Geddy Lee of Rush is among the big-name Canadian icons who are set to guest on an upcoming episode of CBS’s How I Met Your Mother. Lee, along with fellow Canucks k.d. lang, Alan Thicke, Paul Shaffer, Alex Trebek and former Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page will all appear on the show’s February 4th episode, which will see the return of Canadian teen pop singer Robin Sparkles (played by Colbie Smulders) to the show. 

While Lee and his Rush bandmates are, of course, musicians first, their comedic and dramatic skills shouldn’t be underestimated. Here’s a rundown of their acting appearances:

• Geddy Lee previously “acted” in the CBC (Canadian Broadcast Company) film Sunshine Sketches Of A Little Town. Lee’s character appears throughout the film sitting in a barber chair… with a towel over his head. He only reveals himself during the credits.  See his “unmasking” here.
• Neil Peart played an animated version of himself in Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters. See Peart play “The Drum Solo Of Life” from the film here. 
• Alex Lifeson is the most experienced actor in Rush.  He appeared in a Canadian TV “mockumentary” series Trailer Park Boys (in an episode fittingly titled “Closer To The Heart”). He played himself, being kidnapped by a cast member. NSFW warning, but watch his scene here. Lifeson’s relationship with the franchise continued after his “kidnapping”: He played a traffic cop in 2006′s Trailer Park Boys: The Movie. Apparently, he made a convincing law enforcement officer (and it was a possible jab at his troubles with the law, stemming from a brawl on New Year’s Eve 2003) because he returned in 2009′s Trailer Park Boys: Countdown To Liquor Day as a undercover cop (in drag, to boot). 
• Lifeson once again played a man in uniform when he had a cameo as a border patrol guard in the Canadian indie vampire film Suck (which also featured Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop and Henry Rollins). Watch Alex’s scene here. 
• Not that it was “acting” per se, but Rush performed “Limelight” during an important scene in I Love You, Man, a film in which their music played a significant role (the main characters shared a love of the band). Watch Paul Rudd and Jason Segel rock out to Rush’s  performance here. Rudd and Segel returned the favor, shooting a short as their Rush-fanatic characters that the band used during their 2010-2011 “Time Machine” tour. See that clip here. 

Surely Rudd and Segel’s characters would be overjoyed to know that Rush will, at long last, be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 18 in Los Angeles. And surely by now, they would have picked up the newly released reissue of Rush’s 2112, which includes a comic book adaptation of the 20 minute long title track. 

– Brian Ives, Radio.com