It's not surprising that a show created by Seth MacFarlane would feature big name stars, and his Star Trek homage The Orville is certainly packed with celebrity appearances, from Charlize Theron to Ted Danson. But there’s a huge Hollywood star whose cameo in the second season may have passed you by.
In the seventh episode of season 2, "Deflectors," an envoy from the planet Moclus comes aboard the Orville to escort one of their top engineers, Locar (Kevin Daniels), who is there to help the ship's engineering team upgrade its deflectors. This makes things awkward for the Orville crew member Bortus (Peter Macon), another Moclan and Locar's ex.
And Bortus isn’t the only crew member having troubles with failed love affairs. Having ended a relationship with on-board teacher Cassius (Chris Johnson) at the start of the episode, First Commander Kelly Grayson (Adrienne Palicki) finds herself the recipient of a series of gifts from Cassius as he attempts to win her back. When imploring text messages and a cookie bouquet go ignored, Cassius ups the ante and sends Kelly an actual talking flower: Groogan is an old friend of Cassius' and a member of a plant-based alien species called Katrudians. Kelly is unamused.
What many viewers may have missed is that Hollywood tough guy Bruce Willis provides the voice for Groogan. It's a very brief appearance, and there are no visual clues to indicate Willis is involved. But as with the show's green amorphous alien Yaphit, voiced by Norm McDonald, the vocals are unmistakable. There's a lot of Willis’ 80s persona in Groogan, who laconically delivers lines like “It's a party, man, feel the room” and “No offense, but fire your decorator.”
The episode aired in 2019, when Willis’ was stuck in a run of straight-to-video action movies, so this cameo was a nice reminder of his fantastic comedic chops. From his first big break on Moonlighting, Willis’ quick wit, smooth delivery, and twinkling charisma made him stand out. That humor was possibly best shown in another voice-over role, when he provided the voice for sarcastic, cool baby Mikey in Look Who's Talking. Willis is also no stranger to sci-fi, having delivered performances with his roles in The Fifth Element and 12 Monkeys.
In 2022, it was announced that Willis would be retiring from acting due to suffering from aphasia, which was later revealed to be a symptom of frontotemporal dementia. The neurological condition had affected his ability to communicate and understand instructions, leaving the actor unable to perform anymore.
Willis’ cameo in The Orville is uncredited, but many other stars have appeared in the space dramedy with credited appearances, whether they are recognisable or not. Liam Neeson appeared in the fourth episode of season 1 as Jahavus Dorahl, a space captain who became worshipped as a god by subsequent generations of his ship's crew. Heartthrob Rob Lowe played a pivotal role in the disintegration of Kelly and Ed’s (Seth MacFarlane) marriage in The Orville’s first episode, as Darulio, the archeologist Ed found in bed with then-wife Kelly. Charlize Theron’s character Pria had a sexual relationship with Ed in the fifth episode of the season, although her ultimate goal was to steal the Orville itself.
But perhaps the show's most famous celebrity cameo came in the season 3 episode “Midnight Blue,” when country singer and philanthropist Dolly Parton appeared as herself, after the Moclan woman's rights advocate Heveena is touched by her music in season 2. As the leader of the female Moclan population refugees, Heveena hears Parton’s "9 to 5" and is inspired to revolution. Later, the Orville security officer Talla (Jessica Szohr) uses the Environmental Simulator to create a vision of Parton in her Smokey Mountain Home in order to talk to Heveena about her refusal to give testimony at the Planetary Union Council about the Moclan peace treaty. Parton appears as herself and sings one of her songs, “Try,” to encourage Heveena. She's successful!
Although The Orville seemed to end with season 3 in 2023, actor Scott Grimes announced in August of 2024 that the show would return for a fourth season. Production was expected to begin this month in Los Angeles, but due to the recent wildfires may face delays.
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