WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Play Dirty.
Play Dirty director Shane Black and producer Jules Daly recently explained how they landed the movie’s big, surprising cameo. Now streaming exclusively on Prime Video, Play Dirty is a new adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s Parker book series, with Mark Wahlberg the latest actor to give his interpretation of the popular character.
In the movie, Wahlberg’s Parker leads a group of skilled criminals for a major heist that has them squaring up against the New York mob. LaKeith Stanfield, Rosa Salazar, Keegan-Michael Key, Chukwudi Iwuji, Nat Wolff, Gretchen Mol, Thomas Jane, and Tony Shalhoub also star. Yet fans of the movie were likely very surprised to see another well-known individual pop up with a cameo – Mark Cuban, businessman, minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and former Shark Tank personality.
Part of what makes the cameo so memorable is not only that Cuban makes an appearance as himself, but that he ends up getting shot. In an interview with ScreenRant’s Liam Crowley, Black and Daly explained how they landed Cuban for the cameo and his excitement at having some fun with his own image:
“Liam Crowley: I guess this is a spoiler question, I couldn’t find it anywhere in the press notes. We’ll save it till after release. The Mark Cuban cameo. How did that come together and how did you get him to agree to get shot?
Shane Black: I don’t know. Honestly, we’re looking for someone who would not be too gruesome or grim, but at the same time he had to be known and he had to be a good sport. So it was actually our producer-
Jules Daly: Ezra. Ezra Emmanuel, who’s another producer on the movie, he brought it up and we were like, there’s no way we’re going to get Mark Cuban. I mean, brilliant idea, but Ezra was on a mission for it and went through the whole system at WME where he’s also represented to get him, and Mark thought right away he was in, he said, ‘Super fun.’ Well not to give up anything, but he said, ‘I’d love to be shot on camera.’
Shane Black: And very strange for a guy of that stature to have that kind of sense of humor. You’re seeing less and less of that sense of humor these days, especially among people with that kind of money. So he’s a hero for me for that.
Jules Daly: Last night, the screening people went crazy when they saw him.”
Mark Cuban’s Other Acting Roles
While acting is not Cuban’s day job, he has appeared in a number of TV shows and movies, often portraying himself. Among his notable credits are The Simpsons, Entourage, The League, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Hustle, Billions, Good Burger 2, and The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh.
He does have a few credits where he plays other characters, like the 1995 action movie Lost at Sea, Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, and, most recently, Royal Runaways.
Critical Reaction To Play Dirty
The critical reaction to Play Dirty has been a bit underwhelming. As of writing, the movie has a 54% score on Rotten Tomatoes, which classifies it as “Rotten.” No Popcornmeter score from viewers that have watched the movie has been generated as of publication.
If you have watched Play Dirty but have some questions regarding the movie’s ending, read SR’s in-depth ending explained feature.
- Release Date
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October 1, 2025
- Runtime
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125 Minutes
- Director
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Shane Black
- Writers
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Donald E. Westlake, Shane Black, Anthony Bagarozzi