Bruce Willis has a secret cameo in the Star Trek spoof The Orville

Seth MacFarlane is now (and probably always will be) better known as… The man behind his hugely successful animated shows “Family Guy” and “American Dad.” MacFarlane’s creations now rival the likes of “The Simpsons” and “South Park” in terms of longevity and persistence in popular culture. But MacFarlane is more than that, as evidenced by his vivid love letter to “Star Trek,” also known as “The Orville.”

The series, which has run as of this writing for three seasons, premiered on Fox in 2017. “The Orville” later moved to Hulu for its third seasonwhich 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, there was actually a small appearance by action maestro Bruce Willis. However, viewers would be forgiven for not noticing.

Willis lent his talents to the episode titled “Deflectors” which was the seventh episode of the second season and which aired on Valentine’s Day 2019. This seems appropriate considering what happens in the said episode. You see a famous engineer from Moclus coming aboard the Orville to upgrade the ship’s deflectors. Hence the title. He tells Tala (Jessica Szohr) that he is attracted to her. However, being attracted to females is frowned upon by Mokles, resulting in a prison sentence.

As part of the episode’s B-plot, Kelly (Adrian Palicki) breaks up with Cassius (Chris Johnson). An old friend of Cassius named Groogan, who is basically a large alien flower of the alien race known as the Katrudian, sneaks aboard the Orville to try to convince Kelly to give him another chance. This alien flower is voiced by none other than the star of “Die Hard” and “Armageddon” himself, Bruce Willis.

The clip above gives a glimpse into what Welles brought to “The Orville.” On the one hand, this actor looks very similar to the actor many of us know and love. On the other hand, since he’s so relaxed and clearly having some fun, it’s a bit difficult to spot him at first without him telling you who he is. That’s partly what makes it an enjoyable cameo, but it’s also what makes it an enjoyable late-era addition to the actor’s impressive career.

Willis is largely known for his action roles thanks to his breakout role in the movie “Die Hard.” However, great things happened in his career when he got out of that zone. “The Sixth Sense” is one of the biggest successes of his careeris a prime example. So, while the role may be brief, MacFarlane gives Willis the space to flex his comedic muscles as the exotic flower, marking a dramatic change of pace for the film.

Over the past few years, Willis has become more associated with direct-to-video action films that have often been less than stellar, so to speak. A lot of it had to do with the actor wanting to put in as much work as he could, while he could. In 2022, It was announced that Willis would retire from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia. In this case, this brief and bizarre role somehow feels more special, with the benefit of hindsight.

“The Orville” is now streaming on Hulu, Or you can get the show on DVD from Amazon.