A cameo role or cameo appearance (often shortened to just cameo) is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television. Short appearances by film directors, politicians, athletes, musicians, and other celebrities are common. These roles are generally small, and many of them non-speaking. As an example, director Alfred Hitchcock enjoyed inserting himself, often as a passive by-st...
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A cameo role or cameo appearance (often shortened to just cameo) is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television. Short appearances by film directors, politicians, athletes, musicians, and other celebrities are common. These roles are generally small, and many of them non-speaking. As an example, director Alfred Hitchcock enjoyed inserting himself, often as a passive by-stander, in scenes of his films.
Other criteria for cameos include video game characters from another fictional universe appearing in another video game.
Originally the phrase "cameo role" referred to a famous person who was playing no character, but him or herself. Like a cameo brooch—a low-relief carving of a person's head or bust—the actor or celebrity is instantly recognizable. More recently, "cameo" has come to refer to any short appearances, whether as a character or as oneself.
Cameos are often noncredited due to their shortness or...
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