How sports star film cameos are boosting box-office takings

From Seth MacFarlane's perspective, getting NFL star Tom Brady to do a cameo in Ted 2 was a no-brainer, the casting equivalent of having a receiver wide open in the end zone.

Early in the process of writing the comedy sequel, MacFarlane knew he wanted the foul-mouthed, pot-smoking teddy bear and his best friend, John (Mark Wahlberg), to try to steal someone's sperm so Ted and his human wife could have a baby. Who would that ideal unwilling donor be? For MacFarlane, the answer was clear: "Logically," he says, "for two guys from Boston, Tom Brady would be at the top of the list."

The fact that Wahlberg was friends with the New England Patriots quarterback - and that Brady had once done a cameo on MacFarlane's animated TV series Family Guy - made the choice that much easier. Though the prospect of being the focus of a raunchy set piece in a parental guidance-rated comedy might have made some athletes uncomfortable (these people are on Wheaties boxes, after all), MacFarlane says: "We figured we had a good shot with Tom."

Brady is hardly the only professional athlete getting drafted into movies. Retired New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan has stripped down for a cameo in Magic Mike XXL, while Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James is showing off his comedy chops opposite Amy Schumer and Bill Hader in director Judd Apatow's new film, Trainwreck, playing himself as the sensitive, Downton Abbey-loving friend of Hader's sports physician.

Athletes have, of course, popped up in movies and television for decades, whether it was Joe Namath on The Brady Bunch, Brett Favre in There's Something About Mary, Derek Jeter on Seinfeld or Mike Tyson in The Hangover. Occasionally a whole movie has been constructed from the ground up as, essentially, one gigantic athlete cameo - think Michael Jordan teaming up with Bugs Bunny in Space Jam or, less successfully, Shaquille O'Neal as a 5,000-year-old genie in Kazaam.