Chuck Norris' Dodgeball Cameo Came Together After One Key Move By Ben Stiller

Even in the pantheon of all-time great celebrity cameos, not just anyone can claim to have outshined the rest of the movie in a single scene. Chuck Norris wasn't just anyone, of course, making his sudden passing that much harder to accept. But as the internet inevitably floods with heartfelt memorials and corny memes in equal measure, it's worth looking back at one of his most beloved (and surprising) appearances on the big screen — one that neatly sums up just how titanic of a figure Norris truly was in a certain era of pop culture.

When "Dodgeball" premiered in 2004 (sorry, make that "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story"), the irony of the title was only magnified by its all-star cast. A murderer's row of Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Rip Torn, Christine Taylor, Jason Bateman, Stephen Root, Alan Tudyk, and Justin Long is nothing to sneeze at, to say nothing of the many other cameos that include "Star Trek" legend William Shatner, professional cyclist Lance Armstrong (prior to his doping scandal, of course), and David Hasselhoff. Yet, in the span of just one pitch-perfect reaction shot, Norris stood head and shoulders above them all.

In the end, Norris had Stiller to thank for making it possible to steal the show. In a 2007 interview with Empire (republished in 2012), Norris opened up about how this cameo came to be ... and how persistent Stiller was in making this happen:

"I was in L.A. when they asked me to do the cameo — I said no at first because it was a three-hour drive down to Long Beach. Then Ben Stiller calls. He goes, 'Chuck, please, you've got to do this for me!' My wife said he should send a helicopter for me and that's what happened."

Sending that helicopter certainly paid off.

Even though Chuck Norris' acting contributions to film and television will ultimately go down as his greatest legacy, a close second would have to be the countless memes he inspired. Long before the internet became poisoned by irony, the online community during the early aughts embraced the earnestness of treating Norris like the greatest person to ever walk the Earth. It's only fitting, then, that a movie that launched countless enduring memes like "Dodgeball" also recruited Norris for an amusingly crucial role: as the deciding vote to allow Peter La Fleur's (Vince Vaughn) team of underdogs to avoid forfeiture against the might of White Goodman's (Ben Stiller) undefeated dodgeball team.

But Norris' classic thumbs up wasn't the last mark he'd leave on "Dodgeball." This cameo was arguably superseded by the closing moments of the film, when Stiller reappears as a defeated (and much less athletic) White Goodman. While sneering at his television screen and devouring snacks by the handful, Goodman insists he won the dodgeball tournament and blames Norris for all his woes. According to Norris himself, this came as a total shock:

"I didn't read the screenplay, just did my bit where I stick my thumb up. When the movie comes out, we go see it. It's cute, a little risqué in some areas. But in the end, when Ben's a big fatty and watching TV, the last line of the whole movie is, 'F***in' Chuck Norris!' My mouth fell open to here. I said, 'Holy mackerel!' That was a shock, Ben didn't tell me about that!"

Not everything in "Dodgeball" aged perfectly, to put it mildly. But that cameo is the gift that keeps on giving. Thank you, Chuck Norris.