04 Oct Why Actors May Need a Stage Name
Ever wonder why actors change their name?
The Stage Name
So when the credits roll at the end, what is gonna be your name? And why do people change names?
Well, obviously many times it’s because the name is like, you know, Poindexter Rappapo, and that’s kind of a long, hard name to pronounce. So Poindexter Rappapo would most likely change his name. For example: Let’s say your name is Gabriela Lopez and you are blonde and blue-eyed like me and you don’t speak Spanish. Well, then I think it’s a good idea to change your name.
We have a lot of students here at 3-2-1- Acting Studios in Los Angeles that actually do change their name because they either have a very hard last name to pronounce or they don’t look like their picture. They don’t look like the name that they were born with. Let’s say Gabriela Lopez could be Gabriela Michelle. Just use your middle name or you use your mom’s maiden name or something. There are a lot of choices with stage names and you can decide for different reasons.
One other reason is that some parents want to keep their child’s stage name and the child’s real name separate for identity purposes; just for privacy. So when the credits roll, it’ll be the child’s stage name. When you go sign your W-2 forms and your contracts, you always want to sign your legal name and then you’re an A.K.A.
A.K.A. means “otherwise known as” and I’m an A.K.A. Mae Ross is not my real name! Mae is my real name, I was born with Mae, but Ross is a chosen name because I actually have an identical twin in the business and she and I were starting to work a lot separately. It just made sense that I changed it. So I changed it and I like it. And another reason to change your name would be because you don’t like your birth name and so you’re allowed to change it. You can pick anything you want. That’s what’s fun about this – is that for a stage name, you can just do anything, go anywhere with it in terms of how creative you want to be.
There are a lot of actors out there that have stage names.
You know, Natalie Portman is not Natalie Portman. She has a different last name. Tom Cruise has a different last name. So it’d be interesting if you want to Google and find out what some of the stars’ names were before they picked a stage name. I just want to let you know that when you do get into the union, the Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA union, you cannot have the same name as anybody else. So if you come in as a Robert Smith and there already is a Robert Smith, then you’re gonna have to change it to, like, Robert P. Smith, okay?
So those are some reasons to get a stage name and what’s fun is that now it’s up to you – if you decide you want to get one go ahead. Just make one up and your take time. It can be a lot of fun.
