A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief
appearance or voice part of a known person
in a work of the performing arts, typically
unnamed or appearing as themselves. These
roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking
ones, and are commonly either appearances
in a work in which they hold some special
significance, or renowned people making uncredited
appearances. Short appearances by celebrities,
film directors, politicians, athletes or musicians
are common. A crew member of the show or movie
playing a minor role can be referred to as
a cameo as well, such as Alfred Hitchcock's
cameos.
History, uses and examples
Originally "cameo role" meant "a small character
part that stands out from the other minor
parts". The Oxford English Dictionary connects
this with the meaning "a short literary sketch
or portrait", which is based on the literal
meaning of "cameo". More recently, "cameo"
has come to refer to any short appearances,
whether as a character or as oneself, such
as the examples below.
Cameos are generally not credited because
of their brevity, or a perceived mismatch
between the celebrity's stature and the film
or TV show in which he or she is appearing.
Many are publicity stunts. Others are acknowledgments
of an actor's contribution to an earlier work,
as in the case of many film adaptations of
TV series, or of remakes of earlier films.
Others honour artists or celebrities known
for work in a particular field.
A cameo can establish a character as being
important without having much screen time.
Examples of such cameos are Peter Capaldi
in the 50th Anniversary episode of Doctor
Who, Ted Danson in Saving Private Ryan, Hugh
Jackman in X-Men: First Class, Anthony Hopkins
in Mission: Impossible II, George Clooney
in The Thin Red Line, Sigourney Weaver in
The Cabin in the Woods, and Michael Bay in
"Bad Boys 2". Jason Robards' uncredited appearance
at the opening of Enemy of the State was brief
but a key element of the plot.
Possibly the best-known series of cameos was
by the director Alfred Hitchcock, who made
very brief appearances in most of his films.
Cameos also occur in novels and other literary
works. “Literary cameos” usually involve
an established character from another work
who makes a brief appearance to establish
a shared universe setting, to make a point,
or to offer homage. Balzac often employed
this practice, as in his Comédie humaine.
Sometimes a cameo features a historical person
who "drops in" on fictional characters in
a historical novel, as when Benjamin Franklin
shares a beer with Phillipe Charboneau in
The Bastard by John Jakes.
A cameo appearance can be made by the author
of a work to put a sort of personal "signature"
on a story. Clive Cussler made appearances
in his own thriller novels as a "rough old
man" who advised action hero Dirk Pitt. Vladimir
Nabokov often put himself in his novels; for
instance, the very minor character Vivian
Darkbloom in Lolita. An example in comics
is John Byrne's Iron Fist #8, which features
appearances by Byrne himself, Howard the Duck,
Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, Sam McCloud,
Fu Manchu, and Wolverine.
Film directors
Quentin Tarantino provides cameos or small
roles in some of his movies.
Likewise, Peter Jackson has made brief cameos
in all of his movies, except for his first
feature length movie Bad Taste in which he
plays a main character. For example, he plays
a peasant eating a carrot in The Fellowship
of the Ring and The Desolation of Smaug; a
Rohan warrior in The Two Towers and a pirate
boatswain in The Return of the King. All four
were non-speaking "blink and you miss him"
appearances, although in the Extended Release
of The Return of the King, his character was
given more screen time and his reprise of
the carrot eating peasant in The Desolation
of Smaug was featured in the foreground in
reference to The Fellowship of the Ring - last
seen twelve years earlier. He also appears
in his 2005 remake of King Kong as the gunner
on a biplane in the finale, in a reference
to the original film where Merian Cooper,
the film's director, plays the same role.
He also makes a cameo in Hot Fuzz as a man
dressed as Santa Claus who stabs Simon Pegg's
character.
Director Martin Scorsese appears in the background
of his films as a bystander or an unseen character.
In Who's That Knocking at My Door, he appears
as one of the gangsters, a passenger in Taxi
Driver. He opens up his 1986 film The Color
of Money with a monologue on the art of playing
pool. In addition, he appears with his wife
and daughter as wealthy New Yorkers in Gangs
of New York, and he appears as a theatre-goer
and is heard as a movie projectionist in The
Aviator.
In a same way, Roman Polanski appears as a
hired hoodlum in his film Chinatown, slitting
Jack Nicholson's nose with the blade of his
clasp knife, as Denys Arcand portrays a judge
in his film Jesus of Montreal.
Actors and writers
In the film version of Hunter S. Thompson's
book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas starring
Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke, Hunter S. Thompson's
alter-ego, Thompson can be seen quickly as
an older version of Depp's character in a
flashback scene at a San Francisco nightclub.
Similarly, Arthur C. Clarke makes a brief
cameo appearance in the film adaptation of
his book 2010: Odyssey Two. S. E. Hinton played
a nurse in the film adaptation of her novel,
The Outsiders. Stephenie Meyer appears eating
at a diner in the film adaptation of her novel,
Twilight.
In the 2007 film Choke, Chuck Palahniuk, the
writer of the novel on which the film was
based, briefly appears in the final scene
of the film.
In the 2009 film The Invention of Lying, there
were cameos from Edward Norton as a cop, Philip
Seymour Hoffman as a bartender, Christopher
Guest, Stephen Merchant and Shaun Williamson.
In the recent film adaptation of author Sapphire's
1996 novel Push,, Sapphire appears in one
of the end scenes as the woman running the
daycare.
Remakes and sequels occasionally feature actors
from the original films. The 1978 remake of
Invasion of the Body Snatchers featured a
cameo by Kevin McCarthy, who starred in the
1956 original. In the 2003 version of Willard,
the framed picture of Willard's father is
a picture of Bruce Davison, who played Willard
in the 1971 version of the film. The 2004
version of Dawn of the Dead features cameos
by Ken Foree, and Scott Reiniger. The original
stars of Starsky and Hutch appeared at the
end of the 2004 film, and Bernie Kopell, who
portrayed Siegfried in the original show appeared
in the 2008 film version of Get Smart. Vin
Diesel made a short appearance at the end
of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift where
he challenges to race Shawn, the then Drift
king.
In the same vein as the remake and sequel,
actors can also make appearances in completely
different films directed by or starring another
actor they are friendly with. Actors Ben Stiller,
Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, and
Will Ferrell have made appearances in so many
of the same films USA Today coined the term
the "Frat Pack" to name the group. Actor Adam
Sandler is also known for frequently casting
fellow Saturday Night Live performers in various
roles in his films. Sam Raimi frequently uses
his brother Ted and Bruce Campbell in his
films. Sylvester Stallone gave Arnold Schwarzenegger
a cameo in Stallone's 2010 action film The
Expendables.
Directors can also be known to cast well-known
lead actors with whom they have worked in
the past in other films. Among the many cameos
featured in the film Maverick,, actor Danny
Glover appears as the lead bank robber. He
and Maverick share a scene where they look
as if they knew each other, but then shake
it off. As Glover makes his escape with the
money, he mutters "I'm too old for this shit",
his character's catchphrase in the Lethal
Weapon film series. In addition, a strain
of the main theme from Lethal Weapon plays
in the score when Glover is revealed. Actress
Margot Kidder made a cameo appearance in the
same film as a robbed villager, and the actress
previously starred as Lois Lane in one of
Donner's earlier films Superman.
In the 2003 film Holes, Louis Sachar, the
author of the original novel, makes a cameo
appearance as Mr. Collingwood, the bald man
whom Sam gives a supposed hair tonic made
from onions. The last dialog of the 1993 film
The Music of Chance is between the escaping
hero and a providential rescuer portrayed
by Paul Auster, notorious author of the original
novel. James Dickey plays the Sherriff at
the end of the 1972 film of his novel "Deliverance."
The 1992 and 1993 comedies Wayne's World and
Wayne's World 2 devise fun from many referential
devices, among which are cameos.
In the movie Run Ronnie Run with David Cross,
there are cameos from a variety of famous
performers from the worlds of comedy, acting
and even music:.
In An Adventure in Space and Time features
many actors from Doctor Who's past. For example
two past companions appear in a party scene,
another as a mother calling her children in
for dinner and a fourth in a car park at the
BBC. The complete list of cameos is: Carole
Ann Ford, William Russell, Anneke Wills, Jean
Marsh, Donald Tosh, Mark Eden, Matt Smith,
Nicholas Briggs and Toby Hadoke.
Real-life people
Films based on actual events occasionally
include cameo roles of the people portrayed
in them. In the 2006 film The Pursuit of Happyness
Chris Gardner makes a cameo in the end. 24
Hour Party People, a film about Tony Wilson,
has a cameo by the real Tony Wilson and many
other notable people. In the film Apollo 13,
James Lovell and his wife Marilyn appear next
to the actors playing them. Domino Harvey
makes a short appearance in the credits of
Domino. The real Erin Brockovich has a cameo
appearance as a waitress named Julia in the
eponymous movie. The 2000 film Almost Famous
featured Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner
as a passenger in a New York City taxicab.
Chuck Yeager has a cameo as "Fred", a bartender
at "Pancho's Happy Bottom Riding Club", in
The Right Stuff. Likewise, several associates
of Harvey Milk appear in the 2008 film Milk.
In the 2008 film 21 Jeff Ma, the character
the film is based on, plays a blackjack dealer
at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.
His character in the movie calls him "my brother
from another mother".
In a similar vein, cameos sometimes feature
persons noted for accomplishments outside
the film industry, usually in ways related
to the subject or setting of the film. In
the 2011 film Transformers: Dark of the Moon,
Buzz Aldrin appeared as himself whereby he
reveals certain details as to what really
happened during the Apollo 11 space mission.
October Sky, set in 1950s Appalachia, featured
photographer O. Winston Link in a brief appearance
portraying a steam locomotive engineer. Link
became famous in the 1950s for chronicling
the last days of regular steam locomotives
service in the region. O Brother, Where Art
Thou?, set in Depression-era rural South,
featured cameos by country "roots" music notables
such as Alison Krauss, Ralph Stanley, Gillian
Welch, The Whites and the Fairfield Four.
In the film The Last Mimzy, noted string theorist
Brian Greene has a cameo as the Intel scientist.
In Dr. Dolittle 2 a cameo appearance was made
by Steve Irwin. Stan Lee, the creator of many
Marvel Comics characters has appeared in the
film versions of the comics, including The
Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man, Iron Man, The
Incredible Hulk, Fantastic Four and Thor.
Skateboarder Tony Hawk makes a cameo as a
dead body in an episode of CSI: Miami. In
Men in Black II, Biz Markie appears as an
alien who uses beatboxing to communicate,
also Michael Jackson appeared as Agent M.
Mike Todd's film Around the World in 80 Days
was filled with cameo roles:, and others.
The stars in cameo roles were pictured in
oval insets in posters for the film, and gave
the term wide circulation outside the theatrical
profession. Notably the 1983 television adaptation
and 2004 film version of the story also feature
a large number of cameos.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, an "epic
comedy", also features cameos from nearly
every popular American comedian alive at the
time, including the Three Stooges, a silent
appearance by Buster Keaton and a voice-only
cameo by Selma Diamond. Bill Murray made a
cameo as himself in the 2009 movie Zombieland
with featured Ghostbusters antics.
In the ongoing TV-series The Big Bang Theory,
figures notorious especially to the main characters'
type regularly appear as themselves. Though
their screen time is kept to a minimum, they
do have dialog, and a whole episode's plot
then tends to revolve around them. Aside from
science-fiction actors such as Summer Glau,
Katee Sackhoff, or some of the cast from Star
Trek The Next Generation, renowned people
such as physicist Stephen Hawking or astrophysicist
Neil deGrasse Tyson also appear in the series.
While some of these appearances remain cameos,
others become recurring.
In 2010 when Charlie Sheen made media news
history, he was known for the cameo performance
in the independent film, She Wants Me starring
Josh Gad, Kristen Ruhlin and Hilary Duff which
he also executive produced. This was weeks
before his departure from the hit series Two
and a Half Men.
In the 2011 film Jack and Jill starring Adam
Sandler, actor Johnny Depp, The Price is Right
host Drew Carey and announcer George Gray
made a cameo as themselves.
In a more well known example, Elon Musk and
Larry Ellison, both founders of large technology
companies, are featured in cameos in 2010
blockbuster, Iron Man 2.
Also some members of royalty have made cameos:
Carl XVI Gustaf, king of Sweden, was in children's
program "Mika" when Mika was in Stockholm
with his reindeer. Another royal is the present
king of Jordan Abdullah II, who appeared briefly
in Star Trek: Voyager while still a prince.
The makers of the animated series Adventures
of Tintin featured Hergé in all of the episodes.
See also
Bit part
Crossover fiction
Extra
List of directors who appear in their own
films
List of Hitchcock cameo appearances
Self-insertion
References
