Some actors collect film credits like others collect souvenirs. Their faces became a fixture on screens decade after decade, building careers so packed with roles it’s hard to imagine Hollywood without them.

Fourth-wall breaks are the cinematic equivalent of a sly wink. They make us feel like co-conspirators in the story, let us in on jokes we’re not supposed to hear, and sometimes flip entire narratives upside down. From chaotic sitcom glances to full-on movie monologues, here are 20 of the funniest, most memorable moments where characters smashed that invisible barrier.

A handful of 1970s bands pulled off something almost impossible: they released one album… and it was so good, so complete, so lightning-in-a-bottle perfect that it became their entire legacy. Some broke up. Some imploded. Some just drifted away. But every one of them left behind a single LP that fans still treat like buried treasure.

Bob Crane was handsome, he was a famous TV star, and he was the perfect father. Of course, this is Hollywood, and that couldn’t be the whole story. The truth was that Crane had a secret life that involved random women, illicit films, and a shady co-conspirator named John Henry Carpenter. Sadly, he was doomed to a brutal end.

Before Bill Withers ever considered walking away from the spotlight, he had already carved his name into music history with songs that still feel like warm sunlight. His story isn’t the typical rise-and-fall arc—if anything, it’s the tale of a man who realized he didn’t need fame to validate his talent. Instead of clinging to the spotlight, he shrugged, stepped back, and proved that sometimes disappearing is the loudest statement an artist can make.