I just finished Glass Onion and at the end credits it had all the actors who were in it but only Kate Hudson and Dave Batista had the prefix of “with” before their name. Is there a reason why only they get it?
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I think it’s down to star power. Their agents negotiate both billing order (the movie, starring 1, 2, 3) and also can get there client to be distinguished from the other cast with things like ‘and Mr Smith’ or ‘Also Mrs Smith’, or sometimes, ‘with Mr Smith’
It’s known as last billing. Actor wasn’t a lead in the film but negotiated to stand out in the credits, with a “and” or “with prefix.
Short version: They will “feature” the name to give and get as much credit as possible, while acknowledging that the role played by that actor doesn’t justify a headline.
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Longer version: Your primary cast is usually listed in order of either the character’s order of appearance or importance (when listed in rhe end credits with the names side by side).
In the opening sequence (and sometimes on posters and other maketng media) you will see the names as a factor of the character’s importance and the actor’s rating / star power / whatever you want to call it.
Sometimes you have a big name in a fairly small part, either a cameo or just someone who accepted a fairly insignificant role, so it doesn’t make sense to list the actor’s name alongside those who portrayed the main characters. However, they also can’t just be dropped into the rest of the cast because the film can’t risk the name getting lost when they want to bank on it as much as possible.
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I want to understand this as well. LL Cool J has been in movies before so it’s not his breakout role (I think) but he still gets “with” on the start creds of NCISLA. And he’s a main character.
I have made money off of songwriting(royaties) and I wonder if your billing in the credits has anything to do with the same(residuals) in movies? With a song the amount you get depends on if your song was featured or part of the background. Was it a movie, tv, radio, stream also matters. Dunno if being added in the credits matter or not.
It depends on the contract and how big the actor is. Sometimes it also lists the character that they are playing. IASIP still has “with Danny Devito as Frank Reynolds” in the credits.
Oh man, it’s such a political thing. Agents fight tooth and nail for the billing credits for their clients. It’s actually quite funny.
If you’re a low budget, non-studio film without much star power in front or behind the camera, the agents from CAA or WME will rinse you DRY. You will literally do as they please. If they need their client to have an “and” or a “with”, you bet your ass you will give it to them.
It has nothing to do with their “status” or role in the movie or show, and is a negotiated part of the contract they sign. (Mom is an entertainment attorney.)
Take Melrose Place as an incredibly dated example. Heather Locklear comes in season three. She’s a bigger name actor, but is not a lead. The producers can’t give her the top billing because the leads would walk off set. So she negotiated “with” at the end because it sets her apart and her name is on screen longer.
In the case of Spirited, for instance, Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds are both big deal actors. So on the first page of credits, Will Ferrell’s name is on the bottom left and Ryan Reynolds’s name is top right. They’re huge stars who like each other so this makes everyone happy.
But it’s all negotiated in their contracts. Stars have walked away over this – that’s how important it is to them.
Even producers and writers negotiate their placement.
Last billing, as it’s called, is important in Hollywood. Traditionally, the order of credits is listed based on how big the role was. So top billing goes to the stars, and the minor roles get the bottom of the billing.
But then there’s “last billing.” Last billing usually signifies that the person had a cameo role, which is a role where you put a big name star in the movie for a short amount of time. You want to get this big name star in your movie, but they’re too busy and important to take the time out of their life to star in your movie. So they show up for a day, film the scene you want, and go home.
These cameo roles would be the smallest role in the movie. So the actor doing it would go to the very bottom of the credits reel. But they’re a huge star and you want them to stand out. So you’d add “with so-and-so” to break up the list of actors, to signify that the last billing was in fact a big star, and not just the person with a smaller role than Barista #3.
Well, as time has gone on, last billing became more and more prestigious. So now it doesn’t necessarily mean that the actor did a true cameo role anymore. Agents will fight tooth and nail to get their client bottom billing. Which is why now we have roles that will be like “with [actor] and [actress]” or “with [actor]. Also with [actress]” or however it gets negotiated. These two stars are now sharing the prestigious last billing slot.
Oftentimes last billing also goes to late-in-life actors who “earned” the spot throughout their careers.
Bonus fact about movie billing: “and” and “&” are different in movie credits. “Written by Bob & Tom” means that Bob and Tom worked together as a team to co-write the script. “Written by Bob and Tom” means that they didn’t work together. Perhaps Bob wrote most the script and then the studio gave it to Tom to finish it and do rewrites, but Bob did enough work that they can’t take his name off the project.
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