The “Frasier” guest cast list is extensive and impressive, and plenty of actors weren’t afraid to be the butt of the joke when it came to their characters’ peculiar psychological issues. In one episode, “Home Alone” star Macaulay Culkin called in playing a 43-year-old man who had insecurities surrounding his youthful voice. In another, Helen Mirren admitted to being a kleptomaniac. John Cusack talked about pulling his teeth out, Bill Paxton explained that his dog kept telling him to take off his tin foil helmet, and David Duchovny described his character’s exhausting sex life.
Legends like Kevin Bacon, Mary Tyler Moore, Matthew Broderick, Carrie Fisher, Billy Crystal, and Ray Liotta all popped in, but the show didn’t stop with just actors. Musician Art Garfunkel, author Stephen King, and tennis player John McEnroe were among the non-actor guests whose voices appeared on the show.
According to Lee and Greenberg, the guest spot was also an early example of a work-from-home acting gig. “You could literally be anywhere in the world and phone in,” Lee told Vanity Fair. “We’d hire day players to run lines during filming and then replace their parts with celebrities. Once it caught on, people were dying to do it.” Greenberg says the James Spader called in while “holding his baby at home,” while “Scarface” actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio recorded her part “from a pay phone at Lincoln Center.”