Bruce Willis.

The above clip gives a taste of what Willis had to offer "The Orville." On the one hand, it very much sounds like the actor so many of us have come to know and love. On the flip side, because he's so laid back and clearly having some fun, it's a little tough to pin it down at first without being told who it is. That's partially what makes it such a fun cameo, but it's also what makes it a fun late-era addition to the actor's impressive career.

Willis is largely known for his action roles thanks to his breakout role in "Die Hard." Yet, great things have happened in his career when he's stepped out of that zone. "The Sixth Sense," which is one of the biggest hits of his career, is a prime example. So, brief though the role may be, MacFarlane giving Willis the space to flex his comedy muscles as an alien flower is quite the change of pace.

Over the past handful of years, Willis became more associated with direct-to-video action flicks that were often less than great, to put it kindly. Much of that had to do with the actor wanting to put as much out and work as much as he could, while he could. In 2022, it was announced that Willis was retiring from acting following his Aphasia diagnosis. That being the case, this brief, weird little role somehow feels a little more special, with the benefit of hindsight.

"The Orville" is streaming now on Hulu, or you can grab the show on DVD from Amazon.