What The Geico Caveman Looks Like In Real Life
First introduced in 2004, the Geico caveman is a figure created as part of an advertising campaign for the insurance company. Executives wanted to show how simple it was to use the Geico website, and the commercials pointed out that it was so straightforward even a caveman could do it.
The commercials, which featured seemingly primitive cavemen living in modern-day settings, quickly became popular and garnered a lot of fans. Much of this was down to the humor in the adverts, as the cavemen invariably reacted furiously at being made out to be dumb and were not afraid to show their outrage. From his debut in 2004, the caveman continued to appear on television regularly until 2018 and has been portrayed by several actors over the last two decades.
The Geico caveman became such a beloved mascot that he was inducted into the Advertising Walk of Fame and given the freedom of the city of Homer, Alaska. Despite all of this attention, many viewers may not know who is actually behind the hairy exterior and what they look like when not playing a Neanderthal. We take a look at what the Geico caveman looks like in real life.
The role requires extensive makeup
Achieving the hairy Neanderthal look requires extensive makeup and special effects to make the commercial come to life, and you might not realize just how much work went into creating the advertising icon. When all the effects come together, the actors playing the caveman are almost completely unrecognizable.
Some of those who have portrayed the Geico caveman over the years have spoken about the process. In an interview with Yahoo, John Lehr explained that putting on the makeup took a lot of time and was pretty uncomfortable to wear. "The makeup took three hours to get on and one hour to take off," he said. "After about six hours of having it on, it started to freak me out, but overall, the experience was a blast."
Meanwhile, a video featuring makeup artist Gabriel De Cunto and actor Jeff Daniel Phillips — who also played the caveman — demonstrates just how laborious the experience is. The timelapse footage reduces a three-hour process down to just a few minutes but it gives you an idea of the prosthetics and makeup required to turn an actor into an authentic-looking caveman, complete with fake nose, beard, and wig.
John Lehr is perhaps the most famous Geico Caveman
Several people have portrayed the Geico caveman over the years, but the person most often associated with the character is John Lehr. The actor landed the role as the very first caveman in a Geico commercial in 2004, where he can be seen reacting furiously to the tone of the advert, slamming down his boom mic and exclaiming, "Not cool!" He also appeared in commercials showing the caveman in a therapy session and dancing with tennis legend Billie Jean King.
Geico didn't officially confirm the actors playing the famous cavemen when the ads were originally aired, but Lehr's involvement was known by 2007 when the New York Post revealed the various actors behind the masks.
Before landing the role of the Geico caveman, Lehr had worked in show business for many years. He had several spots on high-profile commercials after a Fox executive discovered him while performing improv with his comedy partner Chris Hogan. The actor has also revealed that he suffered from alcohol and drug addiction early in his career, but he managed to get sober and get his life back on track before being cast as the Geico caveman.
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Lehr has worked extensively in television and film
After being spotted in Chicago, John Lehr signed on with Fox and moved to Los Angeles to pursue an entertainment career. Early on, he landed a role on the NBC comedy series "News Weasels" as a host and went on to appear in a single episode of "Friends" as Chandler's (Matthew Perry) roommate before he met Joey (Matt LeBlanc). Lehr was also part of the cast of three of Noah Baumbach's films, including "Kicking and Screaming" and "Highball."
Lehr has also worked as a producer and writer. He acted as executive producer on both "Quick Draw" and "Jailbait" as well as penning multiple episodes as a creator and writer. He was also responsible for co-creating and writing the sitcom "10 Items or Less," a hybrid of a scripted and improvised show where he played a businessman who takes over his family's supermarket after his father's death.
In recent years, he has embarked on various comedy and improv tours around Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. Outside of the Geico commercial, viewers will probably know him best for his role in "Jesse" alongside Christina Applegate, which ran from 1998 until 1999. He also hosted the U.S. adaptation of "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!" and more recently had a recurring role in the podcast series "Flula Makes Five."
Both Lehr and Phillips felt the commercials were fun and paid well
When John Lehr first got the audition for the Geico caveman, it wasn't something that immediately jumped out at him. However, his experience in improv proved essential in helping him land the part. "I thought, 'Huh, okay.' I didn't think much about it. Went in, did it. They let me improvise," Lehr told Chicago Now. "I think that's what got me the job. It was really fascinating and fun and paid my bills."
In terms of finances, the Geico caveman role did not make him rich, and it certainly was not his highest-paid acting gig. He had a salary of $16,000 a week for his role on the sitcom "Jesse," a sum that allowed him to pay off his student loans and live comfortably. However, the commercials did provide him with some security and similarly, Jeff Daniel Phillips confirmed that he was able to use the money to pay off his house.
Phillips also remarked that he had a great time filming the commercials and felt that playing the character fit perfectly with his type of comedy. "It's the perfect job for somebody like me, a character actor, because I make a lot of money on these commercials and nobody knows it's me," he told Interviewing Hollywood (via Newsner). "It kind of fit with my sense of humor, in that it's kind of, you play it for real but it's totally absurd, which is basically my cup of tea."
Lehr is amazed by the community the ads have created
There's little denying that the Geico caveman commercials were widely successful and hugely popular. Soon after they began airing on television, an entire community of fans formed to celebrate and discuss the character. The people behind the advertising campaign were aware of just how popular they were with the public, and so Geico and the marketing firm the Martin Agency quickly took advantage of the success. This included creating accompanying websites and having the caveman appear at events, even sending John Lehr to the Oscars in full caveman makeup.
Regarding the positive reaction from fans, Lehr was shocked at just how passionate the fanbase was at its peak. In an interview with Interviewing Hollywood (via Newsner), the actor said: "I'm stunned. I mean, it's huge! My wife just recently googled Geico caveman blogs, and it's unbelievable. There's a whole bunch of people out there who are fascinated with these commercials."
Jeff Daniel Phillips was also a Geico Caveman
Another actor who has portrayed the Geico caveman in several commercials is Jeff Daniel Phillips. His participation in the campaign was confirmed in 2007 and he has since gone on to play the character numerous times, even getting back into costume in 2022 to help promote an upcoming tour by singer and film director Rob Zombie. Interestingly, Phillips landed the role after some of the team behind the campaign saw him in a play portraying a similarly angry character.
Playing the Geico caveman was an experience that Phillips will never forget. Speaking to the Journal Star, he revealed that he takes pride in the work he did for the adverts and is always surprised by just how popular the caveman is. He explained: " I am proud of the work. But it blows me away and surprises me how many people love that character." In the same interview, Phillips recalled how Dwayne Johnson became enamored with him when they worked together on the movie "Faster" once he realized that he had played the caveman in the commercials.
Phillips' experience in the ads has helped him in his career
Outside of his part in the commercials, Jeff Daniel Phillips has appeared in numerous television series and movies. These have ranged from "Sneakers" and "Elsewhere" to "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and "Westworld." Phillips has also been a frequent collaborator with Rob Zombie, with roles in "Halloween II," "The Lords of Salem," and the 2022 film "The Munsters" where he played Herman Munster, a part that required extensive makeup and prosthetics to bring to life.
Speaking to Film Stories, Phillips explained that his time in the commercials provided him with invaluable experience on how to cope with the process and help make characters believable. "I know that the more you keep up the movement, the less people are concentrated on where the seam is or getting the make-up," he said. "The more you come to life, people get lost in it and it becomes more the character. In my experience, anyway."
In an interview with the Journal Star, Phillips also spoke about his experience of keeping his role as the Geico caveman a secret and how he didn't want it to define him as an actor. "I kept a lid on it for a long time that I was the caveman," Phillips said. "Only recently have I been letting people know it's me because you always worry about being pigeon-holed."
Phillips recently reprised the role
The Geico caveman is a role that Jeff Daniels Phillips has always remembered fondly. After all, it helped him get his big break as an actor and allowed him to perform in front of a huge audience. He told Journal Star that it was a highlight of his career, saying: "You know, I've worked in a theater with 20 people in the audience. One commercial is seen by millions. Definitely, working on TV is a high."
Considering all of that, the fact that Phillips was willing to reprise the role all these years later is probably not a big shock. Yet, few people expected to see the character return to television screens. Released at the end of 2023, "The Caveman Returns" is a two-minute commercial — the longest ever produced by Geico — that sees Phillips play an older version of the character who is disillusioned with Geico and is upset when the company invites him to take part in a proposed upcoming documentary.
Ben Weber portrayed one of the original cavemen
Ben Weber is another actor who portrayed early incarnations of the Geico cavemen, often alongside Jeff Daniel Phillips. Although he didn't get his start as an actor in commercials, much of his early work was spent on television screens advertising various products and services. Weber has since gone on to appear in a wide array of projects on both television and movie screens. He had a recurring role in "Sex and the City" during the first two seasons as Skipper Johnston and has also appeared more recently in "Manhunt: Unabomber" and "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" alongside parts in films such as "Coach Carter" and "Kissing Jessica Stein."
When he first auditioned for the part, Weber initially didn't think he was well-suited as many of the other actors were large, well-built men who seemed to better fit the bill of a Neanderthal. However, he changed his mind once he spoke to the director and understood that the commercials would involve multiple types of cavemen. "It wasn't until I met the director that I saw that this was a pretty nuanced take on what they were going to do with the cavemen," Weber told Backstage. "It was going to be sort of layered. One of the layers was not all the cavemen were these hulking brutes, but some of them were sensitive guys whose feelings get hurt."
Ben Wilson also played the character
While he is not as well known as the other actors who portrayed the Geico cavemen over the last two decades, Ben Wilson did have a short stint playing one of the Neanderthal characters. He appears in a commercial where two cavemen watch a television advert where the "It's so easy a caveman could do it" claim is made, sparking anger from him as he shouts out that this is condescending against him and his fellow cavemen.
His experience on the commercials did land him some extra acting work, though. According to an interview with Norfolk Daily News, he was asked to appear in the ABC sitcom "Cavemen" — because he had worked with the producers on the marketing campaign — and he also appeared in the film "Blades of Glory." He found working on the show a fun and relaxing experience, especially as he didn't have to do much to get a part. "They just called and asked if I still had my cavemen teeth," Wilson said. "I didn't even have to audition. I have one line. My character says that there is 'no personal business during HR meetings.'"
McManus Woodend had the role for many years
Outside of Jeff Daniel Phillips and John Lehr, the man who played the Geico caveman the longest is McManus Woodend. The actor and producer, who co-wrote the film "Rocksteppy," has appeared in over a dozen projects, including "The Irishman" and "John Wick: Chapter 2" — although often in minor or uncredited roles. He appeared in more than 25 national commercials featuring the Geico caveman and also made public appearances as the character. His first shoot in the costume came in 2009 when he traveled to Alaska to film a collaboration between Geico and the Discovery Channel, which was affected by an avalanche and a severe blizzard.
Woodend was so unrecognizable in his caveman costume and makeup that even his close friends did not believe that he had played the figure until he was able to offer proof in the form of his facial prosthetics. He last portrayed the caveman in a commercial that aired during the 2018 Winter Olympics and is now focused on a different career as a professor teaching English at the University of Southern Indiana.
An ABC spin-off sitcom featured several actors playing Cavemen
Following the success of the Geico caveman commercials, ABC commissioned a sitcom based on the characters. Hitting television screens in 2007, the show featured Bill English, Nick Kroll, and Sam Huntington — among others — portraying a collection of cavemen who live in the modern era alongside homo sapiens. "Cavemen" ran for just a single series and only aired 13 episodes before it was quietly canceled. Receiving widespread negative reviews, it is widely regarded as one of the worst sitcoms ever made.
The series didn't involve many people who were originally involved in the commercials. Jeff Daniel Phillips was the only one with a signficant role — returning to reprise his role as a caveman in the sitcom — with John Lehr appearing in a single episode and Ben Wilson having a one line part. This may well have contributed to its ultimate failure, with Phillips revealing that the network wasn't interested in involving the people or ideas from the marketing campaign that made the cavemen so popular. "It was crazy," Phillips said to the Journal Star. "They loved the idea of the show, but didn't want the people who did the commercials involved. They wanted to change the very thing that people liked about the caveman commercials."