Why, often in film credits, are the actor’s and character’s name often written as, for example, “Ian McKellen – Gandalf (as Ian McKellen)”, but only for certain cast members?

Question

I’ve seen this a lot on IMDB, and this was just an example using more well-known names. For a direct example, I was looking up the cast for the 1999 film, DragonHeart: A New Beginning, and the lead actor, Chris Masterson, is listed as “Christopher Masterson – Geoff (as Christopher Masterson)”, and another character is ” Vladimir ‘Furdo’ Furdik – Sentry (as Vladimir Furdik)”, but only those 2 actors were listed that way. What does it mean that their character is “as the actor”, but it’s only true for them and not anyone else in the cast?

In: 80

Answer 1

Some films use variations on an actors name, and some actors develop a stage name after they first appear in a tracked film (perhaps moving from student films or bit parts into bigger roles). Regardless, the same person can appear in the credits of films with different names.

When IMDB has a record for an actor that has been credited using more than one name, then it makes sure you know which one was used for that particular film).

In your example, “Ian McKellan” has also been credited under the names “**Sir** Ian McKellan”, “**Sir** Ian McKell**e**n”, and “Ian McKelle**r**n”. Same person, different names in the credits.