<Li> Glenn Close as Irani Rael: The leader of the Nova Corps, known as Nova Prime, whose mission is to protect the citizens of the Nova Empire and keep peace . Close stated that she "had always wanted to be in a movie like (Guardians of the Galaxy), and that it would be "the most fun to play something like the Judi Dench (as M or) Samuel L. Jackson (as Nick Fury) role". She said that she took the role because she "love (s) to do stuff that's different" and wanted to show that she "(has) always been up for anything ." She also stated that her contract has "several" films on it, and that she would be open to working on other Marvel Studios films in addition to returning for Guardians sequels . </Li> <Li> Benicio del Toro as Taneleer Tivan / The Collector: An obsessive keeper of the largest collection of interstellar fauna, relics, and species in the galaxy who operates out of a place in space named Knowhere . Describing del Toro's performance, Gunn said, "He's like an outer - space Liberace . That's what it says in the script, which he's kind of doing ." On bringing the character to life, del Toro said, "What James (Gunn) wanted, that I found out little by little as I was doing it, is that he wanted me to explore and just keep pushing the character and keep creating (him) as I was in front of the camera ." </Li> <P> Additionally, Josh Brolin appears, uncredited, as Thanos through voice acting and performance capture . Sean Gunn stood in for Thanos during filming and portrays Kraglin, Yondu's first mate in the Ravagers . Alexis Denisof reprises his role as Thanos's vizier, "The Other", from The Avengers . Ophelia Lovibond plays Carina, the Collector's assistant; Peter Serafinowicz plays Denarian Garthan Saal, a Nova Corps officer; Gregg Henry plays Quill's grandfather; Laura Haddock plays Quill's mother, Meredith; Melia Kreiling plays Bereet; Christopher Fairbank plays The Broker; Mikaela Hoover plays Nova Prime's assistant; Marama Corlett plays a pit boss at the bar, The Boot; Emmett J. Scanlan plays a Nova riot guard; Alexis Rodney plays Moloka Dar; Tom Proctor plays Horuz, a Ravager; and Spencer Wilding plays a prison guard who confiscates Quill's Walkman . Canine actor Fred appears as Cosmo . Stephen Blackehart had a supporting role . Naomi Ryan also had a supporting role in the film, though it was cut in the final version . Cameos in the film include: James Gunn as a Sakaaran; Stan Lee as a Xandarian Ladies' Man; Lloyd Kaufman as an inmate; Nathan Fillion as the voice of an inmate; Rob Zombie as the voice of the Ravager Navigator; composer Tyler Bates as a Ravager pilot; and Seth Green as the voice of Howard the Duck . </P> <P>--Dan Abnett, co-writer of the 2008 Guardians of the Galaxy relaunch, on the project </P>

Who played thanos in gardians of the galaxy