Dance Party 2015: DJs On and Off the Screen

Opening in theaters on August 28 is 'We Are Your Friends,' starring Zac Efron as Cole, a 23-year-old electronic DJ with dreams of becoming a record producer. From films about club DJs, to cameos by famous DJs, to even actors who have become DJs, we've rounded 'em up here.

Probably the most famous club DJ to ever appear in a movie, the late, great Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein filmed his cameo for 'Iron Man 2' just two months before his accidental drug overdose. The scene, which is one of the funniest in the film, finds a drunk Tony Stark getting crazy at his birthday party, with AM playing Queen’s "Another One Bites the Dust" while Iron Man and War Machine fight.

Actor Rhys Ifans (‘The Amazing Spider-Man’) played the quintessential club DJ, Eyeball Paul, in this British teen comedy. The character’s nickname was given to him because of his practice of pouring vodka through his eye sockets.

Golden Globe-winner Idris Elba might be best known as an acclaimed television and film actor, but he is also an accomplished club DJ in real life. In addition to appearing in such popular films as ‘Thor,’ ‘Prometheus,’ ‘Pacific Rim’ and ‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,’ Elba is known in the hip-hop world as DJ Big Dris or Big Dris the Londoner.

DJ Frankie Wilde (Paul Kaye) is a legend in the club scene, but when he begins to lose his hearing, he decides to live in self-imposed exile. It’s not until he meets a young woman named Penelope Garcia (Beatriz Batarda) that he begins to reinvent himself and regain his old glory.

Under the name Wooden Wisdom, Wood and his buddy Zach Cowie have been DJs for 15 years, first as a hobby and then starting to play events three years ago -- they're even touring this year. 

When we first meet Mark Gordon (John Cusack) in ‘High Fidelity,' he is a wannabe DJ and record store owner with commitment issues. But by the end of the film, his girlfriend arranges for him to revisit the love of his youth and DJ a club set, opening for his pal Barry (Jack Black), who performs Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”

In this 2003 comedy, Jon Jacobs plays DJ Hound Dog, whose meteoric rise to fame makes a mess of his love life. The movie also boasts appearances by DJ superstars Carl Cox, Tiësto, Bob Sinclar, Ferry Corsten, Spankox and Marco V.

In this Australian film, Tommy Matisse (Dan Spielman) is a gifted DJ who discovers ecstasy and tragedy in Melbourne's dance-music scene.

This French film follows a teenager named Paul (Felix de Givry), who falls in love with the Paris underground scene in the early '90s. He soon becomes a DJ and is seduced by the sex, drugs and electronic music. It’s partly based on director Mia Hansen-Løve's brother Sven, a successful DJ in the '90s.

Yes, that Paris Hilton! Believe it or not, in addition to being a famous heiress and reality TV personality, she is also an in-demand club DJ. Not to mention that Ms. Hilton actually has a pretty decent film resume as well, with appearances in ‘Zoolander,’ ‘’The Cat in the Hat,’ ‘Win a Date with Tad Hamilton,’ House of Wax’ and ‘The Bling Ring.”

In this unusual documentary, the legendary New York DJ called DJ Premiere was given the difficult task of sampling classical music albums, creating sheet music based on his recordings, and then conducting the Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra performing the composition in concert. The result is a brilliant combination of both new- and old-school music.