Cast/Acting credits guidelines

Below you'll find some more specific eligibility rules.

Animals and inanimate objects (e.g, Wilson the Volleyball)

People who appear only in still photographs

Appearing in footage from a different title

Title is later re-released as an episode

What is an attribute?

---

Valid attributes

	(uncredited) - No on-screen credit. For acting credits, this must include a character name or some kind of description. (more info)
	(credit only) - Someone is credited, but didn't actually appear in the title. Common in episodic shows where regular performers sometimes don't appear in an episode but retain a screen credit. This includes news/talk/entertainment series with a person’s name in the title (e.g. Tucker Carlson Tonight), when a guest host appears.
	(unconfirmed) - The name has been added to a title on the authority of a secondary source, but there is reason to believe it may be subject to change.
	(rumored) - The name has been added on the authority of a secondary source (usually the entertainment media), and is based on a strong industry rumor.
	(scenes deleted) - Someone has an on-screen credit for a scene that was filmed, but doesn't actually appear because the scenes were left on the cutting room floor.
	(as...) - Someone's credited with a different name from their usual name. Example: when Francis Ford Coppola is credited as Francis Coppola, the entry includes "(as Francis Coppola)".
	(voice) - Voice performance in a film, TV show. podcast, video game, etc. (more info)
	(voice: English version) - Someone is credited in an animated title or video game on the USA English-language release of a title originally released in another language.
	(motion capture) - Motion capture performance in a film, TV show, video game, etc. (more info)
	(archive footage) - A cast member appears in some footage, such as newsreel, behind-the-scenes, or home movies. (more info)
	(singing voice) - Singing voice performance in a film, TV show, video game, etc
	(archive sound) - Voice work from elsewhere is used, but was not specifically created for that project.

Invalid attributes

	(attached)
	(In negotiations)
	(In talks)
	(Guest star)
	Any series info (e.g. Season 8, 9 and 10)

IMDb's general principle for cast is to always follow what's listed in the onscreen credits - this is why it's important to capture the difference between those listed in the end credits and those who aren't.

Example end credit roll showing credited names

When a person was involved, but their name wasn't listed in the on-screen credits - we use the (uncredited) attribute to reflect it on the website. 

This isn't designed to undermine the importance of a person's involvement in the production, simply to ensure we're reflecting how the title was released as accurately as possible.

Furthermore, none of the following have any bearing on whether a person was (by our definition) credited:

	pay stubs		press mentions
	call sheets		resumes
	agent listings		visibility on screen

While the information above may be used to help verify a person's uncredited involvement in a production, it doesn't serve to prove a credited role. The logic is rather binary in that respect:

Do they appear in the production?	Are they listed in the on-screen credits?	Are they considered "credited"?	Attribute
Yes	Yes		no attribute
Yes	No		(uncredited)
No	Yes		(credit only)*
No	No		Do not credit at all

* (credit only) is most commonly used for principal cast members on episodic content

General Uncredited Rules

• The following are likely to be discarded:
  
  
  • Uncredited submissions with an empty character field or with descriptions such as "lead", "supporting", "background, "extra", "featured". If that's the case, the character name should include a description of the part - Woman with Dog, for instance - and (uncredited) in the 'attribute' box. 
    
    
  • Background/extra work as a crowd member (or a similar role where it's impossible to recognize the subject)
  
  
  • It's not enough to have just worked on a production: The scenes must be included in the final cut, and it must be possible to easily identify their appearance.

• We reserve the right to remove uncredited work at any time and periodically revise and adapt these criteria and reserve the right to retroactively restrict our eligibility rules for uncredited work.
  
  
• We do not add additional uncredited roles to titles with a cast that has already been locked. Existing listings should not be taken as an indication that similar entries are automatically eligible. Please do not assume that the presence of a similar credit automatically implies that your entry should and will be accepted.
  
  
• Finally, on new and/or yet-unreleased titles, all credits we list are not final and are subject to change, especially until they can be checked against an actual title print. It's fairly common, for example, for uncredited roles to be removed from the site when final credits become available to us, or when/if a scene has ended up on the cutting room floor.

The (archive footage) attribute is used for the inclusion of footage shot for a separate, earlier production (and not for the same series if episodic), such as a newsreel, home movie, outtakes, etc., or for archival documentation and not the specific production it is used in.

You should append (archive footage) with (uncredited) where necessary, as this is often the case.

Example of archive footage & uncredited listings

We allow or exclude archive footage credits based on the following guidelines (although we reserve the right to make exceptions for special cases where necessary):

• Being listed in the on-screen credits - If someone's appearance is credited on screen it automatically qualifies as a valid archive footage credit, regardless of what type of archive footage it is (this supersedes any of the exclusions below). The only exception to this is "In Memorium" tributes (where a still photograph or video clip of the individual in one of their famous roles appears on screen), these should be added to the "thanks" section using the appropriate "occupation". They're not eligible for a cast (archive footage) credit. A movie connection should be added instead linking to the title from which the footage originates.
  
  
• Can be covered by a movie link - If someone's appearance is uncredited and covered by a movie link entry (i.e., footage from a title is recycled as a "prologue" or flashback in a sequel or subsequent title in a series) it does not qualify as "archive footage”.
  
  
• If the footage is integral to the narrative - If archive footage is an integral part of the film's narrative, it's eligible. Additional examples: scenes from Poor Cow creatively used as flashbacks in The Limey; President Clinton's appearance in Contact.
  
  
• If the footage is integral to the topic - If the title is a documentary and the archive footage is an integral/essential part of the story/topic, it qualifies (which means that even if he didn't appear as himself towards the end of the film, Charlton Heston's NRA rally footage would be enough to qualify as a valid "archive footage" entry, while Willie Horton's brief clip from the old anti-Dukakis campaign ad probably wouldn't).
  
  
• For compilation/retrospectives only: If the title is a compilation/retrospective made up entirely or almost entirely of archive footage, then the people appearing in that footage qualify for archive footage credits.
  
  
• The "no degrees of separation" rule: Only archive footage that is used directly in the title is eligible. If an actor appears in a title shown as being watched on TV in a scene of another film, then the first title clip is not eligible as archive footage. In other words, James Stewart's footage from Vertigo shown in a scene in Twelve Monkeys where Bruce Willis' character goes to the movies is not eligible.
  
  
• The footage must be real - If someone's stock likeness appears as a photograph or as a poster on a wall, or on the cover of a magazine etc. in a scene of a film, it's not eligible.
  
  
• Note: The standard "two wrongs don't make a right" rule also applies: just because we have credits that violate some of the above, doesn't mean that the rules are not valid (it just means that those credits were accepted before the rules were established, or we didn't know better, or we just made a mistake).

Depending on the type of work performed, or how the person was credited - voice performances can be credited in the database as either:

• Cast
• Other Crew
• Not at all

Below, you'll find guidance to help identify if a voice credit is eligible to be added. 

Additionally, voice work is signified by the (voice) attribute on the credit:

Example of a voice only credit

General voice rules

To be listed in the Cast section, actors performing voice work need to fulfill these three eligibility rules: 

3. Must not be a dubbing* - Their work must be featured in the original language version of the production. (* We do allow dubbing for animated titles & video games on the USA English-language release only.)

The table below includes some examples of our dubbing guidelines:

​

(click to expand)

What about Narrator credits?
If the individual performed work as a narrator on a project, they should be listed with the character name Narrator to reflect this.

What about voice and motion capture together?
If the individual performed both the voice and the motion capture, neither attribute is required for the credit, this is considered as a full performance.

Motion capture performances in a production can be credited in the database:

• Cast
• Other Crew
• or not at all

If approved, these credits are signified by the (motion capture) attribute - however, attributes aren't visible on the credit when viewed on the website.

General motion capture guidelines

To be listed in the Cast section of the credits, actors performing motion capture work on a title need to fulfill these three eligibility rules: 

If motion capture was used in a title, please add the motion-capture keyword to the title page. This will allow users to search and discover a list of these titles on IMDb.

What about motion capture and voice together?
If the individual performed both the voice and the motion capture, neither attribute is required for the credit, this is considered as a full performance.

When an individual (or group) appears onscreen as themselves, the character name should be ‘Self’ (or ‘Themselves’). 

Example of Self credit

Where appropriate, this should include a hyphen and a description of their role in the title.

Other examples include: 

• Self – Judge
• Self – Interviewee/Guitarist
• Themselves – Band

Where someone is billed in the credits as themselves in a fictional piece and are playing a scripted, fictional version of themselves, we use the performer's name as the character name to avoid moving the credit to the 'Self' category. 

Example of scripted credit

Appearances in episodes shouldn't include any additional details about when the appearance may have been - for example:

• John Smith (1956, 1960-1975) should be entered as just John Smith
  
  
• Peter Parker #2 (1999-2002) should be entered as just Peter Parker
  
  
• Sarah Thomas (season 2) should be entered as just Sarah Thomas
  
  
• If an actor played a range of characters, or held different military rankings during the history of a series, only the actual characters played or rank held for a particular episode should be entered in the character field.
  
  
• The main cast for a series is derived from the episode listings (where available). Changes to the existing series main cast lists (from the parent series) are generally no longer accepted.

Avoid punctuation within character names where possible:

• Slashes should be used only to separate two different characters played by the same actor.
  
  
• Commas should not be used.
  
  
• Use a hyphen as a general separator if you need one.
  
  
• Parentheses should only be used to define segments a character appears in (for productions with multiple segments): i.e. Friendly John (segment "Star Struck").
  
  
• Periods will be automatically applied after a character's title, such as; "Mr.", "Mrs." and "Dr." per our character formatting rules - regardless of however credited on-screen.
  
  

Please use standard English capitalization rules as used for titles in the database. All words in a character name should start with an uppercase letter except for prepositions and non-leading articles, for example:

• Security Guard
  
  
• Police Officer
  
  
• Woman with Dog
  
  
• Captain of the Guard
  
  
• Woman at the Auction
  
  

Superheroes/Super villains and other characters with secret identities are considered to be two characters.

Sometimes, Superheroes and their alter-egos are manifestly distinct personalities - for example:

Clark Kent	Vs.	Superman

 Most of the time, the alter-ego is literally playing a different character to disguise their superhero status.

As such, we have special guidelines for adding Superhero characters:

• Unless otherwise displayed in the credits, character names for Superheroes and their alter-egos should be separated by a slash on the site (e.g. Bruce Wayne/Batman).
  
  
• If the character names are displayed differently in the credits, the 'as credited onscreen' rule applies. Example: If Christian Bale is credited as 'Bruce Wayne - Batman', in the next Batman movie, then that is what will be displayed on the site.
  
  
• If only one character name is displayed in the credits (either the Superhero name OR the alter-ego name), the ‘as credited onscreen' policy again applies.
  
  
• Where no superhero/alter-ego names are credited onscreen, one or both may be submitted.
  
  
• In the rare cases where no screen credit exists in any capacity (i.e. both actor and character names are missing), one or both character names can be submitted with an (uncredited) attribute.

Grouped credits

Where necessary, plural/group names should be converted into their singular form. Here are a series of examples that hopefully cover most eventualities.

• David Prowse plays Darth Vader in Star Wars. Clint Eastwood plays Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry. Even though the Italian release of those films changed those two names to Darth Fener and Harry Callaghan respectively, we will stick to the character names used in the original version.
  
  
• For descriptive character names (i.e., Mayor, Man #1), they should generally be entirely in the language of the original version, but English can be used if the original is not known.

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

• Ian Hart plays Professor Quirrell in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, but you're not supposed to know he's also Voldemort.
  
  Ian Holm plays Sir William Gull in From Hell and his character name is not "Jack the Ripper".
  
  Those are both supposed to be surprises. If you haven't seen those two films, we just spoiled them for you. Sorry about that, but imagine how our users feel when they come to the site and see those character names before seeing the film. Even if factually correct, character names that constitute spoilers must be avoided at all costs.
  
  
• This is especially true for multiple character names that can be easily omitted: it's just as effective to say that Cary Grant plays "Peter Joshua" in Charade. There is no need to say that he plays "Peter Joshua/Alexander Dyle/Adam Canfield/Brian Cruikshank", even if that's true.

Character descriptions must be limited to the context of the film, and including extra information that comes from other sources than the title is not permitted.

For example:

• Anthony Hopkins plays Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs; Brian Cox plays Hannibal Lecktor in Manhunter. Yes, they're the same character, but the spelling is different, and we will stick to each film's peculiar version.
  
  
• Sigourney Weaver's character in Alien is called simply Ripley. The fact that her first name is Ellen is not disclosed/introduced until the sequel Aliens; therefore her character name in Alien is Ripley, not Ellen Ripley.
  
  
• Nichelle Nichols plays "Uhura" in the TV series "Star Trek" and in the films. According to some Star Trek books and novelizations, Uhura's first name is Nyota, but that name is not used in the films or TV series, so it should not be used on the site.
  
  
• Various Star Wars books and novelizations may include name, rank and serial numbers for every single Imperial Stormtrooper ever shown in the films, but we'll still list them all simply as "Stormtroopers" unless the on-screen credits have a different description.

Order numbers are used to control the display of credits on a title page - they should be ordered according to the most comprehensive cast list (the one listing the most actors); in most cases, this will be the list appearing in the end credits.

(Example credit ordering from 1917)

There are some additional situations to keep in mind when ordering Cast credits:

• Where actors are listed more than once in the credit roll (as often happens in animation, for example) we list the characters as detailed in the Character Names section. Order numbers then skip the place where the actor's name appears again.
  
  So this:
  
  (as seen in the end credits)
  1 Alison Adams ... Ann
  2 Bill Brown ... Bobby
  3 Charlotte Clearwater ... Claire
  4 David Dewhurst ... Donald
  5 Alison Adams ... Abigail
  6 Eric Ehrhardt ... Ernest
  7 Francesca Fitzherbert ... Fiona
  
  Becomes this:
  
  (as listed on the site)
  1 Alison Adams ... Ann/Abigail
  2 Bill Brown ... Bobby
  3 Charlotte Clearwater ... Claire
  4 David Dewhurst ... Donald
  6 Eric Ehrhardt ... Ernest
  7 Francesca Fitzherbert ... Fiona
  
  The number 5 has been skipped so that all subsequent order numbers remain the same.
  
  
• In some cases (i.e., TV movies), the cast list is split between the opening credits and end credits; in those cases, the two portions should be treated as one long cast list that happens to be interrupted by the actual movie. This also applies to some movies from the 1950s, where a list of the main cast appeared at the beginning, and was then repeated in reverse order at the end, with pictures, followed by additional cast members.
  
  
• For documentaries or talk shows where the people appearing on camera are generally not in a separate cast list, their first onscreen appearance where they are identified either by a caption or spoken name is used to determine the order. Any narrator/host listed in opening or closing credits or the title itself would be treated as the first cast member, and would precede people identified only within the documentary or talk show.
  
  
• We're aware that casts in order of appearance or alphabetical order sometimes mean a lead actor is buried relatively deep in the cast list. This is somewhat unfortunate. We do have a separate system for indicating the lead actors via the "Stars" section, but this can only be amended internally by IMDb staff members.
  
  
• Do not enter an order number for someone who is uncredited.
  
  
• Order numbers are not honored for projects before they have begun filming; such orders are far too subject to change. In addition, the order numbers will not affect the display of credits until a significant percentage of the credited cast has order numbers.