# Not a Cameo

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-cameo/1008464>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** movies\
**Created:** [October 5, 2024, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-cameo/1008464 "2024-10-05T03:56:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 15

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**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-cameo/1008464/15 "2024-10-06T20:30:36Z")

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I will quote myself, from the thread on season 3 of _The Mandalorian_:

> [@The Mandalorian Season 3 \[Open Spoilers\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mandalorian-season-3-open-spoilers/979857/318):
>
> Perhaps it’s nitpicky, but I’m puzzled why everybody (not just here, but internet-wide) is referring to these appearances as “cameos.”
> 
> A cameo, as I’ve always understood it, is a very brief appearance of a well-known figure, like the way Alfred Hitchcock would frequently appear briefly in his own films, or Stan Lee would show up to say a couple of lines in the Marvel movies.
> 
> These were full-on acting roles, albeit played by well-known performers.

“These appearances” referred to Lizzo and Jack Black playing roles in an episode of _The Mandalorian_. They were widely referred to in the media as “cameos,” even though if they had been played by actors you’d never heard of, no one would have called them that.

So this has been going on for awhile, and I agree that the term “cameo” is frequently misused.

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