Werner Herzog

It commemorates his appearance on ‘The Mandalorian.’

Perhaps it was not a significant filmography.

Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, and Werner Herzog (!!!) will star in the first live-action Star Wars TV series.

Last month, German filmmaker and general human icon Werner Herzog revealed that he has an acting role in an upcoming “big franchise film” — leading many to speculate wildly about what that franchise might be. Best guesses included Top Gun: Maverick (starring Herzog’s Jack Reacher co-star Tom Cruise) or possibly Star Wars: Episode IX. As it turns out, Herzog may have misspoke: it would appear that his latest acting gig isn’t for a “big franchise film,” but for a big franchise TV series, and one of those guesses wasn’t entirely off the mark.

In honor of Werner Herzog’s birthday, here are just a few of the greatest (and craziest) moments from his long career. We hope by the time he’s finished, there are many more absolutely bonkers things we can add to this list.

If you read up on the life of explorer Gertrude Bell, it’s abundantly clear that this is a woman whose story should be told. In 2003, The Guardian devoted an entire article to the influence her cartography had on the modern Middle East, with Bell practically drawing the country border of Iraq by her lonesome. And now audiences will be able to explore her legacy with Queen of the Desert (via Deadline), a new film starring Nicole Kidman and both written and directed by the legendary Werner Herzog.

The first, long-awaited trailer for Werner Herzog’s Queen of the Desert opens sort of like a more gentle Mad Max: Fury Road, with Nicole Kidman explaining that her world is “life and fire.” It’s the true story of Gertrude Bell, a woman so suffocated by civil life that she strikes out into the desert of Tehran in the 1920s, where she becomes integral in shaping the politics of the Middle East.

As if we needed further proof that the folks behind 'Parks and Recreation' are the absolute coolest, they have now convinced filmmaker Werner Herzog to guest star on the upcoming seventh and final season. Or maybe this thing we call existence is all just a part of the ongoing experimental art exhibit called Werner Herzog's life, and we're just living in it. Maybe he'll just say yes to anything. Maybe he's available to film and narrate bar mitzvahs. Maybe he's just never been asked.

We've got the first full 'Jack Reacher' trailer and it looks killer. In this film, Tom Cruise plays, uh... Jack Reacher and he's a man on the hunt to clear the name of a wrongfully accused soldier in this new action thriller from 'The Usual Suspects' director Christopher McQuarrie.