The Dead Don’t Dieis independent director Jim Jarmusch’s absurdist take on a horror comedy that centers on the reactions of people in a small town when they find themselves in the middle of azombie apocalypse caused by polar fracking. The movie is led by Adam Driver and Bill Murray, but the supporting cast includes Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Selena Gomez, and more, giving the movie a very impressive wealth of talent. Whilemany main characters inThe Dead Don’t Dieultimately end up dying, their adventures along the way are pretty unusual and funny.
While the film received mixed reviews upon its initial release, when the movie was added to Netflix in December 2024,The Dead Don’t Diequickly found streaming success. Its renewed popularity is no surprise given the deadpan humor, fourth wall breaks, andunexpected ending twist inThe Dead Don’t Dieare enough to keep audiences watching, and guessing, throughout its runtime. While the movie’s humor by itself is very entertaining,The Dead Don’t Dieis made even better by the cameo appearances of numerous celebrities as zombies and minor characters.
10Rosie Perez As Posie Jaurez
Perez Briefly Appears As A News Reporter In The Beginning Of The Film
The Dead Don’t Dieopens in the town of Centerville as the residents begin noticing odd occurrences, such as the sun not setting. Reporting on this phenomenon,Rosie Perez appears as news anchor Posie Juarezto explain that the polar fracking occurring in both the North and South Poles has the ability to change the Earth’s rotation or knock it off its access, leading to catastrophe. While Perez’s cameo is quite brief, it does serve as one of the most important cameos in the film because it explains why the zombie apocalypse happened.
Rosie Perez’s portrayal of the news anchor is quite funny, as she appears flustered and speaks off-screen to someone about the strange things happening outside.The cameo also makes sense as Perez worked with Jim Jarmusch previouslyin his 1991 filmNight on Earth. This is also a common thread between many of the cameos inThe Dead Don’t Die, as many of the actors are frequent collaborators of Jarmusch.
9Eszter Balint As Fern
The Actor Has Collaborated With Jarmusch Before
Eszter Balint plays Fern, a waitress at Centerville’s diner, who is seen in several scenes in the beginning ofThe Dead Don’t Die. Balint is a singer as well as an actor, and she made her debut in Jim Jarmusch’sStranger Than Paradisein 1984. Fern’s character and the diner setting help introduce several of the movie’s characters, including Danny Glover as Hank and Steve Buscemi as Frank. As they listen to the news broadcast about polar fracking, the characters also provide insight into what they think could happen.
Altogether, 14 people are killed by zombies inThe Dead Don’t Die, not including the number of zombies that are also killed.
Unfortunately, Fern meets her end too soon, as zombies attack her diner before she has a chance to close up for the night.Fern and Lily, another waitress, are the first two characters to die onscreenwhen they are attacked and eaten by two coffee-loving, and familiar looking, zombies. This point also serves as the moment thatThe Dead Don’t Dietruly leans into its absurdity, creating a gory death that is both shocking and slightly funny.
8Iggy Pop As Coffee Zombie
The Legendary Musician Becomes The First Zombie
Part of what makes Fern’s death so darkly funny to audiences is thatone of the zombies who kill her is played by Iggy Pop. The Stooges frontman rises from the grave along with one other zombie, and they make their way toward the town’s diner. Upon arriving at the diner just as Fern is about to close, the zombies make their way inside and eat Fern and Lily before turning their attention to their real interest, the hot coffee.
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One of the biggest critiques that Jim Jarmusch makes inThe Dead Don’t Die, borrowed directly from an iconic zombie movie predecessor,Dawn of the Living Dead, is that of rampant consumerism. InThe Dead Don’t Die, each of the zombies is able to say only one word. Whether it be coffee, Wi-Fi, or guitar,the word represents what was important to the zombies while they were alive. After drinking the coffee left in Fern’s diner, Iggy Pop and his companion zombie continue to make their way through town.
7Sara Driver As Coffee Zombie
Jarmusch’s Partner Makes An Appearance Alongside Iggy Pop
In Iggy Pop’s appearance as a coffee zombie,he is joined by Sara Driver, Jim Jarmusch’s partner. Driver has produced several of Jarmusch’s films along with playing small roles in many, and she has directed several films as well. As she appears in the credits of many of Jarmusch’s films in various behind-the-scenes roles, it only makes sense that she would appear in a small, silly role inThe Dead Don’t Dieas the perfect cameo for fans who know her connection to Jarmusch.
Funnily, Driver’s coffee zombie actually survives the ordeal. If a zombie can be said to survive, that is. Her affinity for coffee keeps her and Iggy Pop’s zombie walking through town together, andthe two can actually be seen again toward the ending of the movie. After promising to meet Tilda Swinton’s character, Zelda, at the graveyard, Adam Driver, Bill Murray, and Chloë Sevigny patrol the town in their police car while making their way to the cemetery. Along the destroyed road, they see the two zombies eerily creeping toward the car with a new pot of coffee, repeating the word over and over.
6RZA As Dean
RZA’s Delivery Driver, Dean, Is Given A Wu-PS Van
RZA has a cameo as the minor character Dean inThe Dead Don’t Die.The Wu-Tang Clan leader plays a delivery driver, whose van is fittingly labeled “Wu-PS”. Toward the beginning of the movie, while making his rounds, Dean speaks with Bobby, an employee at the gas station and avid horror fan, who sarcastically warns him about a coming apocalypse. The two seem to be joking as they mostly reference old horror films, but the threat is much more real than they recognize.
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Sadly, like the majority of the characters inThe Dead Don’t Die, RZA does not survive.He is seen again briefly toward the end of the movie as a zombie, still in his uniform. RZA’s cameo is very clever, but it also serves to further his collaboration with Jim Jarmusch, as he has previously also appeared inGhost DogandCoffee and Cigarettesby the director.
5Carol Kane As Mallory
Kane Too Becomes A Zombie
Carol Kane is known for her talent in horror and comedy films alike, so her cameo inThe Dead Don’t Diemakes perfect sense. Kane gained attention in the 1970s for her roles in movies likeDog Day Afternoon, Annie Hall, andWhen a Stranger Callsand has continued starring in recognizable films to this day.InThe Dead Don’t Die,Kane appears as Mallorywho, unlike the majority of the film’s characters, is actually already dead when the film begins.
Mallory is ultimately killed by Adam Driver’s character, but Carol Kane’s brief appearance is certainly entertaining.
The Dead Don’t Dieframes Mallory as an alcoholic that the police in the town were already aware of, and they express their sadness when she is found dead at the beginning of the film. Her body is brought to the police station, as the funeral home cannot hold it, and the police go about their day. However, as the dead begin to rise from their graves, Mallory also becomes a zombie and scares the living characters when they realize what has happened. Mallory is ultimately killed by Adam Driver’s character, but Carol Kane’s brief appearance is certainly entertaining.
4Larry Fessenden As Danny
Fessenden Is No Stranger To Horror Films
Larry Fessenden makes a cameo appearance inThe Dead Don’t Dieas Danny, the owner of a motel in Centerville. As an actor, director, and producer,Fessenden is no stranger to horror films. He has starred in movies such asI Sell the Dead, Jug Face, and We Are Still Here, and directed the horror movieThe Last Winter,which received positive reviews. Fessenden has also worked with Jim Jarmusch before, making his appearance in Jarmusch’s zombie horror comedy completely understandable.
InThe Dead Don’t Die, Danny rents out a motel room to three young travelers and is also seen looking for his cats after watching news reports that animals are acting strangely. After these events, his fate is left unclear until the movie shows him exiting a motel room as a zombie. Fessenden’s character sadly meets the same fate as many of his costars.
3Sturgill Simpson As Guitar Zombie
Simpson Also Lends His Voice To The Movie’s Titular Song
One of the funniest and most fitting cameos inThe Dead Don’t Dieis that of Sturgill Simpson. The real-life country singer exists as a singer in the film’s universe, and he is very popular due toa song that many of the characters love, entitled “The Dead Don’t Die”. The song is referenced many times throughout the film, with Adam Driver’s character listening to it repeatedly before Bill Murray complains about it and Selena Gomez’s character buying it on CD at the gas station.
Sturgill Simpson has been making music since 2004, but his recent turn to acting has seen him star in movies such asKillers of the Flower MoonandThe Creator.
Despite being constantly referenced throughout the movie, Simpson’s cameo is also the easiest one to miss.He appears for about 30 seconds at the 1:05 markinThe Dead Don’t Die. A musician in life and the afterlife, Simpson portrays a zombie walking in the street who drags a guitar behind him while repeating “guitar” several times. Because of his zombie makeup, even fans of the singer may have trouble identifying him at first, but the musical aspect helps give it away a bit.
2Charlotte Kemp Muhl As Fashion Zombie
The Singer And Model Briefly Shows Up As A Zombie
Charlotte Kemp Muhl portrays the fashion zombie inThe Dead Don’t Die.Kemp Muhl is a model who has worked with numerous designers and brands, including Maybelline, Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan, and more, so her appearance as a fashion zombie is certainly warranted. Beyond her modeling career, Kemp Muhl is also a musician who is best known for her musical collaboration with Sean Ono Lennon, who has also been her partner since 2007.
Kemp Muhl’s fashion zombie has time to strike a pose and say “fashion” before Swinton’s character decapitates the zombie and drives away.
InThe Dead Don’t Die, Kemp Muhl’s cameo can be seen near the end of the film as Tilda Swinton is driving toward the graveyard. She carefully swerves around the zombies in the road, but upon seeing Kemp Muhl’s zombie, she stops to say hello. Kemp Muhl’s fashion zombie has time to strike a pose and say “fashion” before Swinton’s character decapitates the zombie and drives away.
1Tom Waits As Hermit Bob
Somewhere between a cameo and a proper character,Tom Waits mysteriously shows up throughoutThe Dead Don’t Dieas Hermit Bob. Jarmusch’s longtime collaborator plays the role of a narrator and voice of conscience throughout the film, and particularly during its ending. He is introduced at the beginning of the film as an outcast who shuns the materialism of the other characters, preferring to live on his own in the woods. This lifestyle also allows him to spy on other characters through his binoculars over the course of the film.
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Hermit Bob watches as zombies kill Steve Buscemi’s character, whom he previously had an argument with, and later as zombies overwhelm Driver and Murray’s characters while they attempt to fight them off. Much to his surprise, Hermit Bob also watches as Tilda Swinton’s character makes her final exit aboard a spaceship. As she presumably leaves the planet, this makes Bob the only living survivor of the zombie apocalypse inThe Dead Don’t Die, pointing to his lack of materialism and unselfish nature as his reason for survival.
The Dead Don’t Die
Cast
The Dead Don’t Die is a horror comedy released in 2019, directed by Jim Jarmusch. The Dead Don’t Die focuses on a small town in Centerville that struggles to battle off hordes of zombies after the dead come back to life. The film has a star-studded cast, including Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, and Danny Glover.
