When I heard the tragic news that David Bowie had died on Monday morning, I obviously tearfully thought of all classic albums, and his famous film performances, and his contributions to worlds or art, fashion and technology. But my mind also turned to my very favourite Bowie moment, and in a way one of the weirdest things he ever did: his cameo in the 2009 Vanessa Hudgens vehicle Bandslam.
Bowie’s screen career is almost on par with his musical one. He worked with the likes of Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, David Lynch Nicolas Roeg, and Jim Henson—some of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Already being a megastar in another field meant that he could choose to only do things worthy of David Bowie. Not everything film did is a masterpiece, but even his lesser works are fascinating. Extended cameos as larger than life characters like Andy Warhol or Nikola Tesla. Style over substance German art dramas, and strange rock & roll musicals. Doing a voice on Spongebob Squarepants back when it was still subversive. Hell, even the Zoolander cameo shows good taste.