Why do so many actors use pseudonyms instead of their real names?
Ray
15th Feb 2024
General questions
Answer: One of the reasons can be for making a simpler and easier-to-remember name. For example, Andrew Lincoln's real surname is Clutterbuck. Sean Bean changed the spelling of his first name from "Shaun" to look similar to his surname. Another reason is that the Screen Actors Guild does not allow two actors with the exact same stage name, likely to avoid confusion. Michael Keaton's real name is Michael Douglas, which is a name already being used. Michael B. Jordan uses his middle initial because Michael Jordan is technically a member of the Screen Actors Guild for having appeared in Space Jam.
Answer: Agree with the other answers, but would add that in Hollywood's earlier days, movie studios typically remade their new talent. Actors were under years-long contracts, and the studios trained them, controlled their publicity and public image, crafted their appearance and style, chose their movie roles, influenced who they publicly dated, and so on. This redo often included changing actors' real names that were considered too long, unsophisticated, difficult to pronounce, too "ethnic," and so on. A good example is Archie Leach who became "Cary Grant" or Norma Jean Baker who was remade into "Marilyn Monroe." Most actors today use their birth names.
Answer: But these days, the vast majority of actors use their real birth names.
10th Apr 2023
General questions
Are "TPS" reports a thing in the real world? It seems that ever since "Office Space", a variety of shows have employees or bosses mentioning "TPS" reports, the latest being "Titans" and "The Mandalorian." Or did Mike Judge make it up and everyone else throws it in as a joke?
Answer: They're real. TPS stands for test procedure specification. However, I suspect their use in other shows was inspired by "Office Space."
23rd Nov 2003
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Question: I know that in the movie you never get to know, and I've read almost every theory, but has anyone answered, once and for all, officially, what's in the briefcase?
Answer: No one will ever know. Quentin Tarantino has even said so in interviews. It's supposed to be a classic 'McGuffin' - a term spawned by Hitchcock to describe an object on which the plot hinges without being important to the outside viewers.
Answer: It's an orange light bulb.
Answer: I always assumed it was just an enormous amount of stolen cash, although the film never tells us for sure.
24th Jul 2012
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
Question: After old Biff returns to 2015 he appears in pain. I've seen several submissions on this site saying it's because Lorraine shot him in 1995. My question is where do they get that information from? I've seen these movies numerous times and have never seen anything to suggest that.
Answer: But in 2015 George is fine. He brings pizza with Lorrain, when they come and visit. Biff doesn't shoot George until the alternate timeline he creates when he goes back to 1955 with the sports almanac? In 2015, he is still the loser George made him in the first movie.
10th Oct 2020
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Question: Marty shows Doc in 1885 the image of the tombstone, and he says that he wished he'd paid Buford off. Why can't he just round up 80 dollars to give to Buford and apologise for not doing that in the first place?
Answer: Adjusting for inflation, $80 back in 1885 is equivalent to about $2,143.65 today. Not something you can just conjure up easily, least of all back then. And Marty couldn't just take 1985 money back to 1885 and expect people to accept it.
Except that Doc was in 1885 and could have just gone to the bank and withdrew the $80's.
How? He arrives in 1885 and magically has the equivalent of $2,100 already in a bank account? He presumably borrowed it from Buford in the first place precisely because he didn't have that much cash available.
Doc didn't borrow money from Buford. He time-traveled with a briefcase filled with currencies from different time periods, including the 1800s. Doc had shoed Buford's horse for $5, for which Buford never paid him. When one shoe later came off later, causing Buford to be thrown, Buford shot the horse and demanded Doc pay him $75 for it and $5 for a broken bottle of whiskey.
Where would have get the $80 from? You're assuming he had the $80 available to him. The bank wouldn't just give out the money for free.
You can't take out $80 in 1985 money, and give it to someone in 1885. It would look like play money to them. U.S. currency looked a lot different back then.
Well he could technically get that amount worth in gold or silver.
And, as stated, since Doc was in 1885, more specifically, eight months in 1885, he could have just taken the money out of the bank considering he had a job as a blacksmith.
In Back to the Future 2, Doc shows Marty a briefcase full of money from different time periods, including various mid-1800 currencies, that he carried with him in the DeLorean. (There are online screen shots of the contents.) Doc refused to pay Tannen the $80 because he never owed it to him. Tannen was extorting him.
Answer: Buford was a crazed gunfighter, even if they paid off the $80 that wouldn't have satisfied him. He loved to shoot and kill. He wanted a showdown to show people he is to be feared and not messed with.
8th Jun 2014
General questions
Hi everyone! I need to find the movie from this picture. My friend has this photo on his mobile phone and doesn't remember where it comes from. Please, if someone recognizes it, I'll appreciate it. https://31.media.tumblr.com/1591397126afff96159b91587f8cfb71/tumblr_n6ecvjbKiZ1qmn5lfo1_500.jpg.
Answer: This image appears in the music video "Echos" by Johnossi at 0:47. That video is made of clips from the movie "Night of the Living Dead," so I guess it's from that movie. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viN2TsKvJas.
16th Jul 2020
Sixteen Candles (1984)
29th Sep 2019
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
Question: How does Neal pay for the train tickets after they have just been robbed at the motel? Remember that Gus switched credit cards when they checked in. (00:35:50)
Answer: Gus only switched only one credit card. Neal has other credit cards. After the car fire, Neal tries to use several cards to pay for a hotel room. By then, the cards were all burned, but getting the train tickets was before the fire.
Answer: Neal didn't pay for them. Del mentioned a friend of his who works for the railroad owed him a favor so it's assumed the ride was complementary from Del's friend.
Del asks Neil for his address, so he can pay for the train ticket, Neil replies, "It's a gift" There was no mention of what favour Del was owed by his railroad friend.
Del asks Neal for his address specifically to pay for the train tickets.
Answer: Of course it's also possible that Del's friend guaranteed he'd make sure seats would be available but maybe still said they would still have to be purchased and NOT complimentary. It's a movie so any storyline here is a possibility.
12th Sep 2019
The Facts of Life (1979)
Question: Tootie takes her driving test. The instructor tells Tootie to make a U-Turn and as she's halfway into it, the car stops. I think it was because the car ran out of gas. Because of this, Tootie fails the driving test. Why would the instructor fail Tootie? It wasn't her fault the car ran out of gas.
Answer: I didn't see that episode. When you take your driving test, you have to provide the car for the test, and the car has to be in good working condition. They check for that (blinkers working, etc.) So if the car runs out of gas, yes, it is your fault for not making sure the car had enough gas before the test.
Just saw the episode, and the car wasn't Tootie's. It belonged to the driving school.
You should watch the episode again because it didn't belong to a driving school. (She wasn't even in one). It was a hearse from Natalie's job at the funeral home.
Answer: Tootie didn't say she failed, just that she had to take the test twice because the instructor "wanted to make sure [she] belonged on the streets." It was even brought up that they maybe they should get gas and he said to go. So it wasn't about running out of gas, but all the distractions and antics that had occurred. Although it seems like an exaggerated line as a joke. Earlier she said you only get two chances (meaning to pass). If she had in fact failed this second time, it doesn't seem like the instructor would retest her right away. And if he did, why wouldn't she have been retested right away The First Time instead of having to schedule a 2nd test?
27th Aug 2019
There's Something About Mary (1998)
19th Jan 2013
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Question: In the scene when they kill Bret, Jules gives his Bible quote and they both shoot Bret down, then the screen goes red and scene ends. I see this whenever its on Cable and on my DVD, yet I have seen a clip on the internet when a guy runs out from the bathroom and shoots at Jules and Vincent, completely missing them, and they kill him too. Is this some deleted scene? Was this extra scene shown in theaters? And why was it removed?
Answer: That scene is actually shown twice in the movie. The first time, toward the beginning of the movie, the scene ends after the shooting. Then later in the movie, they show the scene again, only this time with the guy running out of the bathroom and shooting them.
5th Nov 2018
The Hangover (2009)
Question: When Phil, Stu and Alan get back into the hotel, they find Mike Tyson and his mate in their hotel wanting their tiger back. Just wondering a) How did Mike Tyson know who these guys were that took the tiger and b) where they were staying? (01:09:00)
Answer: They answer that in the movie! Doug dropped his jacket at Tyson's. His wallet and room key were in it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9NtxDYU8G4&feature=youtu.be&t=89.
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Answer: Along with the Phaneron's answer, using a pseudonym might make it easier for a celebrity to do some things with their real name, such as buying a property or checking into a hotel room alone if they want.