A new look

Nowadays, thanks to the fact that there are almost no prejudices in cinema, actors can be themselves, but in the past they had to play off-screen. For example, Cary Grant, who played people from high society, and in normal life tried to convince fans that he came from high society, so he had to hide the true story of his childhood: his seamstress mother, his tailor father and the poverty in which he lived. Merle Oberon was a British, and later Hollywood, actress. It was only after Oberon was gone that information surfaced that she was Asian, born in the Indian city of Bombay, now called Mumbai. Thanks to her Anglo-Irish father, she was given white skin and decided to capitalise on this. In the film industry, she hid her origins, as she was afraid of being persecuted and deprived of roles, because incest between British and Indian women at the time found only a negative response.

New names

Nowadays, actors often take pseudonyms. Most often because of complicated names, less often because someone already performs under their names. Usually pseudonyms are derivatives of their real names or the names of their parents and grandparents. Nicolas Cage's real name is Nicholas Kim Coppola, the Cage in the name is a reference to Luke Cage. Michael Keaton was named Michael Douglas, but because another Michael Douglas had already performed under that name, Keaton took his last name in honor of Buster Keaton.

In old Hollywood, the naming situation was somewhat different. Actors completely changed their names, and most often not of their own free will, the studios forced them to do so. Thus, Archibald Alec Leach turned into Cary Grant, Marion Robert Morrison became John Wayne, Iser Danilovich turned out to be Kirk Douglas, Norma Jeanne Baker became Marilyn Monroe, and Frances Ethel Gumm - Judy Garland.

Relationships are forbidden

At this point, actors can only be advised not to get involved with their colleagues. That's what Tom Holland and Zendaya, who play in Spider-Man, were told. The Marvel film makers didn't want them to break up at one point, get angry at each other and transfer that anger to the screens. But they got together anyway, and now everyone is hoping they don't break up until Tom Holland is done playing Spider-Man.

Things were different in old Hollywood. If actors didn't follow advice, they were bound by new terms in their contracts. For example, Jean Harlow could date William Powell, but she couldn't marry him because she was a symbol and her status as a free-spirited beauty couldn't be ruined by marriage. However, this didn't stop them from getting engaged, but it didn't go any further due to a serious illness and Jean's sudden departure at the age of 26.

Double agents

Almost all actors have agents who review studio offers, negotiate and sign contracts. Actors at this time only say their yes/no and quietly act in films without being distracted by uninteresting legal and financial issues. And while agents are really just agents now, in the past they may have been front men who followed actors for the benefit of the studios those actors worked for. Judy Garland had Betty Asher as such an agent. They were so close that they even began to be suspected of having an affair. Judy's heart broke when she learnt that all the time of their acquaintance Betty Usher not only helped her as an agent, but also passed all personal information to the management of the studio MGM.

Birth of children

When an actress gets pregnant, everyone is happy for her, except the producers, because pregnancy is a surprise, because of which you have to shift schedules and even interrupt shooting. Now it is treated more tolerantly. For example, during the filming of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Melissa Roich was pregnant twice, and twice the creators of the series went her way and changed the plot. There are other interesting examples. Uma Thurman was offered a role in ‘The Lord of the Rings’, but because of the birth of her daughter, she refused, and Ethan Hawke, who was offered to play Faramir, refused after her.

And if now the topic of pregnancy in Hollywood seems to be something ordinary, in the old Hollywood pregnancy could cause the most unfortunate consequences. Ava Gardner, who once suffered at the hands of MGM and Betty Usher, admitted that the studio fined actresses if they got pregnant. Ava terminated two pregnancies because of this, and many other actresses did the same. But Loretta Young did not agree with these rules and still gave birth to a daughter, but she, as wild as it sounds, had to be hidden in an orphanage for 19 months.

Child labor

Child labour for young actors is often violated, but the big studios try to avoid it and follow a strict rule - a child can work on a film set no more than 40 hours a week. In the old Hollywood had similar rules, but they were not followed en masse, and young actors literally sucked out all the juices. At the same time, when they reached the point of complete exhaustion, they were given drugs to keep them awake. So it was with Judy Garland on the set of ‘The Wizard of Oz’. As a result of filming, she got addicted and it was because of it that she passed away at the age of 47.

While actors now have complete freedom to choose their roles, there used to be a kind of slavery in Hollywood. Actors signed contracts that bound them hand and foot, not allowing them to choose the role they wanted or to join the cast of a particular film. Actors were assigned to certain studios and were subject to the producers' demands: if they had to star in a certain film, the actor was not asked for an opinion, but signed on to do it.