by Jack Legg
Cameo is a video-sharing website that allows celebrities to send personalized messages to fans. For a fee (set by each celebrity), users can ask their favorite actor, musician, comedian, athlete, internet personality, reality television star, or politician to film a short greeting, using specific personal details.
Do you want Rudy Giuliani to wish your mom a "Happy Birthday"? For $325, you can do it on Cameo.
Perhaps you want Mr. Feeny from Boy Meets World to give an inspiring message to your nephew on his graduation day ($150).
Or maybe you want Richard Dreyfuss to stand awkwardly in his kitchen, making a sly reference to What About Bob? while offering his blessing for your upcoming nuptials ($499).
You can have all this and more, at Cameo!
Or you can hire Kevin Sorbo. Sorbo is best known for his television roles, including the title character in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys from 1994 until 1999, and Captain Dylan Hunt on Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, from 2000 until 2005.
Since then, Sorbo has produced, directed, and acted in more than sixty films. Sorbo is known for acting in faith-based or Christian movies, such as Soul Surfer, God's Not Dead, and the most recent installment of the Left Behind Series, Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist.
Sorbo's Cameo videos are modestly priced, and he has a reputation for completing requests in a very short amount of time. Many reviewers comment on his warm and engaging tone, his attention to detail, and his generosity with his time. (Sorbo's videos average about two minutes in length, while other celebrities churn out twenty or thirty second greetings.)
Of more than 650 customer reviews, the vast majority are glowingly positive. Some users indicate their status as repeat customers, with one customer going so far as to say, "I'll see you again in six months for the next one."
By all accounts, Kevin Sorbo is a friendly person who treats his fans very well.
I just couldn't help but notice that his Cameo page has a few... quirks.
If you ask Kevin Sorbo to wish someone a happy birthday, or to congratulate them on a recent achievement or major life event, he'll probably do an awesome job.
But he may also take some time to air his grievances.
In one message, ordered by a woman as a gift for her fiance in honor of their upcoming wedding, Sorbo thanks the couple for being fans Andromeda. Sitting casually at his golf club, he warmly greets the couple by name, enthusiastically identifies himself as "your favorite Captain Dylan Hunt" from the sci-fi television series... and promptly complains that the show was canceled.
"Thanks for loving Andromeda. I loved it, too," Sorbo says, in a just-between-you-and-me tone. "And I tell you what, we both got boned on that series. Because we were the number one show in first-run syndication for all five years, and we were supposed to go two more years for sure. You should have had 44 more episodes of that. But the company that owned us, the Tribune Company out of Chicago, went bankrupt. It wasn't because of us. We were the only thing making money for them. And they had to freeze all their assets. So they were in courts for like six years. You know, the lawyers gotta drag things out as long as possible, so they can make as MUCH money as they possibly can. Gotta love lawyers."
"Anyway, good luck on everything, guys," Sorbo concludes. "Good luck on getting married."
Sorbo frequently tells his viewers that he does not approve of most of the content coming from Hollywood. Instead, he'd rather focus on making films with positive messages about the Christian faith. He claims he's been blacklisted in the film industry for openly expressing his views.
In one Valentine's Day Cameo from a husband to his wife, Kevin can't help but show his disdain for Hollywood. He begins the video with, "I'm in my hotel room, here in Los Angeles. Yuck! I hate to come back here. I'm shooting a movie here, so uhh..."
After expressing his warm regards, Sorbo goes on to congratulate the couple for homeschooling their children. This is a common refrain from Sorbo, whose wife is an "education freedom" advocate who wants to "help emancipate parents and children from our modern school system."
"God bless you guys in the homeschooling. My wife would just love to hear it, because we're homeschool advocates, obviously. She travels the country... And thank you for thanking me for supporting the homeschool world."
In a birthday message, sent from a wife to her husband, Sorbo wears a Patriot t-shirt in front of a wall of artwork and artifacts.
"Congratulations on your ten-month baby boy... and have many more. Please. Because we stopped at three and regret it! They're awesome. And my wife will tell you to homeschool! Trust me. One blessing of COVID: two million more people are homeschooling because they found out how BAD our public schools are! Anyway... lots of stuff going on in my world. I stay very busy."
"Homeschool your kids" is such a common piece of advice in Sorbo's Cameos, the phrase has started to appear in user reviews. One user wrote, "He congratulated my son on the birth of his first child. It was funny that he told him to homeschool and he was homeschooled his whole life!"
("Happy Birthday, dear! I got you this video. Don't panic... but Kevin Sorbo thinks we need to start homeschooling our kids.")
If you order a Cameo from Kevin Sorbo, you may witness another one of his quirks: he really likes to encourage people to have a lot of kids.
Frequently expressing regret that he and his wife only have three, Sorbo often looks into the camera and tells couples, "Congrats on your kids. Have more!"
At least one reviewer seems to have taken the message to heart. She wrote, "Thank you for making such a personal and fun Cameo for my husband. Hopefully he agrees to the idea of more children."
In his many asides, often with a smirk and a wink, Sorbo also injects political commentary into his Cameos.
"And you are Canadian, so I'm sorry about that," Sorbo tells a group of gaming friends. "But I wanna bless you on your Prime Minister. What an awesome dude that guy is!" Sorbo then rolls his eyes theatrically before continuing.
"My God!" Sorbo continues. "So you guys have gone from socialism to communism. But of course, America now... we're socialists. We're getting worse right along with you. And don't you find it interesting no one takes boats from Key West to Cuba, but they all wanna still come here? I don't know. It's crazy what we've done to the world. I won't get political. I can't help myself. But anyway,all the best to you guys. ... Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."
Of course, celebrities are entitled to their opinions, just like the rest of us. If Kevin Sorbo wants to use his Cameo page as an outlet to share his views, there's nothing wrong with that.
I just think it's really funny. I like to imagine mailing someone a birthday card with two or three paragraphs in the middle where I rant about politics.
Some users come for the politics. A number of reviewers mention an appreciation for his conservative values and Christian film-making efforts. One reviewer wrote, "The video was great 👍🏻 I really enjoyed it. We have PureFlix so we’ve seen everything you're in on there. BIG fan. Thanks again # TRUMP 2024!"
Another user wrote, "Kevin did a great job! I LOVED how he talked about Christ and Israel as well. It’s great to still know that not all celebrities are woke. Kevin is authentically himself, and I’m praying God still uses Him and his family for His glory."
After Sorbo used one Cameo video to air numerous grievances, ranging from masking to a government that's "destroying our lives," to Facebook blocking his account for sharing COVID misinformation, one user wrote of her mother, "I know she'll really appreciate your rant as well, it was right up her alley."
One man praised Sorbo's social media presence, saying, "Long live Hercules and thanks for speaking the truth on Twitter dude, we need more celebrities like you! Your brother in Christ, Peace be with you!"
Since 2020, many of Sorbo's Cameos have also included his thoughts on the COVID pandemic.
"And the craziness of the vaccine world! It's just stupid out there. It's crazy. They did this on purpose! You know that. Fear is government's favorite weapon. I could talk forever, but we won't do that."
("Happy Anniversary, my love! Kevin says the whole pandemic was planned...")
In one video, Sorbo takes time to commiserate with a fan who mentioned following him on Facebook: "There's so much crap in the world right now. Anger and hate. Facebook took me down. They totally banned me. Because I was posting the truth. They don't want the truth! You see what's happening. In the mainstream media, and the government, and everything. Where, you know, everybody's gotta wear a mask! They're useless. They're actually useless! I spoke in front of 1500 doctors as I signed my book. I asked every single one of them about the mask, and they kinda look around... they say, 'They don't stop anything.'"
Sorbo concludes, "This is all about power, and controlling our lives. And we've gotta keep fighting this. We've gotta fight this. We can't let these people keep doing what they're doing to our kids in schools. To us, living our lives! Destroying the middle class. It's crazy what we're allowing them to do. We've gotta keep fighting!"
The customer who paid for this personalized greeting loved the final product. In his review of the video, the user acknowledged his own Facebook account had also been suspended for "sharing the truth."
Another user hired him to make an appreciation video for the staff of a local dentist's office. At the tail end of a brutal pandemic, the client hoped for an inspiring message for his staff.
"I've done a lot of movies. I hope you guys have seen my movies!" Sorbo says in the video. After congratulating the dental team for their hard work, Sorbo says they put forth a Herculean effort, "during the crazy fear and panic of COVID!"
Grimacing with disgust, Sorbo then takes on a lecturing tone as he continues, "We're gonna get past this, guys. Come on! You guys wear a mask because you're dentists and doctors and all that. But I'm getting tired of it. I'm tired of it, guys! We gotta get past it. We gotta get past it. We gotta get back to... the world! And not being afraid to look at each other. Ha!"
Sorbo later muses, "I just moved to Florida, and I need a dentist. We're here in Florida, on the east coast. I need a dentist. Help me out."
With an awkward pause and a wistful look off-camera, Sorbo concludes, "I've rambled on long enough. I'm just rambling. Going on and on. Check out my movie, Let there Be Light. Let There Be Light, okay? Streaming on Amazon."
The client wasn't thrilled. They wrote back, "Been a fan for years. Appreciate your conservatism and voice. Tried to give a much deserved shout out to some dedicated professionals who were heroes during this tough year. Everyone has a bad day, unfortunately I must have caught you on one of yours. Unusable, but still a fan."
("Welcome to Staff Appreciation Day. In honor of all your hard work, here's Kevin Sorbo!")
Another reviewer gave one star for their video greeting, saying, "Got this cameo in 2020 for my immunity compromised mom and Kevin went on in the video to basically say everyone was overreacting to COVID. Not the gift we had hoped for."
That brings us to one final quirk in Sorbo's Cameo vids: he frequently uses them to promote his other work.
After sharing birthday wishes or anniversary congrats, he may ask viewers to visit his website to buy his book. When a fan references his work on television in the 1990s, he may list his recent movies and ask viewers to buy tickets or visit a particular streaming platform.
In one video, meant to be a Valentine's Day message for a spouse, Sorbo asks people to go see his latest movie "tonight," because it's only theaters for one weekend. If enough tickets sell, they'll get another week in theaters!
("Happy Valentine's Day, babe! This video says we have to run to the theater tonight, or we might miss Kevin's new movie!")
In a message meant to serve as a "pep talk" for someone who is feeling down, Sorbo plugs his website several times and makes a long list of his various movies, shows, and books.
Customers have noticed. One reviewer wrote, "Video had some sale pitches in it. Was hoping for some stories about what it was like being on the set of Andromeda, some funny behind-the-scenes things, or what it was like to work with PureFlix, or other exciting tales."
One person wrote, "A lot of energy here that is much appreciated and lacking from some other Cameos. Thank you! A little heavy on the self promotion for a wedding card but I suppose I asked for it with the interests provided!"
An anonymous user wrote, "This was basically just a three-minute advertisement of Kevin's portfolio - nothing particularly relevant, just straight up self-advertising of all the things we should watch."
Another reviewer wrote, "Would have been great to have a slightly more genuine, slightly less jaded cameo from one of my sister’s favorite celebs! Kevin did read what I wrote exactly - including a Hercules reference - and then added on a brief history of his other roles as if to chide me for only knowing Hercules."
In fairness, Kevin Sorbo is on Cameo to sell exactly that... Kevin Sorbo! If he wants to use this platform to promote his wares, more power to him. And I'm certain there are plenty of other people on Cameo plugging their latest project.
I just think it's really funny.
Now, while I've got you here, have I mentioned that I have a new book coming out this fall? Be sure to like and subscribe... and check out my past work. Share this website with ten friends! Act now, before it's too late!
And Happy Birthday or whatever.
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