# Who gets the "And...." credit in movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-the-and-credit-in-movies/373479 "2006-09-20T22:09:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-the-and-credit-in-movies/373479/21 "2010-02-04T17:43:04Z")
Oh, geez…I’m so sorry! I was searching for discussions of “YNELITTA” and forgot to check if the thread was a zombie before I posted to it. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-the-and-credit-in-movies/373479/22 "2010-02-04T17:46:22Z")
The “Introducing…” credit seems like a bit of a dinosaur to me. What’s the latest film it’s been used in, I wonder? ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-the-and-credit-in-movies/373479/23 "2010-02-04T18:07:48Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > And that is trumped by Marin Landaus “Special Guest Star” gig on **Mission Impossible** , which started in the very first episode (Locklear joined a little ways in). Jonathan Harris in every episode of “Lost in Space” set this cretinous credit-listing practice. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-the-and-credit-in-movies/373479/24 "2010-02-04T18:11:28Z")
ISTR that he had a contract somewhere else that said he could appear on a TV show only as a special guest star. I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-the-and-credit-in-movies/373479/25 "2010-02-04T18:16:49Z")
Michael Keaton got one in Beetlejuice – I assumed that was because he played the title character but only got about 17 minutes of actual screen time. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-the-and-credit-in-movies/373479/26 "2010-02-04T18:22:49Z")
My impression is it’s usually an established actor with name recognition in a non-starring role. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-the-and-credit-in-movies/373479/27 "2010-02-05T06:06:07Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > The “Introducing…” credit seems like a bit of a dinosaur to me. What’s the latest film it’s been used in, I wonder? It’s been weeks and weeks since I saw it, but didn’t Gabourey Sidibe get an “And Introducing” credit for **Precious**? Maybe someone who’s seen it recently can chime in. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-the-and-credit-in-movies/373479/28 "2010-02-06T05:04:53Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Trumped by Heather Locklear’s “Special Guest Star” credit on “Melrose Place” despite appearing in every episode for several seasons. IIRC that billing had something to do with money. If she had been billed as part of the regular cast she couldn’t get paid as much as a “special guest star.” Still, they all had it better than Richard Grieco on _21 Jump Street_ who was never even credited in the opening. They wound up having to write a new show for him, since they couldn’t put him on the front list. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-the-and-credit-in-movies/373479/29 "2010-02-06T09:12:36Z")
I saw [Frozen](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1323045/) last night (I thought it was really good btw) and because of this thread I noted that the female skier was listed as “Introducing Emma Bell.” What’s funny is, looking at her IMDB page after I got home to see what she was doing next because I really liked her, she’d been in 5 movies prior to Frozen! So now I’m scratching my head over that credit. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-the-and-credit-in-movies/373479/30 "2010-02-07T08:39:08Z")
It’s all about money. The impressions people get are just rationalizations that somewhat resemble the forces that affect it, but the reality has already been stated - it’s all about clout and what kind of deal you/your agent can get. If you’re an well-known star but not billed above the title, then it’s a form of compensation to make your name listing special. “Let’s see, I could pay you another million dollars, or I can add ‘and’ to your credit listing and bill you last? Let me think on that one…” I remember when Disney’s _Atlantis_ came out had Claudia Christian in it as Helga Sinclair, not the girl from Atlantis. So then I find out she’s billing herself as “the female lead from _Atlantis_”. That seemed odd to me, but what it really meant was she was the top-_paid_ actress in the movie. Had nothing to do with the role and everything to do with the compensation. Same goes with the “and” or “with \_\_\_ as \_\_\_\_” roles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-the-and-credit-in-movies/373479.md?page=1)