I just watched Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, an enjoyable romp despite some glaring historical inaccuracies (was Mary Todd ever that slender?), and recognized Alan Tudyk playing Stephen Douglas (for that matter, was Stephen Douglas ever that slender–or tall?). Checking the credits he was absent, and is listed in IMDB as “uncredited.” Looking at the rest of the cast he was easily the “biggest name” (well, some Brits might recognize some of them and it did have Mary from Psych) and was in a couple scenes so the role was bigger than an amusing cameo. And the movie was no more embarrassing than A Knight’s Tale, another movie that played fast and loose with history. So why would he not get a credit? Who else has been left unrecognized?
I’m not sure if this would apply to AL:VH, but I believe that if you’re credited on a union film, you have to be paid at least union scale, (whatever that is.) So, if you want to appear in a small-budget film as a favor to somebody and they’d have problems paying you, you have to be uncredited if you want to appear for free, or for ‘whatever they can pay.’
I am not an expert on show biz.
Christian Slater was uncredited for his role as an ensign in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Not sure why he was uncredited; if IMDB is to be trusted, he got paid $750 for his day on the set and had the check framed; his mom was casting director and may have gotten him the part. This was after Heathers, Young Guns I and II, and Pump Up The Volume, so he was no slouch by that time in his career.
He might have just been a fan and wanted to be in a Star Trek movie, and didn’t want it to be a huge deal.
I understand this is the reason Whoopi Goldberg was uncredited for her role as Guinan in Star Trek: Generations and Star Trek: Nemesis even though she made many appearances on ST:TNG. Although a film with a budget of $35 million isn’t exactly small-budget. Also, she would have been the biggest box-office name in the cast and the producers wouldn’t have wanted her name to overshadow William Shatner’s or Patrick Stewart’s. Although her appearance in Nemesis consisted of a quick cameo.
I thought his mom was the casting person for the film.
Indeed. :dubious:
And the vampires. Historically, they didn’t become a major problem until the 1870’s after Lincoln was dead.
There’s also the situation where a big actor normally has his name above the title because he’s a major star and they would benefit from having his name splashed all over the posters–unless he’s taking a smaller role for less money and doesn’t want them to get his A-list publicity for a B-list role and paycheck (see: Jack Nicholson in Broadcast News, Robin Williams in Baron Munchhausen, Sylvester Stallone in Spy Kids 3-D, etc.).
Or, the actor’s appearance is supposed to catch you by surprise, like Sean Connery in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
No matter where he pops up, he’ll always be Liam McPoyle to me. It’s hard for me to take him seriously. Like when he showed up on Psych, I had no idea if his character was a joke or if we were supposed to take him seriously (and the name didn’t help). No matter where he shows up, I still see him walking around in a robe and drinking milk. Bump it.
Whoopy ?
Over shadowing, Patrick Stewart from the Royal Shakespeare Company ?
Somehow I’m less then convinced.
The Royal Shakespeare Company isn’t generally that huge a deal to USian movie-goers. 
Indeed. Whoopi up until 1994: Academy Award nomination for The Color Purple. Winner for Ghost. Starred in other box office hits such as Sister Act.
Patrick Stewart: largely unknown, even in the UK, until he accepted the role of Capt. Picard in TNG. A couple of memorable movie appearances, but no starring roles.
Not to denigrate Stewart or to overrate Whoopi, but she had the name recognition and was a proven box office draw, at least in the mid-1990s. She approached the producers of TNG for a part because she was a big fan of Nichelle Nichols’ character, Lt. Uhura, and was willing to take a part no matter how small, even if it meant pushing a broom in the background. That would explain her willingness to go uncredited and give the recognition to Shatner, Stewart, Frakes, et al.
One that comes to mind is Edward Norton in Kingdom of Heaven - apparently he requested not to be shown in the credits to add mystery to the character. I’m not sure what the DVD release has though, and he does show up in the IMDB cast for Kingdom of Heaven. Also since he wears a mask the whole time it is not obvious that it is him 
If you are a SAG member, you do not appear for free on a union production. You can appear for scale - nothing in the SAG rules forbids people from taking less money so long as it is at or above scale.
Credits are negotiated along with salary. Uncredited does not mean scale only. In these cases I suspect what has been said is correct - the actor wants to do the cameo, but does not want to debase his name by appearing in the big credit list, and is not obnoxious enough to try to demand a big billing. So, uncredited is a better credit than a little credit.
I would guess someone appearing for fun would get scale only and be uncredited. But it is not a rule.
Now you’ve put it like that my respect has gone up for her quite a bit.
Though judged on acting skills I still rate P.S. the better actor.
A case of exposure versus talent IMHO.
That’s how successful a vampire hunter Abe was.
You have indeed nailed it. He was a fan, asked Mom for a small uncredited part, she was casting director, and gave him one.
Also, didn’t Christopher Walken as the Headless Horseman go uncredited in that movie? (Tim Burton, Johnny Depp)
From quotes given to magazines at the time, Bill Murray asked to be left out of the opening credits and the ads for Tootsie because it was his first straight role in a motion picture. He didn’t want people coming to the film with the wrong expectations.
So it looks like we’ve got:
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I’m a good actor and this production is beneath me.
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I’m a celebrity and I don’t want to overshadow the work as a whole.
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I’m a celebrity, but I’m playing a small part and listing me might give a distorted view of my place in the production.
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I’m a celebrity and I’m going to be doing something so different from my known type of work that listing me will give people distorted expectations of my performance or the type of film this is.
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To surprise the audience.
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Other reasons.
Well played, sir.
The 1974 disaster flick Earthquake had Walter Matthau in an uncredited role as a drunk in a bar. he may have been listed since, but when I saw the movie in the theater back then his name was not listed.