In some movies or television series, a character especially known to the audience appears unexpectedly, playing a totally secondary and irrelevant role. When this happens, there is talk of a cameo. This character may be an actor, but generally it is a very popular person who is not dedicated to acting, for example, it could be a renowned chef, a television presenter, a famous football player or some famous writer.
A fleeting apparition intended to surprise the viewer
Each cameo has its complexity. So, on certain occasions, it is the film’s director himself who appears for a few seconds in the scene (directors Quentin Tarantino and Alfred Hitchoock have already participated in some of his productions).
Sometimes the cameo is performed as an identity sign for a type of movie, as in the case of Stan Lee in the Marvel Heroes Saga. In most cases, these brief screen appearances are intended to promote a movie or a series. It is for this reason that famous athletes are represented, for example, in Zidane’s appearance in “Asterix at the Olympic Games “.
In the movie “Taxi Driver”, director Martin Scorsese portrayed a neurotic passenger climbing into a taxi. In the illustrious film “Shindler’s List” director Steven Spielberg himself appeared in a scene to honor the Jews who were exterminated in the Nazi holocaust.
In television series, cameos are also very common and they are intended to attract the attention of viewers. Anyway, with this type of special interventions, a special touch is given to a film or even to a chapter of a television series.
The origin of the word cameo is very curious. In the 19th century, in some theatrical performances in Great Britain, brief interventions by famous characters under the name of cameo began to become popular.
In English the word cameo is used to refer to a cameo.
The question is obligatory, what does a cameo (cameo in English) do with a brief passage in a play, a film or a television series? If you think about it, you will see that there is a relationship , since the cameo is a carved stone usually decorated with a human figure inside; thus, the cameo of cinema , television and theater is also an ornament that serves to decorate a scenic work.
