The third-party guarantee system is an important component that ensures the proper operation of Hollywood. Actors, along with other professions, also utilize this system to safeguard their own rights.
In order to protect their interests, star actors do not naively place complete trust in producers. They advocate for third-party payments or third-party guarantees to guard against the possibility of producers failing to pay or using various excuses to delay payment of their performance fees.
When celebrity agents negotiate with producers, investors, or unstable financial institutions, they can request that the actor's full compensation be secured by a third-party guarantee before the actor begins work.
In this way, by providing a guarantee to increase the reliability of producers paying salaries, producers can deposit the actor's entire compensation into a bank, then use the deposit certificate as collateral to offer actors better security. With such a guarantee, actors are naturally able to devote themselves wholeheartedly to their work.
However, setting up such a third-party guaranteed payment account increases the producer's costs. Unless the actor is in a dominant position, the producer desperate to hire talent would not adopt this method to show their sincerity.
Moreover, even with all sorts of guarantee systems in place, Hollywood still sees countless examples of producers playing tricks.
This is, in essence, a game of strategy. Whoever holds the advantage completely depends on market supply and demand. Stars like Leonardo or Tom Cruise usually hold a significant upper hand when facing most film crews and can demand numerous conditions limited only by imagination.
For example, prohibiting the crew from using people they dislike.
Yes, you read that right. Many contracts of major Hollywood stars include such clauses!
Hollywood stars write such demands into contracts as a form of "approval rights." For example, they negotiate "reasonable approval"—meaning they will cooperate with film promotion, but how exactly it is conducted must receive their prior consent. If in subsequent promotional activities they encounter a host or participant they dislike, they may refuse to take part.
For instance, if a talk show is hosted by someone they dislike, they can invoke such a clause to refuse to participate in the program's recording.
Similarly, such approval and decision-making rights can be applied to scripts, published stills, body doubles… As long as the star's status is high enough, everything is negotiable.
Hollywood has never been a land of kindness and innocence it is a battlefield without smoke.
Here, countless actors openly and secretly compete for a place of their own. Credit disputes are one form of this.
Unlike the Writers Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild does not have detailed regulations on how actors should be credited in films. As a result, savvy actors and their agents strive to obtain the best possible position in the "top billing" credits—fighting with production companies over placement, size, and formatting.
They painstakingly agree to various complex clauses, such as requiring the actor's name to appear first in "non-solo credits," and that no more than two names appear in the same frame.
This rule may sound bizarre, but to put it simply it means: I want the most prominent position. I want to be listed first. I want the audience to spot my name at a glance especially for A-list and super A-list stars, whose names may sometimes appear before the film's title.
There are even more fastidious credit demands for any frame where the director's name appears, the actor wants credit in the same size, same position, and same font as the director's name.
Of course, this depends on the director's status. For directors like Duke, Spielberg, or James Cameron, no one is foolish enough to make such pretentious demands.
This is an extraordinarily complex industry. The idea that simply playing your role well or making a good film can help you stand out is wishful thinking. To get what they deserve, actors and everyone else must fight hard for it.
Although no one in this industry is truly irreplaceable, the star power of major actors is certainly not a mirage.
"Equal placement" is a term most people may have never heard of—even in Hollywood, only actors with a certain level of fame can invoke it.
After filming is completed, producers may create paid advertisements or audio content to promote the film. These may use the photos or names of influential stars as promotional tools. Since such promotions benefit both the film and the star, big-name actors will naturally seize the opportunity. During negotiations, they will demand equal placement rights—the producer must include their image in the same size whenever other actors' photos appear in any advertisement.
In short, wherever there is a benefit, the producer can't leave them out. Given their market value, the producer must consider including such rights clauses in the contract.
No matter the film, there is only so much space in an advertisement or audio spot—too many faces can't fit.
To maximize interest, producers naturally want to showcase the most buzzworthy stars as selling points. They also try to tactfully reject actor demands.
For instance, the producer may promise that when listing actors' names in paid advertisements, certain categories will be excluded by default. These could include billboard ads, other outdoor ads, and printed ads smaller than a specified size. Often, the excluded categories are so broad that the actor's credit in ads becomes meaningless.
But these star actors and their agents are not so easily outmaneuvered. In return, they negotiate that if other actors receive credit in such "excluded ads," then they too must be credited—except in ads purely offering congratulations or awards nominations, which are reasonably excluded.
Decades ago, producers held absolute dominance in Hollywood. Casting couch auditions and coercive deals were not uncommon. But after years of evolution, such coercion hasn't vanished entirely but has become rarer. Casting couches are no longer common, especially not for major stars.
Today's deals are consensual. The idea that a passionate scene could get a major star to strip for an audition is pure fantasy now. Aside from the chaotic independent film scene, getting a star to strip in mainstream productions requires hefty compensation.
Nude scenes and sex scenes frequently appear in Hollywood films. For such sensitive scenes—before, during, and after filming—there are now contractual clauses that protect the interests of both producers and actors.
The Screen Actors Guild has relevant agreements requiring actors or body doubles performing such scenes to sign a "nudity waiver declaration." This declaration is not just a pre-statement that the actor voluntarily accepts nudity or sex scenes. It must also describe the degree of nudity or physical contact—ensuring the shoot follows the agreed terms and remains within the actor's acceptable limits.
If the actor changes their mind after signing the statement, they are allowed to withdraw it, in which case the producer will send in a body double. Without the actor's consent, even the use of a body double is not permitted.
Due to the sensitive nature of nude or sex scenes, in order to prevent misuse and possible negative consequences for the actor if such scenes are spread, the actors' union has imposed strict regulations on the shooting procedure. Except for the main cast and essential crew members, the scene must not be open to any other parties.
Without prior written consent from the actor, no one is allowed to take still photos of these scenes. Sometimes, to prevent producers from using nudity or sex scene clips elsewhere, experienced star actors will include prohibitive clauses during negotiations, blocking producers from using these clips anywhere outside the official cut. Even in the official cut, actors have the right to review and approve their nude appearances during the sample screening stage.
Becoming a top-tier star actor is no longer simply about being a Hollywood actor—they are in a class of their own.
During outdoor filming, A-list actors usually have a private luxury trailer. They require that the trailer be on par with those of other actors of the same level, enjoying the best treatment in size and facilities. The trailer must be equipped with a private bathroom, stereo system, TV, internet, fax machine, VCR, fridge, oven, bed or sofa, heating, and air conditioning.
Some stars request that specific food and drinks be stocked in the fridge, or make other special requests. Additionally, under the production company's jurisdiction, they often demand a high-end dressing room outfitted with the aforementioned premium facilities.
The rights enjoyed by top Hollywood stars on set go far beyond what outsiders can imagine.
Before filming, they will review the script, especially to confirm the character they will portray. Some actors insist on having approval over substantial changes to their roles during negotiations, as character changes may affect them in many ways. Some even go so far as to demand script approval rights altogether.
Beyond script review, some actresses and top-level male actors also request approval rights over hair, makeup, and costumes to ensure they appear at their best in front of the audience.
These are the most standard rights for star actors in Hollywood.
After all, in Hollywood, the very top-tier actors have the power to directly decide which actors or directors to work with!
This privilege belongs exclusively to super-A-list actors. When they come across someone they don't want to work with, they simply refuse, and producers generally respect that, as these stars represent immense box office appeal.
It is precisely because of this that the upcoming project "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is facing development difficulties.