News anchors ground movies

NEW YORK — Godzilla is rampaging. Aliens are invading. Batman and Superman are having a tiff.

Quick, turn on CNN.

To explain extravagant disasters and superhero showdowns to awed moviegoers, Hollywood relies on the men and women who frame breaking stories for real. Increasingly, the summer big-budget movies resemble a media scrum, full of real TV news anchors who give their gravitas to fictional broadcasts, lending a dose of authenticity to blatantly implausible events.

Pat Kiernan, the friendly face of New York’s 24/7 regional network NY1, has watched in wry bemusement as his IMDB page has swelled to a list of credits that would be the envy of most actors. Among them: “The Avengers,” “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” “30 Rock,” “Iron Man” and the upcoming “Ghostbusters.”

His (and his network’s) main stipulation is that he stay true to his manner of reporting, however absurd the action. Kiernan usually tapes his cameos directly from his home studio, before making actual news reports.

“I like to cling to this idea that it’s sort of how we would actually react to those circumstances,” says Kiernan. “This was never truer than in ‘4:44 Last Day on Earth’ when I literally had to pronounce the end of the world and sign off.”

Though some chafe at real journalists giving fake bulletins, the summer blockbuster has never been more dependent on them. Among the fictional reporter ranks of Clark Kent and Lois Lane in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” was a parade of news personalities, from Anderson Cooper to Charlie Rose. It’s common on television, too, nowhere more so than on Netflix’s Beltway drama “House of Cards,” which has stuffed its deck with nearly every political reporter in town, from Rachel Maddow to George Stephanopoulos.

Though there have been numerous clever cameos, most are utilized as talking heads of exposition who duct-tape over a gap in the plot or provide the most straightforward of background summaries. They’re a camera-ready Greek chorus for today’s media-saturated world.

Since first appearing in the original “Ghostbusters,” Larry King estimates that he’s been in about 24 movies. He’s mostly played himself, with the exception of “Shrek” (he voiced the ugly stepsister Doris) and a bee-version of himself (“Bee Larry King”) in Jerry Seinfeld’s “Bee Movie.”

“When I was a kid, I never saw Edward R. Murrow in a movie. I never saw (Walter) Cronkite in a movie. I never saw Mike Wallace in a movie,” says King. “The trend, I guess, started in the ’80s. Now it’s fairly common and I think it’s fine. It all adds to the willing suspension of disbelief.”

Sometimes there’s corporate synergy behind the appearances. Time Warner, for example, owns both Warner Bros. and CNN. Overuse of the tactic has drawn criticism. After Robert Zemeckis’ cosmic 1997 drama “Contact” was stuffed with more than a dozen CNN reporters, then-CNN President Tom Johnson revamped the network’s policy.

Soledad O’Brien, whose credits just this year include “Zoolander 2,” “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” and “Batman v Superman,” King and Kiernan say they relish their movie experiences. It can boost their individual brands as well as their networks, and the residuals aren’t bad either. “I still get checks for 15 cents, 23 cents from ‘Ghostbusters,”‘ says King.

Most cameos by newscasters in movies

Television newscasters are increasingly playing themselves in movies like “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and in TV dramas like “House of Cards.” Not everyone in TV news has gotten into the business of movie cameos; CBS and ABC have largely eschewed such appearances. So the likes of Tom Brokaw, David Muir, Scott Pelley and Diane Sawyer have no listed credits. But many others have become regulars. Here’s a look at some of the biggest names in television news who have amassed filmographies of their own: 

• Wolf Blitzer: “House of Cards,” “The Brink,” “Alpha House,” “Skyfall,” “The Campaign,” “Murphy Brown.”

• Rick Chambers, KTLA in Los Angeles: “Seduced,” “The People v O.J. Simpson,” “Steve Jobs,” “Family Guy,” “Nightcrawler,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “The Purge: Anarchy,” “Alien Abduction,” “The Dictator,” “The Mentalist,” “Torchwood,” “Eagle Eye.”

• Katie Couric: “Zoolander 2,” “Shark Tale,” “Austin Powers in Goldmember,” “Murphy Brown.”

• Sean Hannity: “Atlas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt?” “House of Cards,” “The Siege.”

• Lester Holt: “House of Cards,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Warehouse 13,” “30 Rock,” “U.S. Marshals,” “Chicago Hope,” “Primal Fear,” “Miracle on 34th Street,” “The Fugitive.”

• Pat Kiernan, New York’s NY1: “Ghostbusters,” “Money Monster,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Daredevil,” “Billions,” “The Strain,” “Annie,” “Nurse Jackie,” “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” “Non-Stop,” “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” “Iron Man 3,” “Golden Boy,” “30 Rock,” “The Avengers,” “4:44 Last Day on Earth,” “Night at the Museum.”

• Larry King: “The People v O.J. Simpson,” “Gravity Falls,” “The Remake,” “1600 Penn,” “The Power of Few,” “Shrek Forever After,” “30 Rock,” “Swing Vote,” “Bee Movie,” “Shrek the Third,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Mr. 3000,” “The Stepford Wives,” “Shrek 2,” “Arliss,” “The Practice,” “America’s Sweethearts,” “The Contender,” “The Kid,” “Enemy of the State,” “Bulworth,” “Primary Colors,” “The Jackal,” “Contact,” “Open Season,” “The Simpsons,” “The Long Kiss Goodnight,” “Dave,” “The Exorcist III,” “Crazy People,” “Ghostbusters.”

• Rachel Maddow: “The Jim Gaffigan Show,” “Alpha House,” “House of Cards,” “30 Rock,” “Ides of March.”

• Chris Matthews: “House of Cards,” “The Campaign,” “Ides of March,” “The Event,” “State of Play,” “Swing Vote,” “30 Rock,” “Man of the Year,” “The West Wing,” “Dave.”

• Bill O’Reilly: “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” “Iron Man 2.”