Sections SEARCH Skip to content Skip to site index Arts Subscribe Log In Subscribe Log In Today’s Paper Advertisement Supported by Critic’s Notebook Cameo is the “Being John Malkovich” of apps. ByAmanda Hess Aug. 1, 2018 Remember Nikki Blonsky? She was the unknown Long Island teen plucked from a Cold Stone Creamery and cast as the star of the 2007 movie musical “Hairspray.” Now, a decade after that big splash, her acting career has slowed to a drip. Recently she lent her voice to “Pup Star,” a direct-to-digital entry in the “Air Bud” extended universe. Soon she’ll appear in a horror movie opposite Gary Busey’s son. But lately Ms. Blonsky has found a new performance platform: Cameo, a service that allows fans to pay low- to midrange celebrities to send them short, personalized video messages. Ms. Blonsky is the bard of Cameo. She excels at the projection of intimacy. She takes a few spare details about her subject — an upcoming birthday, a career milestone — and spins them into a sugar-voiced pep talk filmed as a dim, shaky selfie. The heady mix of heartfelt emoting and janky video quality creates the illusion of a bridged gap between celebrity and fan. The experience costs $20. I bought one for myself: Cameo is an intriguing new development in celebrity-fan relations. Commoners have always had a tenuous relationship with the stars. Their images and life stories exert a strong gravitational pull over our own, and the internet has provided the opportunity for… [Read full story]
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