Play Dirty director Shane Black talks about the surprise billionaire cameo

Shane Black's Play Dirty sells chaos with a wink, but one member of the film's cast left all fans surprised and questioning. We're talking about, of course, Mark Cuban's cameo in the film, which was followed by quite some chaos and chatter,

Surprisingly, the cameo isn't some studio mandate or stunt casting, but a cheeky, organic win. Cuban, who has previously been a part of Shark Tank, was pitched the joke, and he ended up signing on to the film, starring as himself. The result is a moment that reads like a wink to the audience: a familiar face used to puncture the movie’s swagger and raise the stakes in one quick, absurd beat.

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In an interview with ScreenRant, Black and the film's producer Jules Daly, opened up on how Cuban had gotten on board. Daly told the outlet,

"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.'"

Black then added a few words of praise for the billionaire as he added,

"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."

More details about Play Dirty

Shane Black brings his trademark grit and gallows humor to Play Dirty, a slick action thriller adapted from Donald E. Westlake's Parker novels. With Mark Wahlberg leading as Parker, the film reimagines a classic antihero for a new generation of streaming. Originally set to star Robert Downey Jr, Play Dirty is produced by the Iron Man actor's production house Team Downey, along with Big Red Films and Toberoff Productions.

The ensemble cast stacks the deck: Keegan-Michael Key and Claire Lovering as married thieves, Chukwudi Iwuji as a billionaire art collector, Gretchen Mol and Thomas Jane grounding the emotional core, Tony Shalhoub as a ruthless boss and Nat Wolff as Kincaid, his lieutenant.

Produced by Amazon, MGM Studios, and Team Downey, Play Dirty was filmed across Australia in 2024, with Alan Silvestri scoring the chaos. Released October 1, 2025 on Prime Video, it delivers exactly what the title promises: a heist film where nobody walks away clean.