Concept in Definition ABC

In some films or television series, an especially well-known character appears unexpectedly among the public, playing a totally secondary and irrelevant role. When this happens, there is talk of a cameo. Said character may be an actor but normally he is someone who is very popular and does not dedicate himself to acting, for example, a well-known cook, a television presenter, a famous footballer or a writer of renown.

A fleeting appearance that aims to surprise the viewer

Each cameo has its own intricacies. Thus, sometimes it is the director of the film himself who appears for a few seconds in scene (Directors Quentin Tarantino and AlfredHitchoock have participated in some of his productions).

Sometimes the cameo is performed as a sign of identity of a type of movies, as it happens with Stan Lee in the Marvel heroes saga. In most cases, these brief appearances on the screen are intended to promote a film or series and for this reason famous athletes are used to represent themselves (remember the appearance of Zidane in "Asterix in the Olympic Games").

In the movie "Taxi Driver", director Martin Scorsese portrayed a passenger neurotic him getting into a taxi. In the famous Steven Spilberg film "Shindler's List" the director himself wanted to appear 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. In any case, this type of special intervention adds a special touch to a movie or even a chapter in a television series.

The origin of the term

The origin of the word cameo is very curious. In the 19th century, fleeting interventions by famous people began to become popular in some theatrical performances in Great Britain and were called cameos. In English cameo is the word used to refer to a cameo.

The question is obliged, what does a cameo (or cameo in English) have to do with a intervention brief in a play, a movie or a television series? If we think about it, there is a relationship, since the cameo is a carved stone that is normally adorned with a human figure inside and the cameo of the movie theater, television or theater It is also an ornament that serves to decorate a scenic work.

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