After 24 years and 120 episodes, HBO’s landmark sitcomCurb Your Enthusiasmfinally ended in April 2024. Beyond Larry David’s excruciating interactions with the main characters, a huge part of the show’s appeal is thecountless cameo appearancesby celebrities. In 2020, HBO released a hilarious compilation video on YouTube celebrating 20 years ofCurbcameos, with everyone from John Hamm, David Schwimmer, and Stephen Colbert to Michael J. Fox, Ben Stiller, and Rosie O’Donnell gracing the show. However, one cameo was left out.
In Season 7, episode 8, “Officer Krupke,” Ben Affleck makes a silent, somewhat disguised split-second cameo that most viewers will miss if they blink at the right time. Unlike most celebrityCurbcameos that feature improvised dialog and combative encounters with Larry, Affleck briefly strolls through the frame among a crowd of shoppers before disappearing. In addition to what has to be the shortest cameo in the show and perhaps TV history, the story behind Affleck’s brief appearance is just as amusing.
Curb Your Enthusiasm
When Does Ben Affleck’s Cameo Occur?
Ben Affleck appeared inCurb Your Enthusiasmin Season 7, Episode 8 on July 03, 2025. In “Officer Krupke,” Larry is preoccupied with writing and producing the Seinfeld reunion episode. To clear his mind, Larry takes a break and goes to Banana Republic to buy a new pair of pants. While inside the store, the fire alarm suddenly goes off, prompting everyone to flee. Larry exits the store still wearing the pants he tried on without purchasing them, which comes back to haunt him later.
As the clerk instructs Larry to leave immediately, several customers chaotically buzz around in the background. At 1:09 into the episode, the camera turns to a coat closet in the middle of the store, where Ben Affleck casually strolls around the corner and exits the store in a single file line. Affleck is fully bearded, his hair is mussed, and the bewildered expression on his face makes it appear as if he had just woken up. Moreover, Affleck comes and goes so fast that fans have debated for years whether it’s genuinely him. In 2009, HD TV was becoming popular in the U.S., leaving many to squint their eyes and rewind the blurryCurbfootage to ascertain Affleck’s presence.
MostCurbcameos involve the celebrity speaking and confronting Larry in some fashion, leaving many to wonder if Affleck’s so-called cameo was a lookalike background extra. Thanks to a YouTube commentator’s insightful anecdote, fans might be surprised to learn how Affleck’sCurbcameo came about in the episode, “Officer Krupke.”
How Did Ben Affleck Become Part of Curb?
During aninterview with MTVU, Ben Affleck revealed how hisCurbcameo materialized. Affleck happened to be driving around Los Angeles when he saw a film crew near the Banana Republic retail store. Affleck pulled over, rolled down his window, and asked what was being filmed and was told it was for an episode ofCurb Your Enthusiasm. Affleck met with Larry David, who encouraged Affleck to hop into the scene on the spot. Remember,Curbis a show built on improvisation, and David felt Affleck’s impromptu cameo would be amusing.
According to Affleck, David told him to “just run out of the store.” Although Affleck performed the scene as suggested, the actor explained that the lightning-quick cameo was necessary because his car was parked in a red zone outside the store, and he had to rush back to ensure he didn’t get a traffic ticket. When the camera cuts to the store’s exterior immediately after his exit, Affleck is nowhere to be found. Larry and several other customers mill about waiting for the police to clear the store, but Affleck had to ensure his car wasn’t being towed or ticketed.
Larry David’s Most Embarrassing Moments on Curb Your Enthusiasm
A big part of Curb Your Enthusiasm’s humor revolves around Larry doing something or speaking his mind about something that gets him in trouble.
While other rumors insist Affleck was in the store shopping for himself by chance when he ran to David, the harried look on his face suggests he had to rush back to his illegally parked vehicle. Regardless, the silent cameo comes and goes so quickly that it has confounded fans for years.Entire Reddit threadsare dedicated to the topic, with many wondering how many similar brief background cameos occur inCurb.
Is Ben Affleck’s the Best Curb Cameo of All Time?
While Ben Affleck’s uncreditedCurbcameo is the shortest in show history, it’s worth wondering where it ranks in the grand scheme of the show. Bryan Cranston famously played a passive-aggressive therapist named Dr. Templeton on the show, calling to mind the actor’s role asdentist Tim Watley onSeinfelddecades earlier. Other standout cameos include Catherine O’Hara playing Marty Funkhouser’s volatile sister Bam Bam, Christian Slater as an overindulgent party eater, Gina Gershon as a Hasidic dry cleaner, Anton Yelchin as Cheryl’s straightfaced cousin Stewart, and more.
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In addition to celebrities making cameos as fictional characters, several people portray themselves on Curb and poke fun at their public image. The best examples include Martin Scorsese directing Larry in a mob movie and finding Larry’s suggestions too graphic, Michael J. Fox blaming his Parkinson’s for deliberately disrespecting Larry, Rosie O’Donnell competing for the same date as Larry, and Ricky Gervais avoiding Jeff’s talent agency, and more.
Registering somewhere between, Ben Affleck neither plays himself nor a specified character during his briefCurbcameo. As such, one can argue that if it isn’t the all-time best Curb cameo, it’s the uniquely shortest. It’s also among the shortest cameos in TV history. Only brief movie cameos such as Stan Lee appearing inIron Man 2or Brad Pitt appearing inDeadpool 2can rival the brevity and star-power of Affleck’s curb cameo.
