A cameo is a brief appearance by someone well-known in a movie, TV show, or other performance, usually just for fun or as a surprise. When a famous director shows up as a taxi driver in their own film for just one scene, that's a cameo. When a retired athlete appears in a sports movie to play themselves for a moment, that's a cameo too.

Cameos are like special treats hidden in entertainment. Stan Lee, the co-creator of Spider-Man and many other superheroes, became famous for his cameos in Marvel movies, popping up as a bus driver, a security guard, or a bystander. These quick appearances delighted fans who watched for them in every film.

The word comes from a type of jewelry: small carved gemstones that show a person's profile. Just like those tiny portraits, a cameo appearance is small but memorable. Authors sometimes make cameo appearances at events to read from their books. Historical figures might make cameos in stories set in their time period.

A cameo is different from a regular role because it's intentionally brief and often unexpected. The person making the cameo is usually more famous than the character they're playing, and audiences enjoy spotting them.