Silo Author Hugh Howey Has Two Cameos In The Apple TV Series That You Might've Missed

Author Hugh Howey is one of the great success stories of self-publishing. In 2011, he published his short story, "Wool," via Kindle Direct Publishing. It quickly took off, inspiring Howey to continue the story — a post-apocalyptic narrative about a society that lives in a silo structure to guard against the poisonous world outside — with more short stories. These were eventually packaged together as a book collectively titled "Wool," which became the first of a trilogy.

As if having a near-instant bestseller wasn't enough, Hollywood also took an interest in Howey. Ridley Scott at one point planned a feature film based on "Wool." After that fell through, the story finally made it to the screen as the Apple TV series "Silo." Howey has given "Silo" his full-bodied endorsement – so much so he's made not one but two cameos on the series.

Howey's first appearance on "Silo" was in the Season 1 finale, "Outside," where he is briefly visible in a crowd shot of the Silo's residents. Howey is not a trained actor, of course, so it makes sense the series only uses him as they would another extra. Unless you're a "Silo" super-fan who can recognize Howey on sight, you'd never know he wasn't merely another extra. Compare, say, Stan Lee's cameos across various Marvel movies, which loudly announced themselves and built a screen persona for Lee himself. 

In "Silo" Season 3 Episode 8, "Gray Goo," Howey appeared again, this time working in the Silo's mines. (Due to hazardous conditions, the Silo's mines are treated like a prison sentence for lawbreakers.) This cameo was just as small as the first, but this time, he wasn't alone.

Hugh Howey wrote about his experience shooting the "Silo" Season 3 cameo on his website. Going along with the idea he was playing the same character as before, Howey wrote: 

"I guess my character had caused some trouble since my brief cameo in Season 1, because I ended up in the mines. But it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me, because I met the love of my life there!"

You see, during this second cameo, Howey's wife Shay Londre cameoed with him as another miner. Unlike the first cameo, this one was more transformative for Howey; he and Londre got dirtied up to reflect their characters having been stuck working in the mines. "[It's a] testament to the makeup artists we had for 'Silo' that they were able to take Shay's beauty from an eleven all the way down to a ten," he wrote on his website. Despite all that trouble, the author was somehow still surprised by his own cameo: 

"When Shay and I were watching this episode for the first time, we nearly fell off the sofa when we appeared on-screen. We were so immersed in the story we forgot to look for ourselves! And there we were. It was one of so many unforgettable moments in the making of this show."

"Silo" has been renewed for a fourth and final season (one that has many questions to answer after the "Silo" Season 3 finale). While I wouldn't expect Hugh Howey to start upstaging the series' star, Rebecca Ferguson, perhaps the show will find a way to give him another cameo for its last hurrah.

"Silo" is streaming on Apple TV.